title from kokopelli face tattoo by ajj

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Their father is shouting at the dog again.

She's told him before that it won't understand, but he does it anyway. She doesn't know what it's done this time - ripped something up, it sounds like, but the only things in the house that he can't afford to replace are the living ones. She doubts that sometimes, too; imagines if any one of them went missing their father would replace them just to avoid a spectacle. She's heard the rumors of cloning on other planets, and would believe it of him.

Dogs don't understand what they're being punished for if you wait too long. If you catch them while they're doing it, they'll stop, but rubbing their nose in it won't do anything. They know they're being told off, but they don't know why. It must be upsetting, she thinks. She can hear downstairs that he's stopped shouting, and it's not long before she hears the little tapping of claws climb up the stairs. He's too small to jump on to her bed yet, so she picks him up into her lap and holds him to herself. Dogs can't cry like humans, but she thinks he would be crying if he could. She makes sure to do it on his behalf.