• A dog scratched at the door of a bakery, smelling the fresh morning bread. He whimpered, ribs showing through his fur. The dog’s fur was matted, worn from the years on the street.
    Slowly, the bakery door opened, a man behind it. The smell of bread hit the dog’s nose even stronger, making him whimper again. In the bakers arm was a fresh, warm loaf of bread. Kneeling down, the man tore off a piece of bread and fed it to the dog. The baker seemed in his late 50s, short and chubby. His hair was black, and he had beard.
    “Hallo, little guy,” He said to the dog, petting his head. “Do you have a name?” The dog nuzzled the baker’s hand and whimpered. “Well, I’ll take that as a no. I’m Cesair.”
    Cesair stood up and wiped his apron off. He turned around and walked inside the bakery. Before he went inside, he turned around and said “See you around, little buddy,”

    The next day, Cesair did have a surprise waiting for him. Early, early in the morning he walked to the bakery, passing through the piazza. As he neared his little bread shop, he saw a peculiar site at the front door. A bundle of black and white fur lay, curled up, sleeping. Slowly creeping up, he saw it was the dog from yesterday. Smiling a bit, Cesair knelt down and petted the dog’s fur. Jerking awake, the dog immediately lifted his head, scared. But when his eyes lay on Cesair, he calmed down.
    “Well, now you can’t be like this without a name, can you?” He asked the dog. Looking at it, he saw it was a girl. “Let’s name you Stella. Stella means star, and yours eyes seem like the most brightest star I have ever seen.” Scratching the dog’s head, he opened the door and went inside his bakery. Stella stood sadly at the front door. “But a sad thing is your eyes are hard to resist,” Cesair laughed. “Just make sure not to ruin anything!” And opened the door wide enough for Stella.
    Stella certainly had a surprise when she got inside. There were so many scents. Happily, she moved around everywhere, smelling every inch of everything. Cesair smiled, and went on making his special bread. The two companions certainly had a great time together. When the first loaf was finished, it was in the shape of a dog bone. Cesair presented it to Stella, who jumped around wildly and scarffed it down. They both seemed to laugh, mostly Cesair who laughed, and danced around to some music that Cesair had brought.
    Then it was opening time, and Stella had to go back outside. Cesair let her out the back door, and laid down some blankets he had in a cupboard. Laying all the bread in the store, he got ready for business.
    Stella lay outside the whole time, waiting for Cesair to come back out. Occasionally, on his breaks, he would check up on her and feed her some bread. Business was great as usual, Cesair being the best bread maker. People came to try his bread from all over the world.
    When it was closing time, Cesair put all the bread in another spot saying ‘Day Old Bread’ in case someone didn’t want fresh bread. Then he went over to the back door, and opened to a welcoming Stella. As soon as she heard the door open, she jumped up and greeted Cesair back from a long day at work. He seemed to know what she was saying, and the things she felt. Now she felt love, and Cesair could almost see it casting a light off her pelt.
    Opening the door, he let Stella inside. Then he cleaned up, with Stella no help at all. As soon as he cleaned something, she licked it dirty. They just laughed it off.
    Cleaning took longer that evening because of Stella, but it was a wondrous time. Cesair always has fun at work, but today it was even better..
    When Cesair got home his wife greeted him, and asked what took him so long. He just said he had some things to take care of. The evening went on as normal.

    The next morning, Cesair got up bright and early. While he walked through the piazza, he saw Stella sitting next to the fire hydrant waiting for someone to come. Little did she know it would be her best friend. While Cesair walked over to her, smiling, with arms open, she wagged her tail and bounded over to him. Stella jumped up into his open arms, making him fall over, and licked his face all over.
    Laughing, he stood up and turned to top of the hydrant, and water poured out. After, they walked to work side by side.

    When Cesair got home that night, he decided to tell his wife about the dog.
    “She appeared at my doorstep one day, and I couldn’t resist because of her eyes. She has the most beautiful eyes. So I gave Stella—“ He was telling his wife. She never really wanted a dog, saying neither of them could care for one.
    “You named it?!” She said in a rage. “You know we can’t care for a dog! If you name it, it’ll just be harder to let her go!”
    “It was too hard not too. How about you come with me tomorrow and see her.” He offered, not losing his temper like his wife had. After a while of persuading she agreed.
    The next morning, they both got up just before dawn. Together they walked over to the bakery. But Stella was not there. Nor was she in the Piazza, waiting for some water. Cesair panicked, wondering where she could have gone. Looking around the whole village, he saw her nowhere. His wife helped as well. Sadly, he went to his bakery while his wife went home.
    “The dog’s gone.” She had said simply before she left. Cesair went glumly through work, not feeling like he did yesterday, not being able to wait to see Stella.

    The next day he went to work without looking for Stella. He walked to his bakery, and there she was. Her coat seemed more beautiful and less ragged, her starry eyes sparkling even more than they had been. Happily, he yelled “Stella!” And she bounded over to him.
    Inside, Stella stole a piece of day old bread behind Cesair’s back. He made many loaves of bread for the day, and then called his wife. “Stella’s here! Come around midday and you two can meet.”
    Just before midday, Cesiar went out to Stella. He gave her a loaf of bread and sat with her, running his hands through her beautiful fur. When his wife got to the bakery, he got her a sandwitch, then they went out back. But, like the day before, Stella was gone. The bed was there, and crumbs from her lunch, but she was absent. Confused, Cesair went out the front and made sure she wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
    “She was here just a second ago. I had checked up on her…” He told his wife, who was holding her sandwitch. “I’m going to go look at the piazza to see if she went to get some water. Stay here.” Then ran off.
    She wasn’t at the piazza either. He walked back to the bakery, and told his wife.
    “She comes and goes when she pleases, this Stella.” She said simply, and helped her husband at work. They both had a great time, except for something nagging at Cesair’s heart.
    After the store closed, Cesair’s wife went home while he stayed to close up. When he went back outside, with a loaf of bread, Stella was standing at the door waiting for him.
    “Where were you, Stella? I missed you today!” Instead of answering, she looked up at the sky. Cesair looked up as well. It was a full moon tonight. Stella nudged Cesair’s hand, and he petted her. Sitting down, they sat like that for ages. Cesair was sitting at the step petting Stella, who was curled up next to him. They had both lost track of time. At around midnight, Stella stood up and licked Cesair’s face.
    “Oh, Stella. I wish I could keep you safe from everything, but my wife doesn’t want you.” Stella licked his face again, as if she understood.
    When Stella looked back up at the sky, with her beautiful eyes that looked like stars, she seemed to fade away. Her tail was disappearing in sparkles of light. Soon her whole body was gone, only her eyes seemed to remain. Then, after looking at Cesair one last time, those too disappeared.
    Cesair was stunned. He had no idea what had just happened. Stella was gone, his beautiful star returned to the sky. Looking back up at the moon, he saw a star that wasn’t there before Stella disappeared. It was the brightest star in the sky. And he knew.
    “I love you, Stella.” He whispered. Faintly, he heard a bark reply.

    Please don’t steal!