I opened my eyes and yawned, blinking and looking around. I lowered my ears as I remembered crawling onto this porch during the rainstorm in the middle of the night. Remembering falling asleep-finally-on the scratchy doormat close to the front door.
My ear perked as I heard footsteps on the other side of the door. Looking up, the handle turned and the door swung inward. I jumped to my paws and scuttled over to the edge of the porch, ears back and tail tucked between my legs, peering up at the human. "I'm s-sorry. I-I didn't mean..." I whined.
He crouched down on one knee and reached out his hand slowly, carefully. "Hey there. Hey girl." he whistled softly. "Did you sleep out here on the doormat, sweetheart? Come here, baby. It's okay, sweet girl."
Crouching as low to the ground as I could, I crawled over to the man. A few sniffs of his hand told me he was okay, he was a kind human, and my tail thumped nervously against the porch. I looked up at him, and he smiled, and I licked his hand a few times. He lifted his head.
"Darling? Darling, could you come down here please?" he called back over his shoulder.
I heard soft footsteps and suddenly, a woman was standing behind the man. I lowered my ears again and she crooned softly, probably in an effort to comfort me. She crouched beside the man and ran her soft hand down my back reassuringly.
"What breed do you think she is, James Dear?"
"Look at her markings. She's most definitely Border Collie." I perked my ears. "What do you think her name is, Darling?"
She ran her fingertips along my muzzle, making me grin in delight. "I don't know what her name is, Dear, but we can call her Shade."
"You want to keep her?" he asked.
The woman nodded. "Let's bring her inside, James." She stood and I followed her movements with my kind blue eyes.
"Alright, Laura." he stood and stepped inside next to the woman. "Come on, girl." he said, whistling softly.
"I don't know what you're-" I whined.
He patted his leg and whistled again.
"Oh. I get it." I barked. Standing, I padded into their home, tail low, and looked around. The inside was beautiful and looked very comfortable. I was glancing around when the man put his hands under my belly and lifted me into his arms. I smiled and wagged my tail, yipping and licking his face.
"I think... she likes me..... Darling." he laughed between my affectionate licks.
"Does that mean we're keeping her?"
"Oh yeah." he said, "We can't let this treasure go."