I do not remember much from before the man in the strange coat took the cover off my cage. Most of the time, I had been in darkness. I could hear people talking occasionally, but there was no good way to measure the passage of time. I had heard his voice plenty of times before, but seeing the man's face was a shock. Even having never seen a face before, his crooked yellow teeth and impossibly dark eyes made me uneasy. "Yes... this one will do nicely" he hissed as he turns my cage to face a young girl. Her blonde pigtails and bright blue eyes made an almost comical contrast against the strange man's unpleasant visage. As he hands my cage over to her, I hear his instruction "All this one requires is your love. Treat him well, and he will always be there for you..." The instruction had a strange and insidious implication that seemed to go completely over the little girl's head. "Thank you Mister!" she squealed as she hurried off, taking care to not shake my cage too much.

"My name is Abigail. Do you have a name?" She asked me. I had never considered the idea of a name. I had no one to converse with before, so there had been no need for one. "Hmmm..." she pondered "I guess I have to make one for you. I'm going to call you Mr McScruffles!" The excitement in her voice smoothed over any doubts I had about the name. After all, I suppose my brown fur was rather scruffy. Abigail's parents were not thrilled to see me. They tried to make excuses about how I would be a big responsibility, but Abigail was determined. She made promises to care for me, even tearing up when her father tried to put his foot down. And so I became a part of the family. That night, while Abigail was sleeping, I overheard her parents discussing me. "What kind of creature is that?" "Where did it come from?" "Are we safe keeping it in the house?" All questions I had been asking myself. I snuggle up against Abigail's sleeping form, and decide that I will do whatever it takes to make her happy.

The next morning, we went to the pet store for supplies. The very confused worker decided that I was probably some breed of dog, so we picked up all of the necessary dog items. Food, water bowl, a bed. Even a nifty matching leash and collar with my name on the front and "Belongs to Abigail" on the back. After that, life settled into a routine. Abigail would take me for a walk in the morning, and then feed me before she left for the day for school. The food was dry, but palatable. I never really felt hungry, but Abigail started worrying about me when I stopped eating it at one point, so I down it for her sake. In the evenings, she would play with me and walk me again before bed.

As time went on, Abigail got taller. Older, I suppose, although the distinction wasn't all that clear to me. Occasionally, a boy would show up with her for our walks. A couple even stayed the night, although I'm fairly certain her parent's weren't aware of the guest. But our routine never changed. There was one boy who I overheard complaining about how much time Abigail would spend with me. I never saw him again after that day. With time, more changes would invade the life Abigail and I had settled into. She and I changed houses when she went to college. We moved again when she graduated. Eventually, one boy started spending more and more time with us. His name was David. David made Abigail happy, just like how I made her happy. And David loved me. Sometimes, David would take me on walks or play with me if Abigail was busy. Then, they both disappeared. I had been noticing that Abigail had been acting weird. She moved around a lot less, and was much slower when she did. She had gotten bigger too, not just taller like she used to. She had been the same height for a while now. A friend of Abigail and David would stop by to make sure I was taken on my walks, but it wasn't the same. Thankfully they were only gone for a few days.

When Abigail and David returned, they had a third, much smaller person with them. Abigail told me that this was Emily, her daughter. Emily was very small, smaller than Abigail had ever been. That would soon change. Emily grew quickly. I always stayed near. Emily clearly meant a lot to Abigail and David, so she meant a lot to me as well. Emily didn't talk much. She made a lot of noise, but never tended to use words. Eventually, when she did finally learn to say something, it was a single word: "Scuffy." Apparently that was her name for me. From that day on, my name was Scuffy. My collar still read Mr McScruffles, but no one called me that anymore. And I was fine with that.

Emily continued to grow. Before I realized it, she was as large as Abigail was when I first met her. As she got older, Emily started taking me on walks. At first, they would be supervised by Abigail or David, but eventually Emily was permitted to go on walks on her own. Time continued to stretch on. Emily followed the same pattern that Abigail did. Getting taller, hanging out with boys, moving off to college. This time, I stayed with Abigail. I had noticed that she had started to slow down again. Not in the same way she did when Emily was about to come. Her hair had turned gray, and her face was covered with lines. But she was still unmistakably my Abigail. Until, one morning, Abigail didn't wake up.

Her alarm went off at the same time it always did, but she did not stir. I tried to nudge her awake, but she did not respond. Soon, David noticed. He jumped out of the bed in a panic, calling people on his phone. A group of strange men in white clothes came and put Abigail onto a small bed with wheels and took her away. David followed, his face pale and eyes watery. Sometime later that day, Emily arrived at the house. She had clearly been crying, and she had a small boy with her. She introduced him as Sammy, and said he was her son. I went home with them that day.

David would visit us on occasion. The love he had in his eyes for me was tainted by sadness. He too had grown gray and slow, but every time he visited he always made sure to take me on a walk. He would tell me stories of Abigail. I was there for most of them, but it was nice to hear them from him. Eventually, David too stopped showing up, but I always had someone to love. Sammy grew up and had three kids: Aaron, Steven, and Abigail. I liked little Abigail the most. She reminded me of my Abigail. This new Abigail also eventually grew up and had kids of her own.

Over the years, I have had many names: Scuffy, Scruff, Crusty, Rusty, Russel. Every few generations my name would shift. One person would get old, and I would be taken care of by the next. Children grew up and had children of their own. My family was always filled with love. Someone was always willing to take me in when my previous owner could no longer care for me. Life was always in flux, but deep down I know the truth. My original collar and tag had long since faded away to nothing, but I am Mr McScruffles, and I belong to Abigail.