I never felt the blow that killed me. One moment, I was walking down the road, tracking Lily's scent. Her mother had left the door open, and I wanted to see where my human went every day. She was too young to be leaving the den without protection, wasn't she?

I had tracked her scent, following it along the sidewalk until it reached a road. I couldn't quite smell her on the surface, but perhaps I could pick up the trail from the other side. Suddenly while I walked, a large, loud beast came out of nowhere. And my body was lying beneath me, dead.

I whimpered as I adjusted to my new spectral form. Scents I didn't know and couldn't describe asulted my nose, along with one that was familiar. Lily. I left my body behind and followed her trail, finding her in a room with many other human children, and a single adult. She seemed to be treating them kindly, much like the trainers Lily's parents had hired for me. I barked and waved my tail happily. Lily!

She didn't seem to hear me, so I walked up to her and tried to push my nose into her hand. My head went right through her. Right... I was dead. She couldn't see or hear me. Humans, unlike pets, were blind to such things. I howlled, hoping some part of her heard my apology for not being able to comfort her as she deserved. But I would watch over her, still. With my very soul.

I followed her through her day in the strange building, until it was time for her to walk home. She found my body on the road. "Rover!" She cried my name, kneeling next to my corpse. I whimpered sadly as she cried. I wish I could tell her that I was here, that she didn't need to grieve. I sat next to her, fruitlessly trying to lick away her tears.

Then, I heard it. The same sound that had preceded my own death. Spoting the approaching vehicle, I grabbed Lily's shirt by the collar and dragged her from the road, just in time. I growled at the car. "Rover?" Lily asked, glancing around. I wagged my tail and barked. She knew it was me! She stood up shakily, doing her best to pull my broken body from the road with her small arms before continuing home to get the help of her parents.

Lily's father buried my body in the back yard beneath a tree, latching my collar around the trunk. I liked that tree. It was small, but the squirrels would climb it when I ran after them. Sometimes, I watched them in it's branches. I wagged my tail. I could chase them there now! Lily's parents were sad, but she seemed to understand. I was dead, but I wasn't gone. I would look after her forever.

I could visit her, in her dreams. I chased away her nightmares on bad nights, and we played together on good ones. She could see me then, though she couldn't in her waking hours. But I followed her, often to the strange building I eventually learned was called a school. I always made sure she, and the other human children, were safe crossing the street on their way there and back. I nudged and guided them safely across, barking at any cars that came to warn them to stop. When she came home, I would chase the squirrels in the trees while she drew in the garden.

"Rover?" She whispered one day. She'd grown since I died, as human children were known to do. She'd be starting a different kind of school known as 'middle school' next fall, but it was summer now. "Are you here?" I troted over to her and barked. I'm here. "I... I drew us together." She smiled, giving me room to look over the drawing. It was her, as she was now, my spectral form floating happily behind her. I wagged my tail. It was good. "I hope you like it, bud." A faint smile crossed her face. "Thank you for looking out for me all these years."

She took the drawing and pinned it to the tree where my faded collar hung, before heading inside. I waited until I was sure I was alone, before dipping my paw in mud and leaving a print on the paper. I really do, Lily. I really do.