TITLE: "LITTLE MOTHER"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "FIREFLY"

PAIRING: No specific pairing.

RATING: PG-13.

STATUS: New.

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed.

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "The crew of Serenity lose one cargo and find

themselves with another."

The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly'

are the property and gift of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

No infringement of copyright is intended.

"LITTLE MOTHER"

A "Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

Gunfire ripped up the still and dusty silence like Chinese firecrackers only this was no celebration and the muted little cries and howling that came after were not happy sounds. Rough coarse voices yelled. More gunfire. No more sounds commenting on it. Everything muffled within the tense atmosphere of the building. The men were ansty. Liable to fire at anything that moved. The dog's puppies stood no chance. The mourning bitch had not long given birth. Was still weakened but would not leave the bloody scraps that were her kith and kin. The men laughed at their sport. One gave the dog a kick. She barely whimpered. Did not so much as growl back. The sorrow in her slow cry did not reach the unfeeling ears of the hired hands that mocked her. She bled where a bullet had grazed her head. Another had made a home in her left hip. Dizzy with grief, the dog dragged herself from one bloody bundle to another. Slowly gathering them to her so she could protect them.

The warehouse on Morrow was just on the edge of the pathetic little town. A jumble of run down houses and tented villages. The only visitors were those looking to hide or those looking for them. Trade was a hurried affair that took place in back alleys not the market place. The warehouse was just a mite better than the alley but not a whole notch up in respectability. Silence fell on it