"Will you be mine?", he asked.
He had an unkempt beard, matted hair, baggy clothes which were either too big for him or he had gradually grown too timid for them. He did not look like any of the other humans I saw everyday. I could see a sparkle in his eye whenever he spoke to me, and love emanating from him each time he nuzzled me.
"Woof!", I promptly replied.
That day forwards I was always seen with him, hopping around, tongue hanging, tail wagging.
Arnold and I became the best of friends. He called me a lot of names, 'Patricia, Patty, Snuffles, Spotty, Lil girl'...but 'Patricia' kind of stuck on. I thought Arnold was the most interesting human on earth, one of the million reasons is that he kept moving to different places, unlike the other humans. One day he slept on the park bench, the next day it was a niche in the wall of an abandoned building. We even hunted for food together. I sometimes brought him things I found in the trash can, but he used to wrinkle his nose and cringe at it, so I figured he didn't particularly like delicious things. Sometimes, kind humans would offer him food, which he would share with me. What a swell life! We had everything we wanted. However, there were days when Arnold would get sad. He would curl up on the park bench and cry silent tears, I never understood why. I would lick away the tears and he would hold me close. He seemed to feel better when he held me close, so I let him hold me like that until he fell asleep. I felt bad for humans sometimes, they seemed to have a lot of troubles. As for me, as long as I had Arnold with me, nothing would hurt me.
One day, Arnold and I were walking towards the area where all my other dog friends lived. I never understood why they always growled at me when I was with Arnold though. They lived in big houses with big gates which stopped them from going out. They always had food and water, they never had to hunt for it. So I figured they didn't like me because they envied me. I had an amazing life, they didn't. I gave a sudden WOOF at that thought and Arnold's hand involuntarily reached down to nuzzle me behind my ear. It was my favourite spot. This was basically how I spent my days with Arnold. Wandering, hunting, sleeping, just having a gala time so to say. It was all going well until one day things took a wrong turn.
It was a sunny afternoon, I was sitting with Arnold under a tree which was really wide and I couldn't see the sun when I sat under it. I dug myself a nice hole and was fully prepared to catch a wink. Arnold had been drinking that coloured liquid from a bottle, which smelled weird and always made him act different. Some instinct told me to stay awake and watch out for Arnold. So I decided against my nap and obediently sat with him. Gradually, my eyes started drooping and I don't know when I fell asleep. I was dreaming of chasing butterflies and playing in puddles when I heard that screech which woke me up from my slumber. I heard Arnold scream and I bolted towards the street where he lay under a car with his legs twisted in a painful position. I started barking alarmingly, I was so scared looking at that pain in Arnold's eyes. I licked that part of his leg from where a grey liquid kept oozing. His hand still nuzzled my ear as he whimpered in pain. Slowly he seemed to lose sense of where he was and he lost conciousness. I kept barking hoping for some human to come help us. I heard a vehicle approaching us, it made a sound which pierced my ears. I started circling Arnold, I did not want another car to hurt my human. The vehicle stopped right in front of us, and two humans came out with a bed. Something told me to trust these guys, so I let them take Arnold on the bed and put him inside the vehicle. Naturally I followed them, trying to get inside the vehicle but they pushed me away and shut the door. They didn't understand! He needed me! When he woke up he'd look for me and if I was not there he'd think I abandoned him when he needed me the most.I couldn't just leave him with these strangers, so I followed the vehicle.I ran behind it until it started to appear smaller and gradually disappeared, then I followed it just by the sound it made. Gradually, all the other car noises drained out it's sound and I had lost it completely. I was dumbfounded, I did not know what to do. That's when guilt started consuming me, I was supposed to stay awake, I was supposed to watch out for Arnold, I was supposed to take care of him. It was all my fault, I couldn't forgive myself. I started crying, I didn't know whether he was alright, whether I would ever see him again, whether he would want to see me again after what I had done. Then it dawned upon me, once Arnold was fine again, the two men would leave him where they found him first. So I ran, I ran with all my might towards the big tree. The grey liquid coming out of Arnold's leg was still there, and just looking at it pained me.I stayed there for two weeks, biding my time, waiting for Arnold, but he never came back. I thought what if he's at the park, so I searched all those places where Arnold and I usually spent our time, but I found him nowhere. Then I realised finally, he was never coming back. I had lost my human. I did not know, until then, what misery was. I felt a deep sorrow that I didn't know dogs were capable of. It felt like my existence was dependent on Arnold, and now that he was not there, everything seemed vain. All that I used to find interesting before, just became a task for me now. Life had become monotonous and cumbersome. All the fun and love had gone away with Arnold. I was alone and lonely. I hadn't known of a life without him, so I had to learn how to live again.
One day, I was walking around aimlessly, going trash can to trash can in search of food, when I saw a man inside a room with glass walls. He was limping around with a tray of glasses, while the other humans were eating. This man looked way too familiar to me. Before I knew it, I was running towards him like my tail was on fire. The shaggy beard was gone, ragged clothes were replaced by well-fitting garments, the hair was neatly cut, and the gait had changed. But this was still my Arnold, my human. Just when I had started to believe I'll never see him again, he was there right in front of me. I stood on my hind legs with my fore legs pressed to the glass and I called out to him. I barked with happiness, grief and excitement and waited for him to spot me. My tail was wagging with a frequency I hadn't quite experienced in the past one month. Some guy from the room repeatedly came out to shun me. No matter how many times he tried to drive me away, I came back. It felt like an eternity passed until Arnold finally lay his eyes upon me. I WOOFED. He looked at me, blinked, and turned around with his tray like I was invisible. It broke my heart, it seemed as if he didn't care about the fact that he saw his girl after a month of staying apart. He went on to speak with another human inside the room. He preferred to talk to this other human than meet me. I was upset, blatantly upset. Then I noticed Arnold nod, leave his tray, and march out with a bright smile plastered to his face. He opened the glass doors and ran towards me with arms outstretched.I galloped towards him, and he fell to the ground hugging me in his arms. I licked away his tears out of habit. I was home again.
"I thought I'd lost you, Patty", he said. "You came back, you're such a good girl!", he exclaimed.
I was his girl again, I was with my human again. And that moment, right then, I realised, if there was anything better than chasing butterflies and playing in puddles, it was this. Arnold.
He had an unkempt beard, matted hair, baggy clothes which were either too big for him or he had gradually grown too timid for them. He did not look like any of the other humans I saw everyday. I could see a sparkle in his eye whenever he spoke to me, and love emanating from him each time he nuzzled me.
"Woof!", I promptly replied.
That day forwards I was always seen with him, hopping around, tongue hanging, tail wagging.
Arnold and I became the best of friends. He called me a lot of names, 'Patricia, Patty, Snuffles, Spotty, Lil girl'...but 'Patricia' kind of stuck on. I thought Arnold was the most interesting human on earth, one of the million reasons is that he kept moving to different places, unlike the other humans. One day he slept on the park bench, the next day it was a niche in the wall of an abandoned building. We even hunted for food together. I sometimes brought him things I found in the trash can, but he used to wrinkle his nose and cringe at it, so I figured he didn't particularly like delicious things. Sometimes, kind humans would offer him food, which he would share with me. What a swell life! We had everything we wanted. However, there were days when Arnold would get sad. He would curl up on the park bench and cry silent tears, I never understood why. I would lick away the tears and he would hold me close. He seemed to feel better when he held me close, so I let him hold me like that until he fell asleep. I felt bad for humans sometimes, they seemed to have a lot of troubles. As for me, as long as I had Arnold with me, nothing would hurt me.
One day, Arnold and I were walking towards the area where all my other dog friends lived. I never understood why they always growled at me when I was with Arnold though. They lived in big houses with big gates which stopped them from going out. They always had food and water, they never had to hunt for it. So I figured they didn't like me because they envied me. I had an amazing life, they didn't. I gave a sudden WOOF at that thought and Arnold's hand involuntarily reached down to nuzzle me behind my ear. It was my favourite spot. This was basically how I spent my days with Arnold. Wandering, hunting, sleeping, just having a gala time so to say. It was all going well until one day things took a wrong turn.
It was a sunny afternoon, I was sitting with Arnold under a tree which was really wide and I couldn't see the sun when I sat under it. I dug myself a nice hole and was fully prepared to catch a wink. Arnold had been drinking that coloured liquid from a bottle, which smelled weird and always made him act different. Some instinct told me to stay awake and watch out for Arnold. So I decided against my nap and obediently sat with him. Gradually, my eyes started drooping and I don't know when I fell asleep. I was dreaming of chasing butterflies and playing in puddles when I heard that screech which woke me up from my slumber. I heard Arnold scream and I bolted towards the street where he lay under a car with his legs twisted in a painful position. I started barking alarmingly, I was so scared looking at that pain in Arnold's eyes. I licked that part of his leg from where a grey liquid kept oozing. His hand still nuzzled my ear as he whimpered in pain. Slowly he seemed to lose sense of where he was and he lost conciousness. I kept barking hoping for some human to come help us. I heard a vehicle approaching us, it made a sound which pierced my ears. I started circling Arnold, I did not want another car to hurt my human. The vehicle stopped right in front of us, and two humans came out with a bed. Something told me to trust these guys, so I let them take Arnold on the bed and put him inside the vehicle. Naturally I followed them, trying to get inside the vehicle but they pushed me away and shut the door. They didn't understand! He needed me! When he woke up he'd look for me and if I was not there he'd think I abandoned him when he needed me the most.I couldn't just leave him with these strangers, so I followed the vehicle.I ran behind it until it started to appear smaller and gradually disappeared, then I followed it just by the sound it made. Gradually, all the other car noises drained out it's sound and I had lost it completely. I was dumbfounded, I did not know what to do. That's when guilt started consuming me, I was supposed to stay awake, I was supposed to watch out for Arnold, I was supposed to take care of him. It was all my fault, I couldn't forgive myself. I started crying, I didn't know whether he was alright, whether I would ever see him again, whether he would want to see me again after what I had done. Then it dawned upon me, once Arnold was fine again, the two men would leave him where they found him first. So I ran, I ran with all my might towards the big tree. The grey liquid coming out of Arnold's leg was still there, and just looking at it pained me.I stayed there for two weeks, biding my time, waiting for Arnold, but he never came back. I thought what if he's at the park, so I searched all those places where Arnold and I usually spent our time, but I found him nowhere. Then I realised finally, he was never coming back. I had lost my human. I did not know, until then, what misery was. I felt a deep sorrow that I didn't know dogs were capable of. It felt like my existence was dependent on Arnold, and now that he was not there, everything seemed vain. All that I used to find interesting before, just became a task for me now. Life had become monotonous and cumbersome. All the fun and love had gone away with Arnold. I was alone and lonely. I hadn't known of a life without him, so I had to learn how to live again.
One day, I was walking around aimlessly, going trash can to trash can in search of food, when I saw a man inside a room with glass walls. He was limping around with a tray of glasses, while the other humans were eating. This man looked way too familiar to me. Before I knew it, I was running towards him like my tail was on fire. The shaggy beard was gone, ragged clothes were replaced by well-fitting garments, the hair was neatly cut, and the gait had changed. But this was still my Arnold, my human. Just when I had started to believe I'll never see him again, he was there right in front of me. I stood on my hind legs with my fore legs pressed to the glass and I called out to him. I barked with happiness, grief and excitement and waited for him to spot me. My tail was wagging with a frequency I hadn't quite experienced in the past one month. Some guy from the room repeatedly came out to shun me. No matter how many times he tried to drive me away, I came back. It felt like an eternity passed until Arnold finally lay his eyes upon me. I WOOFED. He looked at me, blinked, and turned around with his tray like I was invisible. It broke my heart, it seemed as if he didn't care about the fact that he saw his girl after a month of staying apart. He went on to speak with another human inside the room. He preferred to talk to this other human than meet me. I was upset, blatantly upset. Then I noticed Arnold nod, leave his tray, and march out with a bright smile plastered to his face. He opened the glass doors and ran towards me with arms outstretched.I galloped towards him, and he fell to the ground hugging me in his arms. I licked away his tears out of habit. I was home again.
"I thought I'd lost you, Patty", he said. "You came back, you're such a good girl!", he exclaimed.
I was his girl again, I was with my human again. And that moment, right then, I realised, if there was anything better than chasing butterflies and playing in puddles, it was this. Arnold.
