Thursday, December 4, 2008

They couldn't stop laughing at the dog

They couldn't stop laughing at the dog, and Rex smiled his doggy smile, letting his tongue unfurl and hang out as he panted on their knees. Again his boy picked up the yellow ball, which by now was drenched in drool and covered in grass, and hurled it across the yard. It was such a small thing to make his boy happy, just run after the ball and bring it back; such a simple request and so easy to meet.

Rex bolted after the ball, his legs pumping under him as he raced after it, wanting to catch it before it hit the ground, but he hadn't managed that particular trick yet; he wasn't a Greyhound after all. He caught up to the fuzzy ball after only three bounces, picking it up in his mouth as he made a U-turn and headed back toward the house, dropping the wet toy in his boy's lap.

He looked up at the boy with his liquid brown eyes, unabashed love shining from them, and he remembered the first time he saw the boy. He'd come into the pound with his parents, and he took a great deal of time looking into each kennel at the dogs there, trying to find the one that had the something special he was looking for. His parents moved along side him in silence, not rushing him and not offering unsolicited input, he was 13 now and he wanted to make this choice on his own.

He left each kennel with a shake of his head; it wasn't a specific size he was looking for, a particular color or breed, it was something more he was after; something without a name.

Rex had heard the family come in, and was waiting eagerly for them to reach his kennel, hoping they made it that far before choosing their new family member. He'd been put in the farthest cage, and so many people never made it that far before they fell in love with another face, without having ever seen his. He only vaguely remembered his mom, but he remembered being taken away from her when he was only a few months old, along with his siblings, and being brought to this place.

His siblings had all been taken away to homes one by one, until only he was left, and now here he was at six months old with no understanding that he had an impending expiration date. In his ignorance he waited for the family to approach him, and when he and the boy saw each other, something in them both clicked.

"Him," the boy said, pointing at Rex.

The next hour was a whirlwind of excitement, and soon Rex found himself in his family's car with his head stuck out the window so he could smell everything that whizzed by on his way to his new home.

That had been four years ago, and Rex never tired of chasing the ball and bringing it back to his boy. When his boy grew tired of throwing the ball, Rex tucked his three legs under himself, and laid down at his boy's prosthetic feet, closing his eyes with a contented sigh.

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