Davey's dog

Davey's Dog
By
Raman Jalota


    Lisa heard a sound by the back door. She opened the door a little. She was surprised to see a white dog standing there, looking at her and moving his paws as if he wanted to come in. She closed the door behind her and went near the dog. The dog wagged his tail a little and turned his head to look at her. He seemed unsure of who she was. "Nice doggy" she said and touched his head and patted him. He seemed to like it and wagged his tail.
    He had been running around for at least a few days. He was dirty; there was mud all over his paws, on his chest and back too. Lisa stayed with him and called Paul, "Paul, come on back here. There is a dog here."
   Paul and Lisa had been married for two years, but had no pets or children. Paul came out and looked at the dog. He looked for a collar but did not find any. "He looks like a nice dog. I wonder what happened to his collar. Maybe we can keep him till someone comes looking for him."
    "Paul, call the animal shelter people. See if they can do something" Lisa said.
    She tried to feed it some bread; the dog sniffed the white bread and looked at her. She smiled and brought some leftover meat loaf. He ignored that too. She poured some milk in a bowl; he took two sips and turned away. Lisa was annoyed, but she poured him some water, he drank it willingly, wagging his tail.

    ....

    No one had claimed him for three weeks. The dog followed Lisa around, all around the home. She couldn't help it, she loved him. Paul and Lisa took him to the vet and got him some shots and a collar. The vet told them it was a West Highland white Terrier. Lisa named him Baby. Paul laughed, "And what will you call our baby, Doggy?"

    .....

    Little Davey was born that December. Lisa and Paul were very happy with their Christmas gift. Baby looked at Davey in his crib and could not remember seeing him ever before him. He smelled like Lisa and Paul but the dog could not understand what this little human being was. When Davey started crawling, they became friends. Davey was like a toy that Baby followed and played with, or was it the other way around?
    Davey loved the dog too. He loved only his mother more, but that was not all the time. There was a bond between the two. They were always together.

    .....

    Davey had turned four and while playing in the front yard, he stopped to see two boys staring at his dog Baby.
    "That's Kato,” one of them said. Baby turned his ears and ran to the two boys, wagging his tail and jumping up and down. He knew the two boys. They were Mark and Tom from his old home. And yes, he remembered that name "Kato".
    "This is our dog,” said Mark, petting Baby. "We are going to take him home."
    "No, Mommy! That's my dog. My Baby." Davey was heart broken.
    Lisa talked to the two boys and called their mother on the phone. She had tears in her eyes. She held little Davey in her arms and let them take Baby away. Davey cried and cried, not believing what his mother was letting happen.
    The dog was confused. He remembered the boys from his past and remembered the old times, but Davey was his friend and this was his house now. He did not understand, but the boys called him by his old name and he followed them to his old home.

    .....

    Slowly, he remembered everything. It was nice to be back. The same old house, the trees, the same backyard. He ran around, wagging his tail and running all over the house. He was very excited to be back. It was a nice homecoming.
    Three weeks went by fast. Mark and Tom were a little too old to play with him all day. They would pet him and throw a ball for him to fetch every once in a while. But they had other friends and other games to play and Kato was not part of their whole day anymore. He looked at them not understanding why they were ignoring him? Why would they leave him, closing the door behind them as they went to the park with their friends? It was really not the same.
    He remembered Davey. That was his real pal. They spent all of their time together, even sharing food. Many a night he would creep in Davey's bed and sleep in the warmth of their friendship. He missed the little guy. He tried to picture how Davey was feeling without him. He remembered the day he had left. Davey's face, full of tears as he cried in his mother’s arms. He had walked away with Mark and Tom. Now that he remembered the day he left and the look on Davey's face, he felt really bad. How could he do that to his little Davey? He wondered if Davey missed him as much as he missed him?

    .....

    It was very early in the morning when Davey woke up. He had heard a sound by the back door. He opened the door a little. He was surprised to see a white dog standing there, looking at him and moving his paws as if he wanted to come in. He closed the door behind him and went near the dog. The dog wagged his tail a little and turned his head to look at him. "Nice doggy" he said and touched his head and patted him. He seemed to like it and wagged his tail. Baby had come home.

The End   984 words

Copyright © 2004 Raman Jalota. All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

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