The end of loneliness

The end of loneliness

1

Rocky knew it was close to the end. He wasn’t especially young, and moving around hurt a little more sometimes. He'd barely eaten in days, and water was even more scarce. None had fallen from the sky in a long time, and he was panting from the overwhelming heat. He'd wandered away from the areas crowded with people, looking for someplace cooler and with water. He found trees, and they helped, but many of them looked like they were in as much need as he was.

His person had once referred to him as a Golden Shephard. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he was proud to be loved. Once.

The sky had changed from light to dark many times since he'd been left on his own. His person had told him to stay, and he did. He didn't have much choice, since his leash was around a hard stick in the ground. But they never came back. Rocky waited until he couldn't take the hunger any longer and managed to squirm out of his collar. Again, it wasn't hard, since he could just pull backward, and he'd lost weight. Somehow, none of the many people who walked past paid him any attention.

Few people had ever said anything more than, "Ew! What a mangy mutt!" or moved as far away as possible. So, it was unusual when a man stopped and said, "Hello there!" as Rocky was walking past a row of dwellings. Rocky was unsure what to make of him, at first, not only because he spoke directly to Rocky, but because Rocky just wasn't used to people anymore.

Rocky paused in his tracks and stared at the man. The man kneeled to Rocky's level and held out an empty hand. This reminded him of his own person, from so long ago, but this man was much younger. Rocky wanted to walk up and sniff, but he was nervous. Worse, Rocky had stopped, and that in itself was a problem. While he'd been moving, his muscles had obeyed him, but now that he was standing still, he began to waver. Lack of food and water had finally taken their toll, just as he might get help.

Unable to move, his imbalanced weight finally caused him to topple. As his vision began to blur and his eyes fluttered closed, he saw the man rush forward. A gentle hand ran through Rocky's fur, and a long-lost emotion returned in his last moments. Pleasure.

2

Rocky woke on his side, on something soft. He managed to open his eyes, but he couldn't do much else. He was inside somewhere, that was obvious. He looked around as best he could, but he was still very weak. He was surprised that he recognized the place. Or, it was very similar to the…what did his person call it?...yes, that's it. It was the vet! He liked the vet.

He was just able to see his forelegs and saw something long, clear and twisty attached to one of them. He sniffed but didn’t smell anything from it. He didn’t try to move his leg, although he felt a bit stronger ever since he’d opened his eyes. The thing on his leg didn’t hurt, and he knew it must be safe. He trusted the vet people. They had always been kind and gentle with him. And there were always treats when he pleased them. He could be patient for that.

As if they’d been able to hear his thoughts (which would be strange, since they couldn’t even understand his language), a person walked into the room. She smelled like a female, and she had a blue covering over her flesh. That was vet colors! Rocky started to salivate a bit at the thought of treats. Food.

“Look at you! You’re awake,” the vet said. “I’m so glad to see you doing better. We were worried for awhile there. But that wagging tail tells me all I need to know.” To be fair, Rocky couldn’t understand much of her language either, but she was gentle with him and rubbed his head. And then she gave him a treat! It tasted like nothing he’d ever eaten, and he closed his eyes in pleasure.

Then another person entered the room. This one smelled like a man, along with wet soil and trees and the bright yellow ground flowers. He smelled like…the man who’d knelt in front of him outside! What was he doing here?

Rocky realized that he couldn’t have gotten to the vet on his own. In fact, he’d thought he was about to die when he was still outside. Maybe the flower man had brought him to the vet. Rocky would have to thank him.

“Hey doc,” said the flower man. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I think he’s going to make a full recovery,” she said. “He just needed hydration and some nutrition. As you can see, we’ve got him on an IV, and we’re going to want to keep him overnight just for observation.”

“Whatever it takes,” the man said with a shaky voice. Rocky smelled worry from the man.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” the vet perked up. “We checked his chip and found that his name is Rocky. I don’t want to say the word in case he knows it, but it looks like his previous owner d - i - e - d. It looks like Rocky here has been wandering around for about a year!”

Now the flower man smelled like sadness, and that made Rocky sad. He whimpered.

“Ah, I think we have one smart dog here,” the vet said with a half-smile. “We also have a recovering dog, so let’s let him rest. We’ll schedule for you to come back tomorrow afternoon to pick him up. ”The flower man simply nodded, and they walked out the door.

With the room lonely and quiet again, Rocky closed his eyes and let a nap overtake him.

3

He was relieved when the vet removed the twisty thing on Rocky’s foreleg the following morning. He still had none of his usual energy, but he was able to stand and move around on his. A full meal in his belly was making a difference too. That and lots of treats by the time flower man came back.

The man kneeled before Rocky, this time with a treat. Rocky eagerly chomped it up, while his tail waved his pleasure. He continued to lick the offered hand a bit more afterward. He liked flower man. Chuckling, the man rubbed Rocky’s head and said, “I like you too, Rocky. My name is Bud. I’m going to bring you home with me, if that’s okay with you.”

Rocky tail spun in circles in response to whatever the man was saying. His words were kind, he’d spoken Rocky’s name, and he smelled like joy. His mood boosted, Rocky opened his mouth and let his tongue dangle. He would allow flower man to be his person, if he wanted. Rocky had been alone for too long.

His new person strapped something around Rocky’s chest, then attached a leash, and they walked out of the building side by side. Rocky still lacked the energy to jump into his person’s moving metal beast, but the man gently picked him up and carefully lay him down inside. Rocky received another welcome rubdown before the man got in and they started moving.

For many days and nights, Rocky and his person, whom he came to know as Bud, bonded as only a dog can. They enjoyed long walks in the heat with frequent stops, and short walks in the cold with extra padding. Bud would gather together piles of leaves for Rocky to pounce and hide in. When the cold water fell, Bud would lie down with Rocky while he rolled around in the fluffy white. Bud would wave his arms and legs back and forth. He may have thought he was a dog, but that’s okay.

Life was good with Bud.

4

It was dark when Rocky heard a noise outside. He couldn’t smell who it was from inside, but he knew it wasn’t Bud. Bud shuffled when he walked, and he quietly opened the front of the dwelling. What Rocky heard was more like a tree branch scraping and cracking. He walked down and stood at the entrance to see what it might be.

Bitter cold air rushed in at Rocky as the entry crashed open, splinters of wood bouncing around him. A strange person wrapped in black coverings stood in front of him, only his eyes exposed. As the man shook his head, he lowered his face covering and smirked at Rocky. Rocky had become good at reading emotions on people during his lonely time, and this man was cocky and arrogant. It would be his downfall.

“Sit,” commanded the stranger.

Rocky was well familiar with that word and would have obeyed Bud or one of his friends in a heartbeat. Rocky’s response to the stranger was to lower his ears, raise his hackles, and intone a menacing growl, warning of dire consequences should the man come any closer.

The stranger seemed oddly unfazed and took a step toward Rocky. Rocky crouched, gathering energy to spring. A course bark exploded from his chest, and the stranger took a step back this time.

“I don’t have time for this crap,” mumbled the stranger, as he reached into his pocket. Rocky recognized the object he removed as something he’d seen in some of the moving images Bud liked to watch. He never quite understood exactly what it did, other than give a flash-pop when someone held it out. He knew it was bad though.

With no further hesitation, Rocky leaped at the stranger just as he was raising the flash-pop and pointed it at Rocky. He saw the flash, heard the pop, and felt a searing pain as he flew at the man’s chest. He ignored the pain as he fell with the stranger, landing on top of him.

Rocky wasn’t going to give him any more time to do anything. He aimed his snout at the man’s neck, which had become exposed as his coverings shifted. Gripping with the magnificent force of his jaws, Rocky rent a bloody hole in the man’s flesh. He screamed and tried to swat at Rocky, but he was unrelenting. This man was a danger to Bud, and he could not allow that. The man tried to get up, but Rocky raked his face before he could get far, and more screams were cast into the chill night air. Rocky scratched and bit until the man lay motionless.

At that point, several of Bud’s neighbors had exited their dwellings to see what was going on. Rocky sat beside the still stranger, feeling unbalanced. Maybe he’d exerted himself too much for an old dog.

A very short time later, metal beasts with blue and red lights arrived. By this point, Rocky was lying on his side, too tired to move.

When Bud arrived, Rocky wanted to jump up to greet him, but he couldn’t move. In fact, his surroundings were becoming blurred and hazy. He’d only known Bud had come because of his beautiful smell of soil and plants.

Bud knelt next to Rocky, just like the first time they’d met.He ran a hand through Rocky’s fur, and it came away red. Now he understood.

“I knew when I found you that you would save me.” Rocky heard Bud speaking, but it sounded far away. “And save me you did, now more than once.” Rocky was just able to make out the salty aroma of tears. “I love you, and we’ll always have each other, one way or another.”

As Bud’s voice trailed off, and Rocky’s surroundings turned black, he finally understood. He would always be a part of Bud, and Bud a part of him.