Advice From a Dog

I hate parties.

Piper weaved through the crowd of people, suffocating. The heat, the noise, the lights, the colors, she wanted to pass out. She wanted to breathe. But that wasn’t the worst part of it, no the worst were the smiles. Smiles carved of expectation, of “this is going to be a great night”, of the yearn to impress. Their craftsmanship was so fine that you almost couldn’t tell they weren’t real, that is, until you look at the eyes. Those were too occupied darting around the room in search of any reflective surface to take part in the smile’s charade. 

But you would never catch these smiles falter, no, this was a night of fun. This was a night 364 days in the making, a night that would commemorate the year by making you forget all about it. At least, that’s what Piper’s friends had told her. In reality, her downturned mouth and folded arms made it clear that she was not here to impress. In fact, she would rather be anywhere else than here, especially now that her friends had left her. She couldn’t blame them though, it was fun to wear a mask sometimes. But for her, now was not one of those times.

And so she weaved through the throng of facades, desperate to find asylum from the onslaught of sensory stimulants. She shoved past a man who tried to approach her, a man whose smile was starting to show its true colors. The room twisted around her, laughter and music turning into an orchestra of nausea. She felt the corners of the room tighten around her vision when she felt the refreshing cold of a doorknob beneath her fingers. 

Not caring what was on the other side of the door, she twisted and pushed, her body falling through the doorway. Goosebumps raised on her bare arms as she stumbled into a room blissfully free from crowds and smiles. Fresh air filled her lungs, Piper had never loved the smell of a garage more. She collapsed on the cement stairs beneath her, soaking in the crispness of the cold. Whereas her world seemed to melt under the heat of other’s gazes, it sharpened in its isolation. 

The blissful silence was interrupted by a loud bark, shocking Piper out of her daze. She sat up quickly and looked around her, searching for the source of the noise. Another bark followed, Piper stood up and peered around the white tesla parked in front of her, it’s metal wonderfully cool under her clammy palm. She found a large dog kennel, and inside of it a dog excitedly wagging its tail.

Piper grinned, she walked over to the kennel and let the dog sniff her fingers. “Well hello there,” she sat down, her legs crossed, “Guess I’m not alone here after all.”

The dog barked, seemingly in confirmation. Then it pawed at the lock on the kennel and paced around. Piper sighed, “Well, I’m sure no one would mind if I let you out for a little bit. Besides, the garage door is shut, you’re not going anywhere.”

And so Piper reached into the kennel and fidgeted with the simple lock, the dog giving her fingers an excited lick. As soon as she opened the door, the dog jumped on her and began licking her face. Piper giggled, “Looks like someone’s excited. I’m sure it gets boring in there, and lonely. Poor little puppy, left all on its lonesome while its owner parties all night long.” The dog barked in what could only be agreement.

“I wonder what your name is,” Piper twisted the dog’s collar until she found a little gold tag on it, it read Mozart, “Mozart! How cute!”

Mozart licked her face again, then settled down into her lap, soothed by the strokes of Piper’s hand down his back. “Well Mozart, looks like it’s just me and you tonight. Huh, celebrating New Year’s Eve with a stranger’s dog, a little sad isn’t it?” 

Sighing, she set her hands down on the floor. Her head was still spinning from the party, and the cool cement helped ground her. Mozart looked up at her expectantly, “What? Ok fine, at least I’m making someone’s night a bit better,” she began petting him again, “My friends all ditched me, they convinced me to go to a party with them and soon found out I’m no fun. I used to be though, I used to love these kinds of things,” Mozart looked up at her again, “I know, hard to believe right?”

Piper sighed, “But that was before, when I was with Will. We were together for a bit more than a year, he was the real life of the party,” Piper stared at the ceiling, grinning as she got lost in her own little world, absentmindedly stroking the dog in her lap, “We actually met at a party, a Halloween party of a mutual friend’s. I was dressed up like Kim Possible and he was Spiderman, our friend introduced us and sparks just flew. He wasn’t perfect, of course, neither am I, but we complimented each other so well. I loved him a lot,” her smile faltered, “I still do, actually.” 

“He’s already found another girl, probably kissing her at some party right now. And here I am, chilling with a dog in the corner of a random person’s garage, pretty lame huh,” she chuckled, “Well, at least I’m self aware.”

Mozart sat up, staring at her, “You know what, why should he get to affect me, huh?” Piper questioned, then she paused, “I guess I’m letting him.”

Piper scratched behind Mozart’s ears, making them flop from side to side, “You know what bugs me too,” she began, “Everyone is always so caught up in their relationships. If they’re in a relationship, how many friends they have, who their significant other and friends are. Why is it not enough to just be me? Am I not interesting enough? Huh?” But despite her questioning, the dog just looked at her with an open mouth and absent gaze.

“You know what, men are rats,” Piper said defiantly. Mozart barked in confirmation, or at least that’s what Piper took it as, “Yeah! Who needs them anyways, I don’t need a boyfriend, I am perfectly interesting all by myself. Like, I genuinely enjoy classical literature and poetry, that’s something. I’m ok-ish at math, I run sometimes, I make my bed every morning and don’t really like TV shows, is that not enough? And I’m pretty good at painting too. That’s it! I’ll become the greatest painter to ever exist, then that’s what people will care about when they hear my name. Like, if you met Frida Kahlo what would you first ask her?” Still no response from the dog, surprisingly, “Probably not something about her boyfriend.”

With the heat of her rage gone, Piper realized her butt hurt from the cement floor and changed her sitting position, to which Mozart whined in protest. She scooted over to the side, her back resting on a lawn mower, “You know what though, I could paint the greatest masterpiece the world has ever seen and still be lonely as heck.”

And so she sat stroking a stranger’s dog in a stranger’s garage and stared at a stranger’s tesla. She didn’t say anything for a while, but Mozart didn’t seem to mind, as long as he was being pet. He was an awfully good listener, and Piper certainly needed someone to listen right about now.

“Maybe this is all for a reason,” Mozart perked up when he heard Piper speak again, “Maybe I can take this and become better from it. Maybe Will wasn’t as great as I thought, he didn’t even like Emily Dickinson. Maybe someone is out there ready to love me, but I have to love myself just as much before that can happen,” she paused and chuckled, “But Mozart, I’m tired. The space that Will used to take up inside me left this little… black hole thing that is sucking up everything else in my life. Maybe this is for the best, but maybe I’m not quite ready to work to get the best.”

Mozart licked my hand, “And maybe that’s ok for now.”

A loud yell sounded from outside the door, shocking Piper from her daze, “I guess everyone will be counting down soon, I should go celebrate the new year with everyone and stop being such a party pooper.” Piper started to stand, but Mozart whined in protest.

“You know what, you’re right. What’s the big deal about tonight anyways, some numbers change, big whoop. Time is worth more than numbers on a clock, it can be worth a smile, a real one.” Mozart looked up at Piper with his mouth agape, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“Yeah, good enough for now.”