Where Is Buster?

It's 8:00 am. Thursday morning. I start coffee for me and my husband Albert. Then cook breakfast for Marcus before he goes to school. Then onto my daily chores of making the beds, cleaning the house and feeding our dog Buster. I grabbed a bag of dog food and went outside to Buster's doghouse. Usually, I can hear him barking before he sees me come around the corner. I see an opening in the fence around the doghouse. Buster was nowhere in sight. I walk down the street and back to our house and began calling him “Buster, Buster!” I hear no barking or him running to greet me. I get on the phone to my husband to tell him Buster is gone. My heart is beating so fast I can hear it in my ears.

“Buster is gone!” I exclaimed.

“What do you mean he's gone,” said Albert.

“Did you see him!” I yelled.

“No!” said Albert.

My heart sank of the thought of what may have happened to our beloved pet. This is not the first time that he has left home. Whenever he does gets out and just walk around our house and I always find him. This time it feels different. We've had Buster since he was six weeks old. My son chooses him out of a litter of ten puppies. His tan coat and big brown sad eyes melted our hearts. I don't know how I will be able to tell our son that his dog he loves so much is gone. It's a cool fifty-three degrees this morning. The neighbor's must think that I have lost my mind walking around in my Betty Boop pajamas and pink bunny slippers with an old raggedly blue terry cloth robe. My husband is home early from work today. I watch him as he walks up the street to our neighbors the Kroger's house. Mr. Kroger is a retired Marine Sargent. My husband and Mr. Kroger took off walking around the subdivision looking for Buster. I get in my car and drive to the animal shelter. The dog catcher comes through our neighborhood three times a week. There is always a ridiculous number of stray dogs walking through our neighborhood daily. Maybe Buster is at the dog pound with the rest of the stray dogs that has been picked up. When I get to the dog pound there is no one at the window. I ring the little doggy bell and a round, pale woman with glasses comes out.

“Can I help you?” asks the woman.

“Yes, my dog is missing,” I said.

“Okay,” said the woman.

She takes a set of keys off the wall, and I follow her to back. I start looking for Buster through the doggy gates. The smell was awful, and the dogs were all so loud. There were so many different breeds of dogs all shapes and sizes. I couldn't find Buster anywhere. The lady told me to check back around 4:00 pm. She said he may be in the next round of dog pick-ups for the evening. I get back into my car and leave the pound for home. I'm thinking my husband and Mr. Kroger may have found Buster. When I get home, I see my husband and Mr. Kroger standing in the front yard talking.

“Good morning,” said Mr. Kroger.

“Good morning,” I said.

“No luck babe said Albert. “We'll keep looking for Buster.

“Alright,” I said

I unlock the door to our house. My husband follows with his arms around my back. Our son will be getting home for school soon. I have been defrosting a package of ground beef in the kitchen sink since this morning for the spaghetti. I put a boiler on the stove and fill it with water for the spaghetti noodles. My husband decides to go around the block and see if he can see Buster walking around some place. I finish making the spaghetti for dinner. I baked two apples pies a couple of days ago. This will be our dessert along with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. I began to set the plates around our table for dinner. I can hear my husband's truck drive into our garage. My son is the first to jump out of the truck.

“Mom, where's Buster!” said Marcus.

“I don't know,” I said

Marcus eyes began to fill with tears as he runs up and hug me. I remember what the lady at the dog shelter told me about the last dog pick up.

“Let's go to the dog pound,” I said

We all get into my husband truck and headed for the dog pound. When we got to the pound, there was a line of people checking to see I their pets were there. Marcus and I get in line. After about thirty minutes, we ended up at the front window. I tell the lady that I had come early looking for a gold and white pit bull. She takes us to the back and there curled up in a ball is Buster. I feel so relieved that we finally found him.

“Buster, Buster!” yells Marcus.

He was so happy to see us. There was a surcharge of fifty-five dollars for us to get him out of the pound. We paid it and took our little happy dog home. After we got home, my husband went into the house to get a hammer and some nails. Buster keeps getting out through a small opening in the fence. My husband closes up the hole tightly, so he won't escape again. Buster runs into the house ahead of us. Our spaghetti dinner was still warm on the stove. I placed the spaghetti, salad and rolls on the table. I fixed everyone plates and we ate dinner.

“Can Buster sleep in my room tonight?” Asked Marcus.

“Of course,” I said.

I went to the den to get Buster's old doggy bed and place it on the floor in Marcus's bedroom. My husband went to get a bowl full of water and some dog food for him to eat. We were all so happy to have Buster back at home.