Emily vs Suki

Emily stared down the dog, who sat at attention in the middle of the living room.

“Right,” Emily said firmly. “How hard can it be?”

She held up the harness, and the dog was gone.

“Oh god damn it.”

There was a crash from the hallway, but by the time she’d made it there was nothing but the shattered remains of that old, lime green vase that had sat there her whole life. The vase looked awful, and Emily had lost count of how many times she’d tried to get rid of it. Seeing it lying in pieces on the floor stopped her in her tracks though. A thudding noise that echoed through the house told her that the dog had gone upstairs, and with a shake to clear her head she darted after it.

“Suki! Walkies!” That was what you did with dogs, right? Say the word ‘walkies’ and they’d be there like a shot. It had some affect on Suki at least, in that there was another chorus of broken pottery from the back bedroom.

With more cursing Emily stumbled after the damn dog, but when she pushed the door open further the little cream terror bounded past her and into the main bedroom. For a moment Emily dawdled between trying to catch the bloody thing and checking how much damage had been done. Curiosity got the better of her, and she quickly leant round the doorway.

The Greek urn- nothing more than a cheap, tacky knock-off for tourists that had come back from a family holiday long ago- lay in two halves on the floor, the deep pile carpeting having done something to break its fall. Half a dozen cushions that lived piled on the foot of the bed, as though this were some boutique hotel instead of a family house, had been scattered around the room. As Emily turned to go she saw the cushion she had brought back from a school trip to Paris, oh-so-many years ago. The faded pattern had been torn in the excitement, and Emily blinked back tears as she stormed off.

“Suki! Will you just bloody stop!”

The door to the main bedroom stood wide open, but Emily hovered at the entrance nonetheless. It felt wrong to just wander in, even after all these years. Despite everything Emily couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“Old habits die hard, eh?” she said sadly.

A yap from inside the room brought her back to the problem at hand and with a deep breath she marched in. Suki was sat in the middle of the bed, tail wagging furiously across the covers, panting happily.

“Well at least one of us is enjoying themselves. Are you done now? Will you let me put the harness on you?”

After last time Emily did her best to keep the harness out of sight, and sidled up to the bed. If she focused on the dog then she could ignore the neatly made bed, the photos on the bedside table and the row of perfumes on the dresser. She could never forget all the wonderful smells of those, and her breath came in short gulps now.

At the last minute Suki bounded off the bed again and skidded out the room, barking merrily as she went. Emily’s fingers just brushed the dog collar, before it was out of reach again.

“Damn it!” she cried, and the first sob escaped. “No, stop it.” With two deep breaths she got herself back under control. “You don’t have time for this. Just get the damn dog.” As if she needed more reminding, her phone buzzed. “I’m working on it!” she shouted to the room in general, not even bothering to see which one of them was calling her. She was still mad at them for dropping this on her, but it was hardly the time to be arguing.

The pressure of the room got too much, decades of lived-in love and safety, and Emily stormed out after the dog. A quick scan of the other top floor rooms revealed nothing, so after making sure they were all firmly closed Emily headed downstairs again.

As she walked back into the living room there was a flurry of cream fluff as Suki made another dash for it. Emily was tired of the games now though, and lunged for the bloody thing. Her fingers caught in its curly fur and one of her nails snagged, almost tearing the tip clean off. While Emily hissed, Suki whimpered and darted to the corner. The doors were both closed, and Emily stood over the cowering dog in triumph.

“Nowhere to run now, you stupid thing. Just get your damn harness on so we can get going, will you?” She’d never liked dogs, and Suki was a brilliant example of why.

In the silence that fell Emily could hear the old grandfather clock in the hallway ticking. Another permanent feature of her life; she could remember sitting at its base and singing Hickory Dickory Dock as a child. Now it was just another thing she’d have to pack away.

Emily collapsed to her knees in the middle of the floor and started crying.

When her tears started to fade, she felt a gentle nuzzling on her arm.

“It’s stupid isn’t it?” Emily said as she stroked Suki’s head. “I was fine at the hospital, and at the hospice. Five minutes with you and you’ve driven me to tears.” She tried to laugh, but it only came out as a bubbly, snotty mess. There was still the old box of tissues, sat in the horrible tissue box cover that looked significantly less appealing than the crisp clean lines of the box it hid. As she fought to get a tissue out Emily realised she’d even miss that stupid cover as well. Not enough to have it in her own house however. Well, probably not, at least.

With her face cleaned up and her breathing under control again, Emily turned back to the dog. The pair of them glared at each other.

Emily moved first, taking a step forward and bringing the harness out again, daring the damn thing to run once more. But when Suki jumped back, her dopey dark eyes, mostly hidden by ridiculous amounts of fur, were scared.

“Oh. Of course.” Dogs were intelligent, of course Emily knew that. Had anyone bothered to try and explain to Suki? She knelt down and stretched a hand out, palm up, to the dog. “I’m sorry girl. But she’s not coming back. She’s-” Her voice caught again, but she forced herself on. In her back pocket her phone buzzed once more, and once more she ignored it. Why was there so much to do at a time like this? All she wanted was some peace and quiet. “She’s not coming back. It’s just you and me now, okay?”

Whether or not the words meant anything to Suki, she came forward and started licking Emily’s hand. Emily gave her a few moments to grieve.

“Now then, will you behave for me? For… for her sake?”

There was no fuss from Suki as Emily slipped the harness on and buckled it up. Side by side, in unspoken, mutual mourning, the pair of them walked out the door, locked up, and left their family home for the last time.