Hercules

‘Finally, sweet freedom at last,’ Hercules thought to himself, grinning. ‘I’m not a prisoner anymore, I can pursue my dreams!’ Hercules had spent years watching a snapshot of the outside world, crying out for his chance to be in it, and now it was finally here. The door had been opened for him. Well, it had been left open, but Hercules could recognise divine intervention when he saw it. He trotted along the road now, the grainy bitumen leaving an imprint in each foot. The world was his to explore. Bright and frightening blurs of colour spun past him, leaving a burnt smell behind them, and a breeze brushed fallen leaves across the ground. Delicious dinner smells wafted past his nose, making it twitch in delight. He was tired of the same dinner night after night, although he’d miss his personalised silver platter. 

‘I suppose that is the cost of freedom. Luxury is the price of liberation.’ He pondered this idea for a short while. ‘Worth it,’ he concluded. The wind shifted, and he caught a different, familiar scent on the air. He stopped walking and lifted his nose into the breeze. 

‘Who are you?’ He wondered to himself. He’d been smelling her for years, and now finally had a chance to find her. He followed the scent to a telegraph pole – the first clue. His mind was racing.

‘Is she a beagle or a terrier, like me? Could she possibly be a poodle? No, that would be too good to be true!’ Before he could help it, he’d cocked his hind leg, and covered the clue with one of his own. He hadn’t met her yet, but Hercules knew that she was the One. He paced down the street searching for the next hint, his heart pounding in his chest. He was on his way to the lady of his dreams. As he approached the second clue, a local bus stop with her label on it, he paused. In a moment of reflection, he thought of what he was really leaving behind. The silver platter didn’t really matter at all. It was his family he’d miss. He remembered the pats and cuddles they gave him. The youngest, his favourite, let him share his pillow. 

‘I’m sorry, Toby, but the world is calling my name, and I must answer the call.’

***

“Hercules! Her-cu-les!” Toby cried out, as loud as his lungs would allow. He had been calling out his name for hours now and his throat was becoming hoarse. His cheeks were wet with 5 o’clock’s tears and now his eyes were stinging again for more. He was carefully listening for the pitter-patter of little Hercules running towards him. Each crunching leaf, squeaking gate, and scurrying lizard sounded like his dog was close by, but each time Toby turned to look, he was met with disappointment. 

“Hercules! C’mon boy, come home,” he called out again. Toby couldn’t hold back this time, and the sorrow spilled over as he began to cry. He sat in the gutter with his head hung low and hands in his lap, and sobbed into his chest, his tears leaving growing dark patches on his school shirt. Hercules was his best friend, and he was heartbroken without him.  

“Toby, honey, let’s go home and have some dinner,” said his mother softly. “We can keep looking for him in the morning.” She was crouching down beside him, gently rubbing his shoulders. 

“B-but M-mum,” he said between sobs, wiping his nose with his sleeve, leaving a glistening trail along his cheek. “We can’t just leave him out here,”

“Hercules is a very clever dog. He will find his way home.” 

Toby was afraid his mother was wrong; that Hercules wouldn’t find his way home, but he couldn’t speak between the tears. He was quietly weeping when he eventually stood up again. They walked together holding hands, Toby leaving a light trail of tears behind on the footpath; breadcrumbs for little Hercules looking for his family. 

***

The sun was setting behind the horizon, and Hercules’ elation was following closely behind it. As the streetlights flickered on, he began to wonder if this was really his destiny.

‘Was the open door really an invitation?’ He considered silently. ‘What if it was all a big mistake?’ The pavement underfoot, earlier radiating warmth through his paws, was now cooling and felt harder with each footstep. The small pieces of gravel that had exhilarated his senses just hours ago now dug painfully into his paws and between his toes. He didn’t want to walk anymore. Hercules, lovestruck, had followed her scent for blocks and blocks, through parks and narrow passages between buildings. Now her scent was lost, only to be replaced by smells he didn’t recognise at all. He sat down on a crushed piece of cardboard and scanned his surroundings.

‘Where am I?’ Nothing he could see or smell offered an answer. ‘How do I get back to Toby? Will I ever see him again?’ At this thought, he lay on the ground and rested his chin on his front paws. He tried to pretend he was back on Toby’s bed; instead of resting his chin on his own cold paws, it was on Toby’s soft pillow, and instead of cardboard, he was curled up on a warm quilt. He pretended that the leaves that brushed against him in the breeze were gentle pats from Toby’s small hands. Just as Hercules began to drift off into a canine reverie, he was pulled from his dream by the sound of footsteps clicking towards him.

“Aww look honey! A sweet little dog is curled up over there!” Hercules lifted his head to follow the woman’s voice and saw her pointing towards him. When she saw his face, she added, “Oh he looks sad, doesn’t he?”

“Poor little mutt,” the man answered, also looking towards Hercules now. “Do you think he’s lost?”

‘Yes! I’m very lost! Do you know Toby? He’s the boy who shares his bed with me,’ is what Hercules tried to say, but could only bark at the couple. 

“He answered you! He must be a very clever dog,” said the woman, now approaching Hercules. His tail began to flick in hope. As the man crouched down beside Hercules, he sat up straight on his cardboard bed.

“He isn’t wearing a collar. What should we do?” He said to the woman, looking back to her for an answer. Hercules looked at her too.

“Well we can’t leave the little guy here in the cold,” she said, without hesitation. “Come on cutie.”

Hercules obeyed, leaving behind the cardboard without a backwards glance and thinking of nothing but his favourite boy, Toby. 

***

It was dark now, and Hercules was still missing. From where he was sitting in the lounge, Toby could see Hercules’ untouched dinner in his silver bowl just outside the front door. When Hercules couldn’t be found after dinner time, Toby’s mother had suggested leaving his food outside so he might find the house again. Toby couldn’t tear himself away from this spot, just in case Hercules appeared and he could rush to the door and welcome him home. But with each minute that passed without Hercules trotting through the gate and up the steps to dinner, his heart dropped a little further. He wasn’t crying anymore, but his eyes were puffy, and his head ached from miserable hours spent sobbing. He sat silently in his pyjamas, hugging his knees tightly to his chest. He could hear his parents hushed voices in the kitchen.

“Where could he be? I can’t believe we haven’t found him yet,” said his mother hopelessly. There was a brief pause before someone spoke again.

“He might still come home,” his father offered weakly. “It’s not too late.”

“We can’t stay awake all night waiting. Toby has school tomorrow and it’s already past bedtime.” 

“There’s nothing more –“ his father was cut off by the telephone ringing, promptly answered by his mother.

“Hello? Yes, that’s me. Who’s this?” There was silence while the caller spoke. Toby’s curiosity pulled his eyes away from the window, and he watched the door to the kitchen instead, wishing he could see through it. “Oh, what a relief! Are you sure it’s him?” she continued, followed by more silence. “No no, we can collect him tonight,” she paused again. “Thank you, see you soon!”

A moment later, his mother entered the lounge, beaming at Toby. 

***

He couldn’t believe it. If he’d known they were taking him here, he would have stayed on that cold, flat piece of cardboard. Just when he thought the night couldn’t get any worse, he found himself here – at the V.E.T. 

‘My dream of freedom became my nightmare,’ he’d thought when he first arrived. He shuddered every time he caught that distinctive V.E.T. smell. He’d been patted a little, and he had to admit that was pleasant. The small liver treats were a nice touch too, but they didn’t trick him. This place was dangerous; a house of horrors, and he knew it. This is where dogs lost their dignity. Sometimes the cries of other animals could be heard through the walls. Hercules thought of the rumours he had heard, the ones about dogs going to the V.E.T., and never coming out again. He tucked his tail further between his legs. He was alone in a small room and feeling scared – all he wanted was to be with Toby again. The door to the room opened and a woman walked inside. She brought that smell with her, and Hercules lowered his head onto his paws, forlorn. 

“Are you ready to go home, Hercules?” She cooed, crouching beside him.

‘Home? Toby?’ His ears pricked up.

“Your family will be here soon; they’ve missed you so much.” Hercules sat up now, staring at the woman. “You are a clever dog, aren’t you?” She scratched his ears and patted his paws. Then he heard it, an unmistakable sound that ended loneliness. First a high-pitched squeak, then two dull thuds, and that final door slam. Now the woman in the room knew it too.

‘Toby! I’m in here waiting for you!’ Hercules tried to say, but again, could only bark.

“Just wait here, I’ll bring them in” she told him as she stood to leave the room. Hercules did as he was told, and found the smell didn’t really bother him anymore.