Puppy Love

“Do I really have to be here? I’m really not in the mood to be around anyone! Why can’t I just stay home alone? I’m 15! I’m not a preschooler!”

Jen rolled her eyes and prayed to whatever deity would listen to grant her the patience not to murder her own child.

“Trust me Ellie, in the mood you’re in I’m sure mom will wish you had stayed home! Look, you and my mother have more in common than you think, and right now you need someone who can relate to your particular type of angst! She just broke up with the guy she was dating, so at least the two of you can bond over a good man bashing session!”

With a sigh of exasperation Ellie threw the door open and launched herself out of the car. “Have fun at work, mom.” She sneered, slammed the door, and stomped up the walkway to her nana’s door.

“No wonder I’m so frigging grey!” Jen muttered as she drove off.

Ellie opened the door and walked in as if she owned the place. No matter what was happening in the world, she always knew she would be safe and welcome in nana’s house. Maybe her mother wasn’t so crazy after all. She peeked into the kitchen, and saw her grandmother in the backyard through the patio door. She opened the fridge, grabbed an iced tea, and stepped out onto the patio.

“Hey, sweetie, you’re here! Have a seat. Isn’t it such a nice day? It’s a great day to bitch about how much men suck!”

Ellie nearly choked on a mouthful of tea. “Nana! What did you just say? Wait a minute, is that beer? It’s only 10 am! What the heck?” Nana took a swig, belched, and set the can down on the table. “Hey, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, and don’t look so shocked, you’ve heard me swear before. And, this is now a safe zone, so if you feel like it, you can also swear all you want!” She stared at her granddaughter over her glasses, “but no beer for you! Your mother would kill me!”

Ellie sat down beside her grandmother and just stared at her. She knew Nana was always a little weird, but not in a “psycho” way. Now she was beginning to wonder. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each of them sipping their respective drinks. Ellie really didn’t feel like talking about her breakup, since even thinking about it made her tear up. She hated being so sensitive, and felt foolish for believing her boyfriend’s lies. 

“I don’t know about you, but as much as I’m pissed about my EX boyfriend and his shenanigans, I really don’t feel like doing any man bashing!” Nana took another long drink of her beer, and Ellie nodded her agreement. Another long silence passed between them before Nana spoke again.

“Would you like to hear a story about the greatest love of my life?”

Ellie smiled at her Nana. “ I think I’ve heard just about every story about Grampy that you and mom have ever told! I didn’t think there was anything else to tell!”

“Oh no sweetie, “ Nana had a twinkle in her eye, “ this isn’t about your grandfather. This is about a fellow I met when I was 21, during the summer of the great pandemic! Would you like to hear it?”

Ellie was so shocked, all she could do was nod. Nana reached into the cooler beside her and cracked open another beer. She took a long drink, belched again with a little giggle, and sat back with her feet outstretched.

“I will never forget that summer as long as I live. As you know, the great pandemic of 2020 was a nightmare for a lot of people. Businesses went under, governments fell apart, so many people got sick, and ended up either disabled or dead. And the man I loved decided that since he couldn’t come see me, he would get drunk and bang some hoe for comfort! Oh he used the classic excuses, “oh it was only once, we were drunk, it didn’t mean anything, blah, blah, blah!” I told him to go fuck a sheep, and told my mother I was going to spend the rest of the summer at the cottage. The cottage was right on the beach, and the nearest neighbours were at least a kilometre away. It was the best therapy ever! I swore I would never let another man deceive me again! Of course it didn’t work out that way, but that’s a depressing story for another day! This is about my one true love. Back in those days, I had a far better singing voice than I do now, and every night I would sit out on the deck and sing to the sunset. It was my way of trying to find a way to love myself again, because I was feeling pretty down on myself for a while. Well, one night while I was singing, this little figure wandered out of the bushes. It had to be the cutest mutt I had ever seen! He looked a lot like a boarder collie, but he definitely had something else mixed up in there. I watched him sit down on the beach and listen to me sing. When I stopped singing, he did that cute little head tilt thing, and then he just trotted off! Now this went on for a few nights before I decided to talk directly to him. He sat there listening to me, right up until I stood up to approach him. I guess he was shy because he ran off. So I figured that I would just wait for him to approach me. Each night he would listen to me sing, and each night he would leave when I was done. But I started to notice that each night he would sit just a little bit closer. It got to the point where he was sitting about 5 feet away from me. After I finished my song, I decided to try to talk to him again. I said to him, “did you like that one bud? I wrote it myself!” He did the head tilt, got up, and I thought he was going to leave again. But he didn’t. He came up to me, sniffed my hand, and did a little head butt in my palm. He was actually asking me to pet him! His fur was so soft, and he looked at me with the sweetest big brown eyes, and I swear in that moment, I fell completely in love with this goofy little dog. I thought for sure he had to belong to someone, but he had no collar, and he was a little skinny, so I figured at that point he must have been a stray. I took the time to ask around town about him, but no one had ever seen him. No one knew anything. So, for the entire month of August, that sweet little dog was my constant companion. He loved to swim as much as I did. He slept with me. When I was overwhelmed and crying my heart out, he licked my tears and gave me sweet doggie kisses. He even chased the rodents away. There were times when I poured my heart out to him, I swear to god he understood me. He never left my side for the rest of the summer, and when I finally got called back to work, I was determined that he was going to come home with me.” 

Ellie sat completely transfixed, waiting for nana to continue her story. After about a minute, she noticed a single tear trickling down Nana’s cheek.

“Nana, what’s wrong? Didn’t you take him with you? Did someone show up and claim him? Did he run away? What happened?”

Nana swallowed hard. “You see this scar on my arm? The one I never talk about? The one I say I got from falling? That’s not true. Now, you’re going to hear the truth, and I know you’re old enough to hear it.”

“Oh no! Oh please tell me he didn’t attack you!”

“Oh no, sweet girl, he didn’t. Quite the opposite. He saved my life. You see, it was my last night at the cottage, and since I was going to leave early in the morning, I was at the gas station fuelling up and getting munchies for the road. Well in those days the bar was just the next street over, and it was quite common for the drunks to come to the gas station to get their munchies on the way home. This drunk was very different. He decided that I was just the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, and he followed me to my car. Just as I opened my door, he grabbed me. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong, and he had a knife. He cut my arm, and that’s when Buddy jumped out of the car and attacked him. Unfortunately, the asshole stabbed Buddy.” The tears were flowing freely down Nana’s face now. “The police arrived and arrested the man who attacked me, but it was too late. Buddy died in my arms.”

Ellie was crying now too. The two women held hands while the tears ran. “The greatest love of my life was that stupid hero dog. I will never forget that summer when a stray dog taught me the meaning of true love.” They took a few minutes to wipe away tears and blow their noses. They sat in silence and sipped on their cold drinks. Birds chirped. Bugs buzzed by. Children’s laughter drifted in on the breeze from the nearby park. After a few more minutes, Nana heaved a big sigh. “Are you ready to man bash now? I’ve got some stories about jerks you wouldn’t believe!” They spent the rest of the day laughing hysterically about some of the stupidest men they had ever come across, and actually took the time to talk about some of the nice guys they met. “Your Grampy was one of the best, that’s why I married him. Did you know, he had the biggest, softest, sweetest big brown eyes I’d ever seen?” She winked at Ellie. “He also really loved dogs.”

At 5:30, Jen pulled up in front of her mother’s house and honked the horn. She watched as her mother and her daughter hugged and kissed goodbye. Nana waved goodbye to her daughter and disappeared into the house. Ellie got into the car and sat silently for a few minutes. 

“Did you have a good time with Nana? Are you feeling better? “

Ellie nodded silently. 

“Mom?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Could we please get a dog?”