Noah and Mike

I'm in the kitchen making Noah’s lunch for school. I glance at the clock. “Noah, the bus will be here soon.”

“Mom, there’s a dog on the porch. Can we keep him? I think Dad and God sent him.” He sounds so excited.

Noah had just turned five when Mike died in a car accident. In Sunday School he learned that when you die you went to heaven, but he didn’t understand that Mike would not be coming home ever again. He would cry himself to sleep, and I would hold him, with my heart breaking for him.

A few months later, Noah started telling me God would let Mike come from heaven to visit him. He said Mike was watching over us every day, and we shouldn’t be sad. I knew he was dreaming about these conversations, but he was comforted by the dreams. He became a cheerful boy again, and that made me happy.

I walk out of the kitchen and look out the front window. I see the dog lying on its side, panting. He must be sick or in pain.

“Noah, stay inside until I tell you it’s safe.”

I speak in a soft voice as I move towards him. “Hey, pup, what happened to you?”

He looks at me with sad eyes and whimpers, but he thumps his tail a few times. I sit down and stroke the top of his head.

“See, Mom, he’s not mean. Dad wouldn’t let a mean dog be by us.”

“Honey, he could be someone’s pet. His family might be looking for him, and they’re sad. He is hurt too, so he needs a veterinarian.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but Mom, if no one has lost him, I know we would love him.”

“Yes, I’m sure we would, too. Go inside and bring out a bowl of water. He has to be thirsty.”

Noah opens the door and then hesitates. “I think I’ll name him Mike, just like Dad’s name. Dad said he was sending us a dog. I bet this is the dog.” Noah says while walking into the house.

I look up at the sky and say a prayer. “Please, Father, let the dog become ours. Noah insists the dog was sent by Mike. Please don’t break his heart.”

Noah comes out with a bowl half-full of water. He places it by the dog’s nose. The dog sniffs the water and sits up to drink.

“Noah, please don’t get your hopes up too high. If he is someone else’s dog, we have to return him to his family. Go grab your lunch, the bus is coming down the road.”

Noah runs inside and grabs his lunch. He runs down the stairs, but then turns around. He pets the top of the dog’s head. “Bye Mike, I’ll see you after school.” He runs off and makes it to the bus. He waves at me through the window as the bus drives by.

I let out a sigh. Noah is so sure that Mike sent him this dog. I’m worried his heart is going to be broken when the owner is found. I look down at the dog and his snout is on my knee.

“Ready to go to the vet?” I ask the dog as if he’s going to answer. I hope he can walk to the car. He does, but only uses three legs and refuses to use the left back leg. When I lift him into the car, he whimpers in pain. “Sorry, pup. I’m not trying to hurt you, just trying to get you some help,” I say in a soothing voice.

At the vet’s office, I’m shown into an exam room. I check at the front desk first, to see if anyone had asked about this dog. The office has no missing animal flyers that match this his description. While I wait for the vet, I talk to the dog.

“How did you get to my porch? Do you have a family that is frantically looking for you? Noah wants you to be our dog. He’s so sure his father sent you to us.”

The dog lies on the table, but he still wags his tail while I talk to him.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Mack,” a man says as he walks into the room.

I look up and our eyes meet. I’m unsettled by the stir of feelings that I thought were long gone when Mike was killed.

“Hi, I’m Lily Clark. It’s nice to meet you.” I’m surprised I strung words together.

“So you found this dog on your porch?”

“Yes, I’ve never seen him in our neighborhood. I was hoping he would have a chip. He’s injured, and won’t use his back left leg. He’s very lethargic too, but if I’m in pain, I don’t want to move either.”

“Let’s look for the chip first.” He takes the scanner that the tech had brought in earlier. After scanning over the dog twice, he doesn’t find one.

“Well, he doesn’t have a chip. That’s too bad. Let’s help this poor boy start feeling better.”

He listens to the dog’s heart and lungs and takes his temperature.

“Everything sounds good, and he has no fever,” he says.

As he examines the dog with his hands, I notice he isn’t wearing a wedding ring. What am I thinking? He probably doesn’t wear it to work. When he gets to the dog’s back legs, the dog yelps while he tries to manipulate the left leg.

“Sorry, pup. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I don’t think it’s broken, but I’d like to take X-rays just to be sure and to check for any internal damages. It looks like he was hit by a car.”

“Oh, you poor baby,” I say, stroking the dog’s head. “I wonder how far you walked to get to my house.”

“You don’t live in town?” Dr. Mack asks.

“No, we live out on Route 21. The big blue house that’s after the Mobile gas station.” Why did I tell him that?

“Yeah, I know that place. I’ve admired your flower gardens. They’re quite beautiful,” he says. 

“Thank you. My dad owns a landscaping business, so I had a little help to get them cleared. Then I just started planting to make it a three season garden.” Again I’m just babbling. I feel my cheeks flushing.

“It must be a lot of work. I hope you have help.”

“My son, Noah, helps me for as long as a seven-year-old can keep his attention.”

Dr. Mack laughs. “Sounds like a boy. I’m going to take this guy to X-ray. I’ll be right back.”

He lifts the dog gently and walks out of the room. I sit down in the chair to wait. Dr. Merrimack, or Mack as he likes to be called, is quite handsome. I can’t believe my reaction when he came into the room. Well, I’m not dead, and it doesn’t hurt to look at nice things. I giggle to myself like I’m in high school and the quarterback just walked into the lunchroom. With his rugged good looks, I’m sure Dr. Mack doesn’t lack for female attention. “Come on, Lily, he will not be interested in someone with a child. Get real,” I say out loud to the empty room.

Dr. Mack, of course, walks into the room.

“Are you okay, Mrs. Clark? I thought I heard you talking when I was walking into the room.”

“Uh, yes I’m fine. I tend to talk out loud to myself. Working from home, and with Noah in school during the day, I entertain myself. I’m not a crazy person, promise,” I say with a laugh.

“Nothing wrong with that. When you work with animals, they don’t talk back, so I can tell them all of my complaints and frustrations,” he says. He is smiling and I notice he has perfect white teeth. He could do toothpaste commercials. 

“Don’t you deal with owners all day long?”

“I do. That’s why it’s nice when the office closes, I can go in the back and spend time with the animals staying here. I can tell them all about how snotty, mean, crabby, or infuriating I feel their owner is. They will tell no one.”

I laugh at his words. “That sounds like a perfect way to vent. Where’s Mike, umm, the dog?” I ask.

“Mike? Is that his name? Isn’t he a stray?”

“My son said he was going to name the dog Mike, after his dad. His dad died two years ago, and he’s convinced the dog was sent by him.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. That had to be hard on your son. I can’t imagine losing my dad at such a young age.”

“Yes, he had a hard time understanding that Mike was not coming back home. He knew his dad was in Heaven, but he wanted his dad to still come home every night.”

There is a knock on the door and the tech brings in a laptop with the X-rays. Dr. Mack looks at them.

“The good news is nothing is broken. He has a sprained muscle in his thigh. What I can do is make a brace to hold it in place and take the strain off. If he can wear it and lie around like a couch-potato for two weeks, he should make a full recovery. He will be good as new.” He flashes me that smile again with his perfect white teeth.

“I’m glad it isn’t anything serious. Will he have to go to animal control? I mean, I could take him home for the two weeks making sure he rests. Is that allowed?”

“You’re welcomed to foster him until he’s healed. I have some resources I can check to see if there are any lost dogs in the meantime.”

“This may seem selfish, but I kind of hope he has no owner.”

“It doesn’t take long for a furry friend to work its way into our heart. I’ve never been able to say no to a dog. Which explains the five dogs living on my farm.”

“Wow, that is a lot of dogs.”

“I have to be honest, if this dog was left in my care, and I couldn’t find an owner, he would be dog number six.”

“Maybe we could work out an arrangement. We keep him for a month and then you get him for a month,” I say with an awkward giggle. Girl, that was the dumbest thing you’ve ever said!

“He’s going to be happy living with you and your son. I’ll wait to see him once a year for his yearly vaccines.” Dr. Mack says.

He has crafted a brace for the dog. He gives him a shot of pain meds and another that is an

“I’m going to send both home with you in pill form. Use a little peanut butter on them, so you won’t have any problems getting him to swallow them. He’s already to go. If you have any problems or questions, please call me. My answering service contacts me right away and I’ll get back to you, no matter what time it is.”

“Thank you Dr. Mack. Do you have a leash I could use? I carried him in, but the brace looks cumbersome.”

“Here, let me take him out to your car.”

Before I can object, he’s picked up the dog and heads out the door. I get ahead of him to get the car door open. He follows me and places the dog on the front seat. After he closes the car door he offers his hand to shake mine. When I feel my hand in his, I get goosebumps running up my arms. I wonder what those hands would feel like roaming my body? Gah!

“It was very nice to meet you, Lily.”

“You too.” Lame, Lily!

We are still holding hands and his smile is beautiful. I take my hand back and open my car door. Dr. Mack stops to wave as I pull out of the parking lot.

“Well, that was quite an adventure. Do you think I was too obvious I was affected by the doctor?” I’m talking to a dog who is asleep on the seat.

Noah is thrilled when he gets home from school, and Mike, the dog, is still here. I explain to Noah everything Dr. Mack told me about Mike’s care.

“I’m a good direction-follower. Miss Alder says, I always listen to get all the directions. Some kids don’t listen and then they make mistakes. Can I help give Mike the pills with the peanut butter on them?”

“I think that would be fine. It will be your job to keep him calm, so his leg can heal. Okay?”

“You can count on me, Mom.”

Noah spends all evening sitting next to Mike on the sofa, and never stops petting him. It’s quite the picture.

“Mom, can Mike sleep in my room?”

“Yes, but not on your bed. I’ll get a blanket for him to sleep on.”

After getting Mike set up in a make-shift bed, I tuck Noah into bed. “Good night, my sweet boy,” I say and give him a kiss.

“Night, Mom. Night, Mike.”

Noah does everything I asked him to do with Mike. He even picked up his poop with one of my garden shovels. After having Mike for a week, Noah tells me that his dad is very proud of how well he’s taking care of the dog he sent. He likes the dog being named after him, too. If Noah’s dream conversations makes him feel better, I feel better.

I’ve been checking all the message boards online, looking for anyone missing Mike, but I don’t find anything. Animal Control and the police department come up empty too, so I think I’ll tell Noah the next day that Mike is our dog to keep.

“Hey, Mom,” Noah says, while eating a bowl of cereal the next morning. “Dad says that Mike doesn’t have any owners, so we can keep him.”

I’m sipping my coffee when Noah makes his announcement, and I almost spit it out.

“Gosh, I was going to tell you this morning that I can’t find anyone missing a dog, so we can consider Mike to be our dog. You must be a mind reader,” I say.

“Mom, you can’t read someone’s mind. You can’t see inside their head. That’s silly.”

“I forget how smart you are. I stand corrected.”

“Dad told me, so maybe he can read your mind.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I just tousle his hair. “Time to leave for the bus, kiddo.”

On Saturday, we go out with my parents, or Mike’s parents for lunch and then some kind of activity. I’ve just finished getting ready. Noah and Mike are sitting on the sofa watching cartoons. I hear the sound of a car door, but looking at the clock, it’s too early for Mom and Dad to be picking us up. Peeking out of my bedroom curtains, I’m surprised when I see Dr. Mack. My heart skips a beat. How did he know where I lived? Duh! You told him about the blue house on Route 21. Just don’t let it be that he’s coming to take Mike away.



“Mom,” Noah yells. “There’s a man walking to the door. It’s Mike’s vet. I bet he’s the guy Dad said he was sending for you.”