Life-Saving Dog

Jannet stomped into the living room, fuming through her nose. Her daughter, May, sat cross-legged on the couch, and the dog, Billy, laid sideways beside her, his head resting on her thigh. On the TV, Elsa was telling the world to “Let it go!” once again. 

“Get out of there!” Jannet said. “You sack of shit, get out!” 

The Golden Retriever leapt down immediately, lowering his head and tucking his tail between his legs; May paused the movie and jumped to the rescue. “Leave Billy alone, he wasn’t doing nothing!” She held his neck under an arm lock and laid her head on top of his. 

“This shit peed on the fridge again! I’m tired of cleaning it, he has to go.”

“But he’ll stop, I swears it!” The girl’s eyes watered. “Won’t you, boy?” 

“I’m sorry, May, but I’m done. I can’t take it anymore!” She took a pause to calm herself, then kneeled before her daughter. “Listen, maybe this is what’s best for him. Maybe he’ll find a better home, one with a yard where he can pee and poop as much as he wants; where he can play catch and run wild. I’m sure he would like that much more than being stuck in a small little apartment.”

“But I wouldn’t be with him!” A tear dropped from her left eye.

“I know, honey, and I’m sorry, but we don’t have a choice. A dog like him wasn’t made for living in an apartment.” 

“But I love him! Please, Mom, don’t take him away! Please!” May squeezed Billy’s neck while sobbing uncontrollably, letting tears and snot drip on the dog’s fur. The Golden Retriever tried to slip his head through her arms, but the girl’s embrace was stronger. 

“I’m sorry,” Jannet said, fighting back tears. 

#

“Looking for a new home,” Jannet’s Facebook post read. It featured a picture of Billy with an artificial bone clamped between his teeth and the sentence written in yellow on the top. The post’s description provided the owner’s contact information, as well as a description of the dog’s traits. A day later she received a message from an old high school friend, Jocelyn, requesting to see the dog in person. After that, Jannet walked around the house with a smile on her face; after that, May spent all day in her room crying. 

When the day came for Jocelyn’s visit, May barricaded herself in her room. She blocked the door with every piece of furniture she could lift, then closed herself in the closet with Billy. Jannet knocked at the door for about five minutes before trying to open the door—it wouldn’t budge. 

“Honey, please, come out,” Jannet pleaded. “They’ll be here to see him soon. Please, honey.”

“Go away!” May yelled. “I’m not letting them take Billy.”

Jannet pushed against the door with her shoulders. She could hear the furniture behind scraping against the wooden floor as the door opened it wider. Once there was enough room for her to pass she squeezed her way into the room then searched around for her daughter. Checking the closet was the next thing that came to mind. 

“Go away!” May said as her mom swung the closet door open. “You’re not taking him!”

“May, please, they’re just coming to see him, no one is taking him away.” 

“You’re a liar. I saw your post on Facebook, you want to give him away.” The girl put herself between the dog and the mom, her eyebrows curled in an expression of defiance. 

“Okay, May, that’s enough!” Jannet took her daughter in her arms, then called after Billy. “Come on boy, let’s go to the kitchen.” 

Half an hour later the doorbell rang. 

“Isn’t he adorable?” Jocelyn said as if addressing a baby. “Look at him, he’s so cute!” 

#

Before the weekend, Jannet took Billy to a pet store to be groomed and cleaned. When she went back to pick him up, she decided to buy a new leash and some treats—to offer Jocelyn as a bonus. She wanted to give her almost-forgotten friend no reason to change her mind. Giving the dog away was destined to devastate May, and Jannet didn’t want to make it worse by having the new owners return him a couple of weeks later. The girl would then have to grow accustomed to being without him all over again; it would give her false hope, and that would only make matters worse. Besides, once Jannet was rid of Billy she would like to stay that way. With that in mind, she picked up a new dog-bed before leaving the store. 

As soon as May saw the bags in her mom’s hands her lips curled into a teeth-revealing smile. She then ran over and hugged Jannet around the waist. The mother was confused at first, but glad to see her daughter’s change of mood. Dropping the shopping bags on the ground, she returned the embrace. 

“Do we get to keep him?” May asked, her eyes turning towards the dog accessories. 

Jannet’s heart dropped. “No, honey… These are for the new owners. I’m just getting them a little something, as a thank you for taking Billy.” 

May’s smile faded almost instantly. Tears started to form in her eyes, but before they could fall down her cheeks the girl had turned her back and stormed off. Billy followed close behind; Jannet watched in silence.

#

Hearing the doorbell ring, Jannet rushed to answer the door—it was Kera. They exchanged some pleasantries, talked about the sunny weather, asked a few catch-up questions. Once awkward silences became hard to avoid, Jannet went upstairs to fetch Billy. 

“May, it’s me,” she said after knocking at the door. “Open the door, it’s time.”

“No, you’re not taking him!” came the high pitched voice from inside. 

“I’m coming in.” The mother opened the door, revealing a girl cuddling a dog beneath a Frozen blanket. “Come on, honey, they’re here. Billy, come here, boy!”

The dog remained motionless. After a few seconds, Jannet used the trick that never failed to work: “Who’s at the door?” she said with a condescending voice. 

Billy raised his head in alarm and barked. May tried to hold on to him, but he succeeded in squirming his way out of her arms and bed, freeing him to run down the stairs—barking all the way. May threw the blankets off her and ran after him—crying all the way. Jannet attempted to stop her daughter, then, after failing, followed her down the stairs—sighing all the way. 

When she re-entered the living room, Jannet saw Kera playing with Billy by the door and May hiding behind the kitchen island. 

“He’s great!” Kera said, petting Billy’s head. “Don’t worry, Jannet, I’ll take good care of him. My husband is obsessed with dogs, and we live right in front of Victoria’s Park. He’ll have tons of fun with us. Besides, you and your daughter can visit whenever you want.”

“That’s great to hear,” Jannet said, knowing full well they would never visit. “Thank you so much Kera, you’re taking a great burden out of my shoulders. Billy’s great, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that he’s not adapting well to living in an apartment.”

“I understand completely. My friend, Cara, had this Shih Tzu who made a mess of things everytime she—” The loud thud of a door banging startled her to silence. 

Jannet looked back towards the kitchen, recognizing the sound as coming from the back door. “May?”

#

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the police officer said. “We couldn’t find her. We’ll continue the search tomorrow morning. Don’t worry, we’ll find her.”

“Thank you,” Jannet said, unable to lift her gaze. 

“Have a good day ma’am.” The bulky man walked towards the front door. “We’ll call you as soon as we hear anything.” 

Jannet nodded, and the officer left. She sat on her couch for a while, using tissue after tissue to wipe her face. When waiting became unbearable, she rose from the sofa, put her sweater on, and walked out of the house. She soon started hearing Billy crying and clawing at the back door. After her daughter had disappeared, she had decided to wait until she was found before parting with the dog. At the time, she didn’t consider Billy’s inability to stay home alone, and how that could restrain her from leaving the house now that she was alone. Her only option was to take him with her, and hope that he didn’t stop at every tree along the way. 

And so they walked in the forest together, the woman breaking the darkness with her phone’s flashlight and the dog sniffing the ground. They passed through towering red oaks and yellow birches and stepped on dry leaves and fallen branches for hours, all under the cover of night. Still, Jannet and Billy kept on searching, the mother with her eyes and the pet with his nose. At times she had to stop and lean against a tree, catch her breath, before continuing. Her throat ached from screaming her daughter’s name, and yet she kept on screaming. She kept delving deeper into the woods, hoping that her mother's intuition would guide her to May. 

It was half past midnight when Jannet started to think about heading back. Her phone battery was running low—soon she would be swallowed by darkness. Billy’s pace was slowing, and so was hers. She sat on a fallen tree to catch her breath—and cry—before starting to walk back the way she came. A few steps later, Billy raised his head and began barking.

“What is it, boy?” Jannet asked, her voice weak and failing. 

Billy tugged at his leash, freeing it from his owner’s hand, then bolted towards the darkness. 

“Billy, wait! Come back here!” She ran after him, letting his constant barks guide her. Low branches whacked her on the face as she rammed through the forest, giving her cuts she would only notice later. At the time, she was only worried about not losing someone else that day. She kept calling after the dog, but her voice wasn’t strong enough. All she could do was run. 

Billy’s barks grew more distant with time. Jannet tried her best to keep up the pace, but her legs were already throbbing from the previous two hours walk. She ended up flat on her face, cracking her phone screen in the process. When she got up, the only sounds she could hear was of leaves rustling in the wind and crickets chirping. Broken and beaten, Jannet fell to her knees and started bawling. Her hands were sticky with face fluids by the time she heard a faint bark in the distance. She got to her feet and followed it. A few seconds later, another bark ensued—louder. The more she walked the louder they got, motivating her to quicken her pace. Once she arrived at a clearing in the woods where the stars shone on a shallow stream, Jannet saw May petting Billy. 

“May!” she exclaimed—barely audible—then ran towards her daughter.  “I’m never losing you again.” She squeezed her daughter against her chest, letting tears drop down on her young head. “Or you.” Billy joined the hug. “Never never never never!”