the air, too exhausted to do anything but hang slackly in her hands.
“You poor puppy. You poor, poor puppy,” she whispered.
My name is Fella,
I thought to myself.
{ SIX }
Nothing in my life has ever felt as good as the cool, clear flow of liquid that pulled me out of my dreamless sleep. The woman stood over me with a water bottle and was carefully showering me with the sweet spray. I shuddered with pleasure as the trickle painted my back, and raised my mouth to lap and bite at the stream the way I’d often attacked the drizzle that fell from the faucet above the trough in the Yard.
A man stood nearby, and both he and the woman were watching me with concerned expressions.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” the woman asked.
“Looks like the water is doing the job,” he replied.
From both of them came the sort of open adoration I often felt pouring out of Senora when she stood at the fence to watchus play. I rolled on my back so the water would wash over my hot tummy, and the woman laughed.
“Such a cute puppy!” the woman exclaimed. “Do you know what kind it is?”
“Looks like a golden retriever,” the man observed.
“Oh, puppy,” the woman murmured.
Yes, I could be Puppy, I could be Fella, I could be whatever they wanted, and when the woman swept me up in her arms, heedless of the wet splat I made against her blouse, I kissed her until she closed her eyes and giggled.
“You’re coming home with me, little guy. I’ve got someone I want you to meet.”
Well, it looked like I was a front-seat dog now! She held me in her lap while she drove, and I gazed up at her in gratitude. Curious about my new surroundings, I finally crawled off and explored the inside of the car, astounded at the rich, cold air coming from two vents in front of me. Against my wet fur the air was so chilly I actually began to tremble, and wound up climbing onto the flat floor on the other side of the car, where a soft warmth, just like Mother, quickly lured me back into another nap.
I woke up when the car stopped, sleepily regarding the woman as she reached down and picked me up.
“Oh, you are so cute,” she whispered. As she held me against her chest and stepped out of the car I could feel her heart beating strongly and I sensed something like alarm coming off of her. I yawned off the last vestiges of my nap and, after a quick squat in some grass, was ready to face whatever challenge had her so worked up.
“Ethan!” she called. “Come here; I want you to meet someone.”
I looked up at her curiously. We were in front of a big whitehouse, and I wondered if there were kennels in the back, or maybe a big yard. I couldn’t hear any barking, though, so maybe I was the first dog here.
Then the front door of the house banged open and a human being like I’d never seen before ran out on the porch, jumped down the cement steps, and stopped dead in the grass.
We stared at each other. It was, I realized, a human child, a male. His mouth broke into a huge grin and he spread his arms. “A puppy!” he sang, and we ran to each other, instantly in love. I could not stop licking him and he could not stop giggling, and we rolled together in the grass.
I guess I had never bothered to consider that there might be such a thing as a boy, but now that I had found one, I thought it was just about the most wonderful concept in the world. He smelled of mud and sugar and an animal I’d never scented before, and a faint meaty odor clung to his fingers, so I licked them.
By the end of the day I would know him not just by smell but also by sight, sound, and gesture. His hair was dark, like Bobby’s, but very short, and his eyes were much lighter. He had a way of turning his head to look at me as if he were trying to hear me more than see me, and his voice bubbled with joy whenever he talked to me.
For the most part, though, I was drinking in his scent, licking his face, chewing his fingers.
“Can we keep him, Mom? Can we keep him?”
“You poor puppy. You poor, poor puppy,” she whispered.
My name is Fella,
I thought to myself.
{ SIX }
Nothing in my life has ever felt as good as the cool, clear flow of liquid that pulled me out of my dreamless sleep. The woman stood over me with a water bottle and was carefully showering me with the sweet spray. I shuddered with pleasure as the trickle painted my back, and raised my mouth to lap and bite at the stream the way I’d often attacked the drizzle that fell from the faucet above the trough in the Yard.
A man stood nearby, and both he and the woman were watching me with concerned expressions.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” the woman asked.
“Looks like the water is doing the job,” he replied.
From both of them came the sort of open adoration I often felt pouring out of Senora when she stood at the fence to watchus play. I rolled on my back so the water would wash over my hot tummy, and the woman laughed.
“Such a cute puppy!” the woman exclaimed. “Do you know what kind it is?”
“Looks like a golden retriever,” the man observed.
“Oh, puppy,” the woman murmured.
Yes, I could be Puppy, I could be Fella, I could be whatever they wanted, and when the woman swept me up in her arms, heedless of the wet splat I made against her blouse, I kissed her until she closed her eyes and giggled.
“You’re coming home with me, little guy. I’ve got someone I want you to meet.”
Well, it looked like I was a front-seat dog now! She held me in her lap while she drove, and I gazed up at her in gratitude. Curious about my new surroundings, I finally crawled off and explored the inside of the car, astounded at the rich, cold air coming from two vents in front of me. Against my wet fur the air was so chilly I actually began to tremble, and wound up climbing onto the flat floor on the other side of the car, where a soft warmth, just like Mother, quickly lured me back into another nap.
I woke up when the car stopped, sleepily regarding the woman as she reached down and picked me up.
“Oh, you are so cute,” she whispered. As she held me against her chest and stepped out of the car I could feel her heart beating strongly and I sensed something like alarm coming off of her. I yawned off the last vestiges of my nap and, after a quick squat in some grass, was ready to face whatever challenge had her so worked up.
“Ethan!” she called. “Come here; I want you to meet someone.”
I looked up at her curiously. We were in front of a big whitehouse, and I wondered if there were kennels in the back, or maybe a big yard. I couldn’t hear any barking, though, so maybe I was the first dog here.
Then the front door of the house banged open and a human being like I’d never seen before ran out on the porch, jumped down the cement steps, and stopped dead in the grass.
We stared at each other. It was, I realized, a human child, a male. His mouth broke into a huge grin and he spread his arms. “A puppy!” he sang, and we ran to each other, instantly in love. I could not stop licking him and he could not stop giggling, and we rolled together in the grass.
I guess I had never bothered to consider that there might be such a thing as a boy, but now that I had found one, I thought it was just about the most wonderful concept in the world. He smelled of mud and sugar and an animal I’d never scented before, and a faint meaty odor clung to his fingers, so I licked them.
By the end of the day I would know him not just by smell but also by sight, sound, and gesture. His hair was dark, like Bobby’s, but very short, and his eyes were much lighter. He had a way of turning his head to look at me as if he were trying to hear me more than see me, and his voice bubbled with joy whenever he talked to me.
For the most part, though, I was drinking in his scent, licking his face, chewing his fingers.
“Can we keep him, Mom? Can we keep him?”
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