passed and Emily didn’t make an appearance. She didn’t show up that night either, or even the next day. Fortunately Blue was there, and she gave me my due. When she opened my cage door, I couldn’t resist the need to strut out like a drum major in a marching band.
“You’re so handsome.” She laughed. “Whoever adopts you is going to be totally lucky.”
I went stiff.
Sure, I had seen the Adopt-A-Pet programs on the local news, but I had given them no thought. If I had wanted a dog, I would have gone out and found a purebred something that cost a great deal of money. A moot point, however, since a dog never would have fit into my world. Dog hair, dog walking, and a secret love of hand wipes didn’t go together. Though that was hardly my concern now. Adoption was.
Where the hell was Emily? Surely she would adopt me. She would take me home. My wife loved dogs. For God’s sake, she loved Einstein.
“No, no, no!” I moaned.
My heart rate shot up and I started the wretched drooling thing. On my clean fur!
The next day I was moved up front to a long cinder block room filled with bright fluorescent lights and a long line of cages. Here they had a German shepherd, a few other dogs and cats, a guinea pig, even a rabbit at the end of the line. As it turned out, it was Wednesday, a big day for adoptions.
My scruffy neighbors posed for each person who entered the room looking for an animal to love. My mind raced. If I was adopted, would that make this insane situation real? Permanent?
I whimpered and moaned, foaming at the mouth like Old Yeller.
The rabbit went surprisingly fast, the cats snapped up in a matter of hours. Even the guinea pig found a home. At the end of the day only the shepherd and I were left. I was relieved. The shepherd was not. He sank down into his cage, muzzle on his paws, and stared off at nothing.
By the end of the week, “Shep” and I were still there. I’d had a close call when a young family showed up. But after a quick—and I thought, inspired—baring of canine teeth, the middle-class gaggle of four fled. Afterward, Nurse shook her head at me and conferred with the vet about something I couldn’t make out. All I cared about was that I had averted disaster.
Emily still hadn’t shown up, and only Blue seemed to notice that something was wrong with me.
“Hey, Einstein,” she said, trying to calm me as I whimpered and drooled. “You miss Emily, don’t you?”
My head went up, my ears perking forward.
“Yeah,” she said, “I totally get it. You miss her. I called her, left messages telling her what was going on. But listen, she’s got a plate load to deal with right now. Dead husband, and all. Shrew of a mother-in-law. On top of everything, I don’t think she could take watching someone walk out of here with you. So she sort of went cold turkey. Nurse told me she resigned as a volunteer and isn’t coming back.”
Oh my God!
I was inconsolable the rest of the day. Shep tried to cheer me up, but he wasn’t much better off than I was.
On Monday evening Vinny came in and opened the shepherd’s cage. The proud dog scuttled backward, his giant paws churning up the towel and cushion flooring, his deep whimpering a plea. Not that this deterred Vinny. He reached in with some sort of stick and lasso, capturing Shep around the neck, yanking him out.
“Hey, where are you going?” I called out.
This wasn’t part of any schedule I had been able to discern. But neither Vinny nor Shep bothered to enlighten me.
By the end of Vinny’s shift, Shep hadn’t returned. The next evening when Blue returned and saw the empty cage, she seemed surprised.
“Damn,” she said.
Fear brought out the worst in me; it always had. I was barely nice to Blue, alternating growls with whimpers.
She looked at me. “You really have to get your act together. I know you never would have bitten that little girl, but you can’t expect anyone else to know that. And you know what happens if we
“You’re so handsome.” She laughed. “Whoever adopts you is going to be totally lucky.”
I went stiff.
Sure, I had seen the Adopt-A-Pet programs on the local news, but I had given them no thought. If I had wanted a dog, I would have gone out and found a purebred something that cost a great deal of money. A moot point, however, since a dog never would have fit into my world. Dog hair, dog walking, and a secret love of hand wipes didn’t go together. Though that was hardly my concern now. Adoption was.
Where the hell was Emily? Surely she would adopt me. She would take me home. My wife loved dogs. For God’s sake, she loved Einstein.
“No, no, no!” I moaned.
My heart rate shot up and I started the wretched drooling thing. On my clean fur!
The next day I was moved up front to a long cinder block room filled with bright fluorescent lights and a long line of cages. Here they had a German shepherd, a few other dogs and cats, a guinea pig, even a rabbit at the end of the line. As it turned out, it was Wednesday, a big day for adoptions.
My scruffy neighbors posed for each person who entered the room looking for an animal to love. My mind raced. If I was adopted, would that make this insane situation real? Permanent?
I whimpered and moaned, foaming at the mouth like Old Yeller.
The rabbit went surprisingly fast, the cats snapped up in a matter of hours. Even the guinea pig found a home. At the end of the day only the shepherd and I were left. I was relieved. The shepherd was not. He sank down into his cage, muzzle on his paws, and stared off at nothing.
By the end of the week, “Shep” and I were still there. I’d had a close call when a young family showed up. But after a quick—and I thought, inspired—baring of canine teeth, the middle-class gaggle of four fled. Afterward, Nurse shook her head at me and conferred with the vet about something I couldn’t make out. All I cared about was that I had averted disaster.
Emily still hadn’t shown up, and only Blue seemed to notice that something was wrong with me.
“Hey, Einstein,” she said, trying to calm me as I whimpered and drooled. “You miss Emily, don’t you?”
My head went up, my ears perking forward.
“Yeah,” she said, “I totally get it. You miss her. I called her, left messages telling her what was going on. But listen, she’s got a plate load to deal with right now. Dead husband, and all. Shrew of a mother-in-law. On top of everything, I don’t think she could take watching someone walk out of here with you. So she sort of went cold turkey. Nurse told me she resigned as a volunteer and isn’t coming back.”
Oh my God!
I was inconsolable the rest of the day. Shep tried to cheer me up, but he wasn’t much better off than I was.
On Monday evening Vinny came in and opened the shepherd’s cage. The proud dog scuttled backward, his giant paws churning up the towel and cushion flooring, his deep whimpering a plea. Not that this deterred Vinny. He reached in with some sort of stick and lasso, capturing Shep around the neck, yanking him out.
“Hey, where are you going?” I called out.
This wasn’t part of any schedule I had been able to discern. But neither Vinny nor Shep bothered to enlighten me.
By the end of Vinny’s shift, Shep hadn’t returned. The next evening when Blue returned and saw the empty cage, she seemed surprised.
“Damn,” she said.
Fear brought out the worst in me; it always had. I was barely nice to Blue, alternating growls with whimpers.
She looked at me. “You really have to get your act together. I know you never would have bitten that little girl, but you can’t expect anyone else to know that. And you know what happens if we
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