My breath created a warm vapor against
the glass as I peered through the backseat window. My eyes were wide with
curiosity as I watched three individuals moving boxes and furniture into a
house. One of them, I had known for a while, but the other two were fairly new
faces that I had just seen a few times before.
Pushing a path through a pile of
clothes, I found my way to the front passenger seat and perched myself on the
ledge of the window. This one was open and I slowly contemplated jumping out to
join my friend.
“Bender, please stay in the truck!”
Lindsay yelled as she waved at me, “We’re almost done.”
Birds were chirping in the trees, the
air was humid with a lingering greasy smell and my excitement was motivated by
these new surroundings. I could hear children laughing somewhere in between the
sounds of the pizza shop across the street and passing cars on the brick road.
It was a beautiful day in Spring and this place had green grass with blossoming
flowers everywhere! I paced back and forth on the seat, trying to contain
myself. Finally, I noticed Lindsay walking up to me with a smile on her face.
She
was a small human, with short messy brown hair and always seemed to be laughing
at something. Her smell was sweet yet earthy, sometimes one scent stronger than
the other. “Bender, are you ready to see our new home?” she questioned as she
scooped me up into her arms. Gently pinching my ear and nestling her face into
my scruff, she whispered “Just us. This is our home. Lindsay and Bender.”
I
remember her saying something incredibly similar the day we met, the day my
adventure from exploring the desert alone evolved into exploring the world with
a partner. Lindsay was always telling me things, talking about ‘home’ and
explaining how it was always ‘just us’ or promising she would never leave me. I
loved her for keeping me- but I wondered if she ever understood that I chose to
keep her too.
I wiggled out of her grip making a leap
onto the ground. Following unfamiliar smells, I dashed towards a bush instead of
walking with Lindsay to the house. Within moments of approaching, two squirrels
sprinted out from underneath, making a getaway attempt to a nearby tree. My
leash quickly ended the chase, so instead I dug my paws deep into the ground,
barking as loudly as I could. This was my home. To confirm that notion, I hiked
my leg on the bush as I watched the squirrels disappear into the branches.
“Benderman,
come!” Lindsay commanded while she pulled my leash. I felt my harness tighten,
so I turned to continue by her side, hopping up concrete steps of the front
porch. We entered the home through an antique door into a tiny dimly lit foyer.
There was an elaborate wooden staircase with detailed carvings that led up to
the main living space. It was so massive it curved around twice before ending
into loft style hallway.
I
moved my glance upwards, wondering why everything seemed so empty. Lindsay
joined me in a brief stare as she closed the front door. Hearing a click and
feeling my harness drop to the floor, I shook my body in comfort while taking
in new smells of wood, dust and sweat; it made me sneeze a few times.
Lindsay’s
hands slowly glided along the banister as she began the climb upstairs. I leapt
passed her, stopping at the top to wait but to also watch. I could see wet
lines forming on her cheeks. They glistened in the sunlight through the windows
as she took the final step. Standing next to me, her head turned in all
directions, from the corners to the ceiling, from the foyer back to the
hallway. I poised myself against her knees and nudged her with my nose, giving
a subtle lick to get her attention.
“I
did it.” Lindsay seemed to push the words out of her mouth, almost with
surprise. She joined me on the floor and crossed her legs. I cuddled into her lap
waiting for her to come back to reality, because I knew she was lost in thought.
I had seen her like this before, but it was a sad time. This was different.
We
sat there on the floor together for what seemed like forever. At one point she
just held me on her shoulder, hugging me and kissing my head, telling me I was
‘a good boy’ and repeating “I’m so happy, Bender.” I was happy too! My tail was
wagging so much, I was surely doing some of the necessary floor dusting.
Eventually,
Lindsay stood up and carried me through each room explaining what it was. To be
honest though, I didn’t care and I am still not sure what a toilet is- No matter
how many times I’ve seen one. Many of the rooms were open clear spaces, the
only one that had any of Lindsay’s furniture was the bedroom, and that’s
exactly all it had inside: a bed.
By
the time the sun had set, Lindsay was playing music inside the kitchen and
singing at the top of her lungs. She twirled me around while rocking me in her
arms. Her brown eyes shined with enthusiasm that I had not seen since meeting
her. She seemed ambitious about life and was sharing things she called ‘dreams’
with me. Most of them I did not understand, especially the one about ‘getting
everything we wanted’ because I was content with having food, a place to poop
and a place to sleep- but it seemed really important to her. She also used the
word ‘independent’ a lot, sometimes puffing her chest out, while waving her
finger and stomping around; which was kind of confusing.
That
night while we laid in her bed listening to crickets, she held me close and
traced my eyes with her thumbs “I’m so happy we found each other Bender, I
could never do this alone. I’m glad I kept you.”
I felt the same way. Wandering the desert solo had
its benefits, but sharing an adventure with someone was better. It was us, just
us, Lindsay and Bender, and I was glad that I had kept her.
No comments:
Post a Comment