A little ray of sunshine
It was only a little bit ago that I first opened my eyes to the sight of my mother and four other siblings staring at me. I guess I’m the last one. The light is strong, so I close my eyes again. I slowly adjust to the light and sights around me over the next few days. There are so many smells, so many large things. My mom leads me and the rest of the family to our bed after dinner. We all snuggle in together, I breathe in the scent of my mom deeply as I listen to the thump-thump of her heart. I wake to another morning of my mother prodding me awake. Again, I am the last to wake up. I don’t like the morning, I’m always so sleepy. After a morning meal and play time with the very tall humans, I go back to sleep. The same process repeats for the next month and a half. I get better at walking and even learn how to jump on small wisps of flowers.
The next day I wake up to find most of my siblings are gone. I blink slowly, sometimes it takes a minute for my vision to focus. Fear clutches at my heart as I see one of my only two sisters left being picked up. The tall human takes her away. I look up to follow their path, I lurch forward as I try to follow, but the large wall in blocking my path. I whine in distress as I lose view of her. My now only sister joins me at the border. She doesn’t seem as shocked or sad as I am. She learned faster than I did, even began running much sooner. She gazes up with her tongue hanging out in joy as a pair of arms grab her and heft her up. It occurs to me as I watch her ascend that this might be a good thing. I hear loud humans talking, nothing I understand, but their voices sound excited and happy. Maybe my sister is going home with them. Maybe all my siblings are going to their forever home. I hope so.
I wait the rest of the day, in-between naps, to see if the human will come and get me next to take me home. Night falls rapidly. It’s only my mom and myself left. The taller human comes by everyday to play with me and feed me and take me outside to do my business, but I never leave. The routine is the same for a couple of months. I’ve grown a lot in that time. I’m given more freedom as the fence is taken away and learn what the rest of my home looks like. My mother is always there to cuddle me when I’m sad. The human is always very kind to me. I just wish I felt that joy my sister did when she left.
One day shortly after my training session, I hear the doorbell ringing. I stay where I am as I have been taught. I watch as two medium sized humans and a smaller one enter my home. I snap my attention to the smaller one, who is playing with a small cube in her hands. I perk up. It looks like one of my toys! This one might be a new playing partner. While the larger humans are distracted I make a bee-line for the small one, I reach her and look up into the large volume of hair that hides her face. I wag my tail earnestly. I’m still not very big, I barely reach her knee.
A wide smile breaks across her face, I try to mirror it as best I can. She opens her hand and shows me her magic cube, it has a different kind of toy on each side. I lick her hand and wag my tail some more, which seems to make her happy. She drops to the floor and hugs me, pulling me into her. I rest on her lap, happy as I’ve ever been. I hear the taller humans stop talking suddenly as they notice us. The two walk to their smaller one quickly and bend down to pet me. They are talking in higher tones than previously, their excitement matching my new friend’s. I watch as her parents talk to my caregiver and soon the girl is hooking my leash onto my collar. I follow her outside. We walk down a dirt path and I see a large shiny thing with wheels. I clamber into the moving thing and bark happily at my small human. After a few treats I understand one word, “Sunshine.” My girl says the word with enthusiasm, she is as excited as I am. She pats my head before coming to sit beside me. I realize as the thing I am in starts to move that maybe I’m going to my forever home and this small human is mine.