Entry for the Regent Her Campus Chapter Valentine’s Day Writing Contest
The Girl by Sandy Liddick
I was four when I met the girl. She was tiny, for a person. Maybe young like me, but still bigger.
I don’t know how old the girl was when we met—I’m not very good at remembering these things. Her hair was long and the color of straw, much lighter than mine. Her eyes were wide, and excited, and green. She reminded me of the happy songs the big people would play for us during our sleep. We slept a lot then.
She was different than most people I’d met before. Her hands were soft like warm clay and her voice was gentle when she took me to the car. I admit, I was nervous that first day because I didn’t know yet that the girl was good. But I stayed quiet and looked through the window to the blur of greens and greys outside. Wherever we were going, I hoped it was someplace nice.
The girl talked to me while we rode, and I liked the way her voice sounded. I couldn’t understand much of what she said but she called me hers and I thought I liked that. She brought me to a big house that smelled like rain and cinnamon. It was warm inside, but she took me back outside. I had never seen so much grass in one place. So we ran until we were both panting and I could hear her laugh. It is a good sound.
She gave me a necklace and made me promise never to take it off. She said it meant we will be friends forever. I decided then that I was safe, and that I would always keep it on.
A while passed, and the girl got taller and I got bigger too. Mostly because she likes to make cookies and I like to eat them. We make a good team like that. The girl sang to me sometimes and sometimes I danced for her. Sometimes we were silent, and she would read while I napped. I learned a lot about her by then, like the face she makes when she’s sad, her favorite song to sing, or what makes her smile most (I think it’s me). I tried my best to make her happy. I did my best dances for her in the kitchen. I cleaned up some of her messes. I kissed her face when she cried.
One day the girl left for a while. I don’t know where she went, but she was gone much longer than ever before and much longer than I prefer. I wasn’t alone—the others told me she would come back soon, but her bed was empty and seemed too big when I laid on it alone. I knew the girl must be doing something important. So I sat at the front door and wait.
It was still a while before she arrived again, but I was glad when she did.
“You are back!” I yelled out the door when I saw her, “You are back!”
She yelled something back at me before she hugged me, but I couldn’t hear much anymore. The girl went away often then. Sometimes she came back with books. Then she started coming with a boy. I liked him too. I did not like the important thing that took her away. But she always came back. So I waited.
But during one of her trips I got sick. I do not like to be sick without her. Before when I was sick, she would sing to me and wrap me in fluffy blankets. Instead the other people wrapped me in blankets and set me by the front door while I waited for the girl. The girl always comes back.
I think I went to sleep then, sometime during the waiting. It got very dark and cold and then very bright all at once. When I woke up I was in a different place and I felt much better, but the girl was still not there. I don’t know where the girl and the others went. Maybe I went some place instead. But I think that is okay. There are lots of other dogs here, and sunshine, and grass, and cookies. I think I will be here for a while. But I am okay waiting in the sunshine. I still have my necklace on too, so I know the girl will find me.