I recently started volunteering at my city’s Humane Society. I am a canine caretaker. I take dogs on walks and play with them.
Yesterday I took my brother to the place for him to look at the puppies from the windows on the walls. Every day, there are new faces. The one we saw was white and tiny, splattered with freckles. The snout almost looked like it had been dipped in a bowl of ink. He was licking the glass and pawing at us from his invisible jailcell. He licked at the pale afternoon sunlight, glimmering from the door. He drank in the outside world. He begged for us to take him, but we knew we couldn’t.
My brother was tempted, to say the least. He isn’t used to it.
I’ve been tempted before. A one-eyed Dachshund mix with long hair: she hopped in excitement when I let her outside. A short-haired, robust female with a flat face: Lil Girl, who is still there, and whose sad gaze pierces my soul as I watch her from the other side of the glass. A hairy big fella who shyly rubbed the side of his body against my leg and had eyes as brown as mine. A long, black-and-brown Dachshund named Len, whose little legs resembled a caterpillar’s when he walked by my side. All of them have found homes, except Lil Girl.
At home I have Benjamin Button, whose fur is coarse and whose bones are made of plastic. He will sleep forever, but he stopped breathing a couple of days ago. I don’t own the batteries to make him live again. He sits among my books, resting in his green little bed, and sometimes when I type in my laptop I remember he’s there and pet his hard little head.
He’s the only pet I can have. He needs no feeding, no discipline, no rules, no care. He could never make a fuss or get in fights. He only needs brushing and batteries. And yet I run my fingers through the fake grey coat and love him regardless of his lifelessness. Because he’s mine, and no one else’s, you know? And that’s more than enough.
THANK YOU FOR READING!
I’m glad to see that so many people read “The Fall of Anacleto”, thank you! I will be making more short stories soon. For now, I’m taking a semi-break and trying to take it easier on myself. The holidays are almost upon us and it’s a nice time to celebrate.
Take care, and I’ll see you next time!
Copyright © Blanca Parga 2020
Subscribe to Eleven of Spades:
Eleven of Spades 