The Last Days

The old dog growled softly at a rain drop that hit the window. As the rain increased in intensity, he gave up, and lay his white muzzle back down on his large paws.

He stared at the window watching the raindrops with his doleful old dog expression. It was the expression that many old things shared, human or animal. It was a quite expression of defeat, and waiting for the inevitable, and anticipating it.

The door opened with an “sshhk.”

His human walked in, and the tip of his tail gave a feeble yet happy “thump” against the carpet. His human looked at him with pity as she walked over to pat his flat round head.

Why pity? After all had the dog not had a full life? Did the human not see the welcoming defeat the… relief that he was going to die soon, very soon? His hips didn’t set right, he was going deaf and blind, and the dog felt, smelled, the cancer growing inside him. Did the human not see the pain he was in? It was typical human to want to hold on to something for as long as possible. Sure, the dog loved his human, but he was sure he would love relief much more

The human set back on her haunches, and heaved a sigh. “I think your time is running out old friend.” the human sighed.

The dog may have not known English, but he knew tones. He could hear it in the human’s voice. Defeat. Yes.

He tried to stand up. His spindly legs scrabbled on the wooden floors. His human put their hands underneath his chest, and lifted him up. She gave him a pat in the rump, and that nearly sent him back down.

The human opened the door again, and he waddled out to relief himself. As he hitched his leg against a hedge the best he could and did the obligatory pee sniff, he felt his old joints click and pop. Old, worn out joints.

The human let him back in. He shook the rain off his short coat. She poured some dog food in a bowl. He waddled over to this, always happy to eat, and sniffed the dry kibbles. More of the special senior dog food that his vet put him on. Disgusting.

Had he not earned more than some stale kibbles after all these years of unconditional love and adoration? Surely he had earned some of substance. Chicken? Bacon? Eggs at least. After all the times he patiently let his human cry into his fur over her mates and woes, and greeted her at the door with wagging tails, bright eyes, and uncontrollable bladders?
Kibbles. What a dishonor.

A happy cry sounded from the doorway. He felt his heart flutter in disgust, and his human ran over to the other human in to the doorway and did that thing that humans did. A kiss?

He glowered at the other human, her stomach swollen with their spawn, who stole all of his human’s time. She cooed at the dog, beckoning him over, taunting him. He merely stared at her, and walked into the living room and lay on his bed, trying to make a point. He knew that he couldn’t growl, like he wanted to so badly, lest he face the harsh chastising. And god forbid he snap at her like he also wanted to so badly.

He heard the humans murmuring, no doubt talking about him and his condition, their voices thick with worry. Yes, he knew tones quite well.

The pregnant human came in to study him, just staring at him, and he felt his heart flutter again. Okay, maybe it wasn’t with disgust this time. Maybe his heart was starting to give away. After all he was… 11? 12? It ran together.

He lay down, and tried to calm his heart, and fear stung his gut. No matter how much you prepare yourself for it, maybe it still stings.

He walked to the couch that his human was sitting on, and jumped on. The pregnant human gave a cry of discontent, but his human shushed her as he crawled into his human’s lap, not unlike a young puppy desperate for attention. He had been too big to reside in his human’s lap since he was a pup, but it never stopped him.

The dog gave a little sigh of content as his human stroked his head. Oh the times he had had with his human… his best friend.