Henry walked alongside the river looking for a place to rest. His wet paws hurt and he was hungry. How did this happen? Not so long ago, he was sleeping in a warm house.
His humans had not been the nicest people but at least he’d had shelter. Food appeared in his dish every day and there was always fresh water. Sometimes, they took him to the dog park.
When he got older, he couldn’t make them happy no matter what he did. They never called him cute or good boy anymore. No one had time to walk him and he stayed in the back yard a lot. He was always in their way.
Now he was far from that place.
Did they mean to leave him in the woods? He barked and chased them, doing his best to get their attention. Dust flew behind the car until Henry could not see it anymore. He did not understand.
In this new place, people hurried him off their porches and out of their yards. He spent his days searching for shelter from the cold rains. Humans would talk to him sometimes but they never let him stay.
Walking near the edge of the woods, Henry saw a tree with a hollowed-out trunk. He walked over to it and sniffed it. Some other animal had recently slept there but he’d have to ignore the scent. This was no time to be picky.
Shivering, he curled up and laid down, licking the water from his paws. His thoughts wandered to Gypsy. When they’d met that day at the dog park, she was a young pup too. Henry’s memories came flooding back. They became fast friends.
“Hey! I’m Henry. What’s your name?” He approached the beautiful pup slowly, then began sniffing her face and neck.
“I’m Gypsy,” she said, bouncing around him before she stopped and sniffed him back. For what seemed like a long moment, the two young dogs just stood there in a majestic stance. Standing nose to nose, Gypsy continued. “I’m a German Shepherd Husky mix. Your coat is a good color. What kind of dog are you?”
“I think it’s called just a mutt.” Henry lowered his head and looked at the grass, scratching at it with his paw. “That’s what my humans call me at home.”
“Aren’t your humans nice to you?” Gypsy ran around Henry several times sniffing some more.
“They used to be really nice,” he said. His sadness was palpable.
“Well, hopefully they will be nice again.” Gypsy looked at him with concern for a few seconds and then started bouncing around him, jumping up and down with playful excitement. She was good at cheering up her human. Maybe it would work with Henry.
Henry couldn’t help but smile as he watched her jumping from one side of him to the other. He shouted, “Let’s go play!”
Gypsy and Henry ran around the dog park until they were both worn out. Plopping down on the cool grass together was sheer joy. They talked about everything and nothing while their humans stayed distracted with each other.
It was one of Henry’s best days.
As he laid there warming up in his hollow den of dried wood chips and nature’s debris, he stopped shivering. Recalling that day at the dog park was a welcome distraction from his new reality. That memory was all the warmth he needed.