Monkey Business

May Monday Night Blues #1

PROMPT: Share a sad story in your blog entry, but not just any sad story, your sad story should have an interesting twist or an unexpected happy ending. Your story can be taken from personal experience, something you witnessed, or completely fictitious.

I loved him. I loved him with all my heart and soul, and we were inseparable. He was privy to my fondest dreams and was a keeper of all my secrets. Winter nights were spent relaxing beside a nice, warm fire and summer days were spent running together through woods, stream, and fields. I guess you could say Rocky was my first love, as far as a human can love a pet anyways. It's true what they say, you know. Dogs really are a man's best friend, a girl's bestie too. Rocky was a fixture on the farm and my constant companion. Down at the creek one day, I came across a snake. I guess Rocky could tell I was scared because he attacked it before it could get too close to me. The next day, he wasn't waiting on the porch for me when I woke. I walked the farm calling for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Days went by and still he never appeared, never came to my calls as I continued to walk the pastures looking for him. I was despondent, crying myself to sleep each night of his disappearance. One day, I happened to hear a whine as I passed by the sheep barn. Immediately, I ran into the barn in search for him. I found him bedded down amongst the hay in the feed room. His snout was swollen so much his right eye was closed. He must have gotten bitten while he was keeping the snake away from me. I rushed to get my family, hoping that maybe my big brother or parents could carry him back to the house. We did get him back to the house and I set up a nice bed area for him on the back porch. Daddy called the vet, who made a house call to see to my best friend. The doctor lanced open the bite and gave Rocky some kind of shot and left after telling us that there was no guarantee he would survive. I stayed by Rocky's side, crying, blaming myself. A child's logic that he wouldn't have been bitten if I hadn't wanted to go to the creek. So, I stayed there and I prayed and I tried to make deals with God. "Please, Lord let him live. If you let him live I'll never get in trouble again." Maybe it was blind hope, but I thought he was going to pull through. He didn't though. He died in his sleep and finally was no longer in the pain brought on by the venom from the snake bite. I cried for days. The world wasn't such a bright place to be any longer. A couple of months passed while I lived in that emptiness. Momma came to my room one day and told me to go out into the yard with her. I just figured she wanted me to help her in the garden or something. To my surprise, our neighbor was visiting. He had a litter of puppies in the back of his truck and one of them looked just like Rocky, only the fur on his head stood up on end like he had stuck his little paw in a light socket. Our neighbor had come to show us the legacy Rocky had left behind. After the pups were old enough to wean, the neighbor man let me keep the little bugger that looked like Rocky. I named him Einstein and he became my new best friend, until he went into the road and someone ran him over. But there were plenty of pets after him, some who wriggled their ways into my heart and stole my love just as much as Rocky had all those years ago.

Is it fiction or is it real life? I'll let you decide.
Word count - 684