Juliet Aurora

Finally, after almost five years, our hearts had healed enough to find a new bundle of fur to love. After the loss of our dear Tramp, due to old age, we needed that time; not to forget, but to go on and remember. We had promised the kids that, when school finished in June, that we would get a new puppy for them to raise and train throughout the summer. It was now the end of July. We had looked, but nothing seemed "just right". Then a tragedy rocked our family. My husband's brother died unexpectedly, and so young-only forty-four. We now needed something to divert our attention, hoping the somehow the pain would find a way to heal.

We stepped into the kitchen of the woman's house and found three of the most adorable balls of fur that you could imagine! Half Golden Retriever and half Border Collie, they were honey brown with traces of black, one with white socks and one with a white bib. I was drawn to the little girl, yawning and seemingly not to be bothered by the new people in her home. While her brothers pushed each other and showed off for us, she hung back and just waited. The woman said she was shy and not very outgoing, but we fell in love with her anyway. After the formalities of paperwork and instructions, Juliet Aurora rode home, at peace, between my two children.

The first few days were wonderful; again we had a wagging tail to come home to and puppy kisses to wash our faces. It was the nights that were troublesome! Tramp had slept in a box by my husband's side of the bed, when he wouldn't stop whimpering at night, but we had decided that Juliet would sleep in the kitchen. Right! After two weeks of sleepless nights for both of us, our vet suggested "crating"; so we gave in. Would you believe that not only did she sleep through the night, but she walked right into it when we told her it "was time for bed"! Okay, so we also put it in our bedroom, but we got some sleep!

She was such a bright little thing. She loved to do tricks and learned very quickly. She seemed to love to just make us smile. Her favorite thing was to run in the yard and "herd" us. Her instincts were very strong in this area. She seemed to know when one of the kids was trying to sneak around behind her! But my favorite was when she decided that she would sleep with my daughter at night. I would go in to give her a kiss goodnight, and there would be Juliet, all curled up at the end of the bed, pretending to be sleeping. I even saw her peeking once! So I would play along and let her stay there for a while, until my husband and I turned in. Then we would call to her and she would reluctantly get up and go into her crate and sleep until morning.

This continued with puppy kisses in the morning and happy tail wags in the evening until November second. That day something just didn't seem right. We took Juliet out in the morning, and she refused to "go potty." She'd pee, but nothing else. When she went inside, all she seemed to really want to do was rest. We just figured she had picked up one of our colds, no one was feeling too well that weekend. But things didn't change and by Monday had only gotten worst. I gently lifted her from the floor to the couch to lay beside me that evening, because she wouldn't jump up any more. "What's the matter, princess? What can Mommy do?" She lifted her little head up and looked me in the eyes and sighed, then laid it back down on my lap. A tear
fell from my cheek; I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

The next day she seemed remarkably better. She "went potty", but like anyone that has been sick, it wasn't right. She then came in and carefully laid down on her pillow. I had to go to work, so I said good-bye like always and got a puppy kiss and gentle wag. I was amazed when I came home! Juliet met me at the door , wriggling and wagging and just so happy! She even followed me into my bedroom and attempted to jump on the bed to give me more kisses! I was so happy to see that my little princess was well again. But I was wrong. Just a few hours later our horror began.

Suddenly our sweet little puppy jumped up from sleeping on the couch and threw up on the floor. She hadn't even been able to jump down, it happened so fast. As I started to clean up the rug, my husband took her outside. She seemed okay, just an upset stomach. We were so wrong. Not long after coming back inside, Juliet ran frantically into the kitchen and threw up again; but this was not the same. It was black. As I grabbed the paper towels, the odor hit me like a freight train- the metallic smell of blood- I was sopping up blood and my puppy was throwing up again! Within the span of fifteen minutes, as my husband was calling the emergency clinic, she vomited four more times and each time more red than the last time! I grabbed a small afghan, scooped up my princess, and we left with a "She'll be fine" to my two frightened children.

The vet came in and asked so many questions.

"Could she have been poisoned?"

"No"

"Ate something she shouldn't have?"

"No"

"Has she had all her shots?"

"YES, as a matter of fact, she was scheduled to be fixed on that upcoming Monday, Veterans Day."

They had no answers, we would have to wait for the blood tests, at least one half hour. But in the meantime we were allowed to see her. Such a little trooper, she stood up on that steel table on shaking little legs and never even whimpered. We petted her and told her how much we loved her and that everything was going to be okay. We would have done anything, no matter what the cost. Then the assistant took her again to the back room.

The vet returned. I looked up at him; his face was white, his hands were trembling. He sat down hard on the stool across from us.

"I want to show you something. I don't know how to explain this. Some times puppies get there first shots too soon, while the mother's antibodies are still in their system. And the shots don't work..."

I looked down at the paperwork spread out on the table, the black bars went too far across the page. The numbers were too high. I looked up and met his eyes; I saw tears. There was no hope behind them, only sorrow. There was nothing else he could say.

"Would you like a moment with her?..."

Inside my head I was screaming,
"NO! I want a life time! This can't be happening, she's just a baby. No..."

My husband grabbed me as I crumbled to the floor.
"Why?" was all I could say.

The assistant brought Juliet back in and gently placed her on the table. We could not control our selves, and why should we! Our baby was dying before our eyes, and we couldn't do anything! She placed her little head against my chest and sighed. Why was she still here? What made her so strong? I don't know how I finally let her go. I just kept telling her that she wasn't going to hurt anymore, because I knew she must be. Then I turned her over to the pretty assistant, who suddenly reminded me of an angel.

As I'm writing this, I can feel her little head against my chest, and it feels suddenly warm. Was she an angel sent to us to help when we lost our brother but then somehow stayed too long? I guess we will never know, but this I do- my beautiful Juliet Aurora has crossed the rainbow bridge, and will wait for me, with puppy kisses and tail wags, for when it is my time. She's home now, but for some reason, I feel she truly was never too far from it in the first place.



This was just given an "Honorable Mention" in this contest

THE DROP-OFF BOX   (13+) Monthly newbie contest. #530577 by Tammy~Catchin Up~