How 2 Dogs Saved The World

By R. Cary

The sky, spring, resting between the Pacific Ocean and California’s mountain ridge. The sun is ending its arc and beginning to dive into the west. The end of the day is almost here. My eyes glaring toward the sun for hope, a reason to continue on, to keep going. My eyes fall from the sky where my feet hold solidly to my cement driveway. My back leaned up against my car. My bucket of soap and water sits next to me, my body sunk to the ground. My exhaustion is clear, my body does not want to move, won’t stand anymore. ‘I have been doing this too long,’ I tell myself. I feel my body, its will, its inertia following the sun to the west. The darkness of the ocean is all I see. I resign myself to my body’s failures. 

As I sit, my back resting against my car, I hear them, just a few feet away, coming down the sidewalk. I find my strength to stand. I see one, now two German shepherds. Both freeze when they see me, sense me. One curls up her body, ready to spring for me. The male stops with intrigue. ‘Ha! They got loose! Maybe I can keep them for a few hours, until their owner comes around. I squat to one knee to entice them over. She, the female shepherd releases herself and breaks for me. ‘Perfect’, I feel. My heart begins to beat, my sensations of self begin to vibrate, my space becoming known to me again. I hear him, their owner a few yards back, call his dogs. ‘Shit’, the owner is with them. With an internal sigh, my hope leaves, I drop my shoulders. I begin to fade again. But I persist. ‘I was inviting them to say hello’, I said. The owner, on his phone, did not respond. My body squared to the sidewalk; my dejection holds. I turn from my car to return ‘home’. Hope is lost.

Unexpectedly, I hear, ‘is it okay?’ ‘Ya’, not expecting much. With one movement of the owner’s hand, he releases the dogs to say hello. I squatted to both knees this time, submitting myself, noting how she had more affection towards me than he. Both dogs slow in their stride, as my hands reach for them. In a moment, just before the dogs reached my hands, time slowed down, just for a moment. I let the dogs drag their bodies across my hands. I remember. Time now frozen, the settling of the sun ceased, the oceans of the west and mountains of the east dissipated. Only these two dogs existed, and I know, now, again, that I exist.

Standing as this moment passed and the dogs returned to their owner, I thanked the owner, and the friendliness was returned. As the moment passed and the two dogs moved on, I held this feeling I had almost lost, the feeling I had been chasing. I stored this feeling in my body. This feeling, this moment, one moment of vulnerability saved my world. Without this moment for me to recall, when exhaustion is too strong, the reality of my world today would not exist. So, I ask, when was the last time you were vulnerable?

End

How 2 Dogs Saved The World

By R. Cary

Copyright 2023