I heard Jeff was coming back. I was excited but also worried that he might not recognize me anymore. “Woof! Woof!” I almost jumped when I heard our neighbor’s dog bark. I remembered how Jeff barked when he wanted to play fetch but I was too busy to play with him.
I had him for two weeks when his owners went on a trip. We had a lot of fun walking around together. He would patiently wait for me to arrive from school. We would go to the park and played until sundown. He liked to be cuddled and stroked behind the ears. We were inseparable. We had so much fun. I had almost forgotten that Jeff was not mine to keep.
“Mae, the Masons are here to collect Jeff.” That made me leap out of bed one morning. Mom woke me up with that very sad news. I looked at Jeff who was still snoring on the bed. He slept beside me the night before. As if he understood what was going on, he flicked his ears then opened his eyes. I was not even sure if he saw me because he immediately bolted out the door and went down the stairs. I ran after him but he was already cradled by Maverick, his owner when I stepped into the living room.
“Hi there, Mae. Thanks for taking care of Jeff,” Maverick greeted me. “You can come by the house whenever you want to play with him.” I approached Maverick and asked if I could hold Jeff one last time. It was very difficult for me to hold back my tears. He licked my face when I returned him to Maverick. I ran to my bedroom and cried my heart out.
Dad gave me a stuffed puppy when he got back from work that evening. Mom must have told him about what happened. I thanked him and placed it on my bedside table. It didn’t look anything like Jeff but looking at it brought back a lot of memories. And I just cried a lot more.
“Woof! Woof!” I heard it again. I looked outside the window and there I saw Jeff. He was wagging his tail and he ran into the house as soon as Dad opened the door. I scrambled to my feet and met him downstairs. We just stared at each other until he barked and leapt into my arms and licked my whole face. I didn’t know I was crying and laughing at the same time.
“Oh look at her. She must be very happy to be with Jeff again. Who would have thought a puppy would break her heart at that age?” I heard Mom talking to Dad. “You’re right. I hope she doesn’t get heart-broken again this time when the dog leaves.”