Missy was a RSPCA reject, a dog on death row because no one wanted her. I wandered in there, a 23 year old looking for some K9 companionship, something I had never really had. As soon as I entered the gates of the compound I burst into tears. I'm such a sook when it comes to animals, couldn't even watch the opening credits of "My Dog Skip" without crying my eyes out - cause we all know movies about animals end the same freaking way!
Missy and I traveled, we gallivanted, we had some great times and some shitty times. Missy loved the beach. I used to love watching her sprint along the break before the sets came in, you could see Missy was carefully choosing which wave she wanted to "surf". The confusion on Missy's face when we moved back to Darwin and there were no waves - gold!
After almost 10 years, Missy had become dog aggressive. The dog companion Missy had lived with in perfect harmony for the past almost 6 years was no longer someone she wanted to curl up with next to the heater. The first fight wasn't too bad and then they kept getting worse and worse. It was impacting my relationship with my partner, there were a few ultimatums thrown back and forth.
....
"I'll take her"
I paused and because pauses are hard to decipher on a phone, and perhaps because I paused for a little longer than what would be considered "normal" length and perhaps because my mum has no faith in technology, she immediately assumed that the line had dropped out.
"Are you there? If you're talking I can't hear you, I think the service has dropped..."
I put her out of her misery.
"I'm here Mum, would you really?" I had to make sure.
"Yes"
I reminded her of the last time she took my dog in, when I gallivanted across the Australian countryside - trying to find myself - mum had Missy for 6 months. I left her in prime condition, 12kgs, 2 x walks a day and a very specific diet. When I had settled and mum sent Missy back to live with me, Missy was 8 kgs heavier, resembling something sausage roll like - she is a staffy. Mum had admitted that she "may" have fed Missy a few plates of spaghetti bolognaise here, immediately justifying it with "But Amber, she loved it!" Well of course she loved it, Mum!
"No leftovers this time mum, Missy's too old too be fat now!" I pleaded.
There was a huff at the end of the phone line, obviously I had missed something. Perhaps she'd changed her mind, oh gosh, please take her mum.
"Amber, I am a pensioner now," She bleated "I can't afford leftovers!"
I quite like this. It was a bit patchy here and there, as in, I want quite sure where you were going at times, but over all it was enjoyable. I especially loved your final line and got a good laugh out of it.
ReplyDeleteI found it relatable as I've been in similar situations myself with animals I shouldn't have gotten, or who had gotten out of hand, but I was a kid.
I could clearly see in my mind, what you were describing when you were explaining Missy jumping through the waves at the beach.