"Untitled" by Aryn L

The lights of this new world consumed my vision and I was blinded by its pure warmth.
This new world was new and different and most of all scary, threatening my fragile body. I
wanted to bark but only small yips escaped my mouth. As if instinct, a need for nutrients
overwhelmed me and I blindly crawled over to my mother who lied on her side exhausted from
the ordeal she just experienced. Little did I know the time I spent with her was a very limited
amount of time and I would soon see her no more.

*A month and a half later*
I was being carried in a brown cardboard box with my brother toward the front of some place
with a blue and yellow logo on the front. The new scents, sounds, and vibrations excited me,
adding onto my already energetic state. I jumped to stick my head on the edge of the box,
battling for space against my sibling and struggled to look around. Oh the people there you
would not believe! I wagged my tail in happiness for hours but no one neared me. I barked and
begged for someone to pet me yet the man holding the box was holding his hands out as if
asking for something in return for my brother and I. I smelled an interesting scent then turned
and saw a woman with a blonde mop of curly hair. She began talking to the man and looked at
my sibling and I. She picked me up, saying “You are just what i have been looking for.” I then
saw her hand the man two green pieces of paper and she took me. My brother was left in the
box while I was taken to a foreign car. I knew nothing of this woman and had never rode in such
a contraption before but before I knew it, my eyes had closed. What seemed like an instant
later, my eyes flew open and I was being carried into a house where a young girl grabbed for
me. I liked her alot. The way her shirt smelled and the way her brown curly hair tickled my nose
made me feel safe and I decided then that I would love and protect her. She took me up to her
room and we sat on the floor. I sat in between her legs and she stroked me, kissed me, loved
me, and named me Luna.

*7 years later*
My snout is now covered in grey hairs, the weight of my years shows in my slow step, and I am
now not the only dog in the house. I am not the pup I once was, nor am I as playful but one
thing has never changed, my Aryn is still my Aryn and she is the center of my world. I breathe
her air as she breathes mine, I sleep where she sleeps just as she positions herself around me
for my own comfort rather than hers, and this is the only way either of us will sleep a wink. I
protect her from the things she cannot see and offer her calmness in her times when tears
streak her face just as she makes sure I am always okay. She treats me as if I am her equal and
I protect her as if she is the difference between living or dying. We are connected. My heart
tears in two when she leaves every morning but I wait, patiently, quietly, sadly, on top of her
favorite pillow, counting the hours until she returns to me. I can hear her car pull up to the
driveway, followed by the door opening and the calling of my name. I bark to show her how
much I missed her and she pets me without hesitation. This moment makes all the agonizing
waiting worth it as my one true love has come home to me. I fear the day when she will return,
call my name, but I will not be awake to run to her. I fear the approaching day when I will not
feel her embracing arms around me and her soft touch that puts me at ease, but no matter
where I may be, my Aryn will always be my Aryn and I will always be her Luna.