It was quite chilly when I woke up. It was still very early in the morning. The sky had that weird sort of pale blue colour like when the day is only just starting. I couldn’t even hear any cars driving past, so it must have been quite early. Casey was still asleep, but when I gave her a pat on the head, I saw her eyebrows twitch. Dogs have funny eyebrows. She opened her eyes and looked at me. Then she closed them again and sort of rolled lazily onto her side, poking her belly out at me, like dogs do. She wanted some more tummy rubs. That’s all dogs ever seem to need to be happy. It’s quite nice.
I realised that my back was feeling pretty sore, so I wriggled out of the dog house. I tried to stretch, but I was feeling quite stiff and couldn’t really stretch out properly. There was this dog leash hanging on a hook next to the dog house. The hook was screwed right into the wall of our house. I remembered the day I watched my dad put it in. It was a red leash. Casey’s collar was red, too. I picked them both out when we first got her.
Normally, when I pick up the leash, Casey will know right away that she’s about to go for a walk. She even knows the sound of it coming off the hook. And she’ll go crazy. She’ll start sprinting and jumping all over the place, so excited to go for a walk. But I’d never taken her for a walk that early in the morning. And when I picked up the leash, I could see her ears pricked up, and she looked out at me, but she didn’t seem too enthusiastic. I can’t blame her though. I wouldn’t like to be woken up for a walk while I was sleeping. But I really felt like going for a walk, and I thought it would be quite nice to take her with me. I kept saying, “Come on, Casey,” a few times, and eventually, she started to get up. She seemed quite sleepy, but she was still pretty happy to go for a walk, I think. She slowly got up and out of the dog house, with her tail wagging. I attached the leash to her collar and led her out of the driveway.
It was very nice and early in the morning. There wasn’t a single person or car moving anywhere around me. It was just nice and quiet, and I even started to hear a few birds. I was coming up to the part of the street that had the old retirement home on it. I used to think quite a lot about the old people that lived there. I used to think that, especially on rainy days, when everyone was alone in their room, it must be pretty awful to be old. It must be quite sad when all of your friends and parents and things are dead. I used to think a lot about those people in there, and it got me feeling pretty low sometimes. But then on sunny days, when I saw some of them walking around in the garden, looking at all the flowers, it didn’t seem too bad.
Then suddenly, I saw this cat walking up the road. For just a split second, I thought it was Vincent. But it wasn’t. It was black, with a white chest and little white paws. But there was something very strange. I didn’t really understand for a moment until it got quite close to me. The thing that was strange was that Casey wasn’t trying to chase it. Casey hated cats. She would go crazy any time she saw one. She would bark and sprint after them. If I was holding on to her leash, she could even drag me down the street chasing after a cat. She was that strong. But she was just sitting there, staring at it, just like I was. I’ve never seen Casey be nice to any cat before, except Vincent, that is. Probably since her and Vincent had grown up together since they were only a puppy and a kitten. They used to get along pretty well. They weren’t best friends or anything, but they would never fight. And sometimes Vincent would even sleep in Casey’s dog house with her. It was very cute whenever I saw that. But Casey didn’t even bark at the cat or anything. She just watched it. The cat walked right up to me and started rubbing itself on my leg. It kind of rubbed against Casey, too. And all Casey did was bend over and sort of sniff the cat’s butt a little. It was quite funny. I gave the kitty a rub along its back. It was quite small, for a cat. I bent down and picked it up and kind of cradled it in one arm. It didn’t seem to mind at all. It seemed pretty happy to see me. Then I saw something I couldn’t believe. I just about couldn’t even believe it. I almost thought I might be dreaming. The cat had a little notch in its ear, just like Vincent used to! It was even in his left ear, just like Vincent! I couldn’t believe it. I was just staring at it, trying to figure it out. Me and Casey and that cat, all together on that quiet street. But I suddenly knew exactly what that cat was. I knew for sure. It was sent by my dad. Just like when he got Vincent for me. I just knew it. I was so happy all of a sudden. It was incredible. I almost thought I would start crying I was so happy. I knew then that everything was going to be okay. I was going to go back home and have a big chat with my mother. It would be nice to talk to her again. Then I’d go to university and finish my essay. I knew then that I could do it. I was feeling very happy. And lucky, too. I bent down and gave Casey a pat on the head.
“Good dog,” I said.
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