• I remember that crisp October morning
    Never knowing three years later
    We'd be in mourning.

    Thinking about your actions
    Your brown eyes bright with life
    Brings tears to my eyes
    As I think about that night.

    Recalling memories of those three years
    Brings a smile to my face
    Your feather duster of a tail;
    Never stopping.
    Running in your sleep,
    Demanding covers,
    Druelling constantly.

    Hopping that six foot fence was your favorite past time.
    It was a game;
    Make the kids chase you around the neighborhood.
    Until you got too lost the one day to find your way home.
    You never went far after that.

    Just thinking back makes me smile,
    Remembering you taking those towels
    Hanging from the clothes line

    And then I think back to that August morning.
    You lying there so still as it switched from morning to noon.
    No twitch.
    No wagging tail.
    Stillness.

    I remember shaking you,
    Pleading that it wasn't so.
    I remember racing up the stairs,
    Shaking as I grabbed the phone

    Grandma.
    Mom.
    Wake up my sister and tell her the news.
    Mom raced over,
    Anxious to comfort my sister.
    Grandma followed,
    Intent on easing the pain.
    Mom left, returning with Dad
    Who muttered beneath his breath:

    It wasn't supposed to be so soon,
    It wasn't supposed to be so fast!
    We only just found out about the cancer.
    We needed more time.

    But the clock stopped ticking,
    And time seemed to slow
    As I grabbed that blanket
    From off of my floor.

    Another flashback hits me
    As I hold the material close to my chest.
    I remember you shaking so badly
    Looking at me with those same sad eyes.
    I draped the blanket over you
    Wrapped you up so good.
    Even got you a little pillow.
    I spent nights down on the floor with you,
    In hopes it would ease your pain.

    Now that same material
    Covered your still body
    As my Dad easily lifts your underweight frame
    To take you to the van.
    Back to the vet.
    Where we had just got you back.
    Not even 24 hours had past!

    I sit beside you,
    Everyone inside with little Red.
    One hand on your covered corpse,
    As I bid you my last good bye.

    One again I put on my mask;
    My facade.
    Not once did they think of me
    How your sudden departure tore me apart.
    You were always her dog.
    But,
    You were my best friend.