Pup’s Reward
by
Ian Fergusson
Foreword
Several years ago some good friends and their young son were devastated by the death of their loving and loyal Cocker Spaniel, Pup. Pup did not have an easy start to life. When my friends rescued him he had suffered major injuries from being hit by a car, but despite his tribulations Pup remained happy and loving throughout his life. His only goal seemed to be to bring joy into the lives of those around him. On hearing of his death I was lost for what to do to try and console the family. The only option in my limited repertoire was to write this story. It only took a few hours and cannot be thought of as a literary masterpiece, but it was all that I had to offer. Surprisingly, because of my interest in animal advocacy, I had never read The Rainbow Bridge before writing this story. After reading it there were obvious thematic similarities; this was unintentional. My intention was simply to write something that may ease the grief a little. And such is my intention here. Hopefully, those of you mourning the loss of a beloved pet may find a little solace. Obviously, the style is aimed at young readers but there may be something in the content for everyone. If you know of someone else who is grieving such a loss feel free to direct them to this story, or print it out and give it to them.
I hope it helps.
When Pup the Cocker Spaniel opened his eyes and looked around him, he didn’t recognize this place. He was on top of a low green hill looking down into a valley where all the grass was gold--not just the color of gold but actual gold. It glittered as it swayed, and it sparkled in the sunlight. The sun hung in a sky so blue that Pup didn’t know if he had ever seen anything bluer, and the air smelled of roses and ice cream. “Where am I?” he said. It surprised him a little that he could speak, but it didn’t feel strange; somehow it felt right.
A voice drifted up to him from the valley below: “Pup, come down and play. Come down and chase me.” He searched for the voice and quickly, far below him, he saw a rabbit. “I can’t chase you,” he shouted. “I’ve been very sick, you know. Besides, I’ve got to get home; I’ve got to look after Shaun and Tracey and Billy and Baby and Junior. It’s my job.”
“It won’t take long,” said the rabbit, “and it will be fun.” Even from this far away Pup could see that the rabbit had huge green eyes and ears so long that they flopped over in the middle. The rabbit turned away from Pup and flashed a giant white marshmallow of a tail.
Pup stood up and walked a few steps. “Hey,” he said, “this doesn’t feel too bad.” His bad hip didn’t grumble at him, and he didn’t limp. He ran a few steps, and nothing hurt at all. “Well,” he said to himself, “it might be fun, and the exercise might do me good for when I get home.” So he took off down the hill after the rabbit.
The rabbit waited a few seconds and then sprinted farther into the golden grass. Faster and faster Pup ran, and faster and faster the rabbit ran. Pup threw back his head and barked as loudly as he could. “I’m coming to get you,” he shouted. He ran so fast that his ears flapped and the wind ruffled his fur and his tongue flopped out of the side of his mouth. Every bone and every muscle worked smoothly and perfectly. When the rabbit zigged, Pup zigged, and when the rabbit zagged, Pup zagged. “Ha,” he shouted, “who says only cats are fast and graceful; look at me.” Quickly, Pup closed the distance between them.
Soon Pup was just a few feet behind the rabbit. He laughed wildly, he gathered up all his strength, and he jumped as far as he could. He sailed through the air and landed on the rabbit’s back with a thud and a clatter. They both tumbled and rolled in the grass, and Pup giggled. “Gotcha,” he said.
The rabbit laughed so hard as he lay on his back that he started to hiccup. “That was . . . hic! . . . so much . . . hic! . . . fun,” he said.
Pup tried to answer, but he couldn't; he was laughing too hard.
“Hic! . . . let’s . . . hic! . . . have some . . . hic! . . . lunch.”
“That’s a . . . hic! . . . good idea,” said Pup, pretending to have the hiccups.
“Hey, that’s not . . . hic! . . . fair,” hiccuped the rabbit, and they both folded up with laughter again.
Just then Pup noticed that there was clapping and cheering and whistling all around him.
“Well done, Pup!”
“Best chase I’ve seen in years!”
“Hooray for Pup!”
He looked around, and coming out of the grass on all sides were rabbits and squirrels, skunks and deer, and a possum that shook Pup’s paw and introduced himself as Arthur. “You are some athlete,” said Arthur in his slow, deep, possum voice. “I’ve never seen a runner like you. Nobody has ever caught George before.” He nodded towards the rabbit with the green eyes and the bent-over ears.
Pup blushed as hard as a dog can blush. He blushed so hard that his red fur got even redder. “Well,” he said, “I didn’t think I could do it. I’ve not been well.”
“That doesn’t matter here,” said George. “Anyway, let’s have some lunch.” And they all sat around drinking sweet lemon tea and eating strawberry shortcake, and they talked about politics and sport and music and movies. Pup rolled over onto his back and let the sunshine warm his face and the breeze ruffle through his fur. He closed his eyes. “This has been great,” he said, “but I’ve got a job to do.”
A shadow fell across Pup’s face, and a gentle voice said: “Your job is over now, Pup. This is your reward.”
Pup opened his eyes, and he saw Jesus standing over him, smiling kindly. His face seemed to glow and, Pup thought, his white robe shone brighter than the sun.
“But I don’t need a reward,” Pup said. “It’s my job to look after them. Who’s going to look after the house when Shaun goes to school, and when Tracey and Billy go to work? And, well, if ever there were two dogs that need someone to keep them out of trouble, it’s Baby and Junior. I have to protect them all, and love them all. It’s my job.”
“And you have done it well. The best job that a dog could ever do,” Jesus said. “Because of that, you will live with us now. You can have all the lemon tea and strawberry shortcake you can eat. And you can run and play and you will never be sick again.”
A tear fell from Pup’s eye. “Yes, I’d like that, but they need me, and if I stay I’ll miss them.”
Jesus smiled again. “Yes, and they will miss you. But here your bones and muscles will never ache, and your heart will be filled with happiness. The amount of love that you gave to Shaun and Tracey and Billy and Baby and Junior, and the amount of love that they gave you, is the amount of happiness that will fill your heart. And that was so much love that I will have to give you an even bigger heart to fit it all into. And every time any one of them remembers you, which they will do a lot because they love you, that happiness will get bigger. To see you, all they will have to do is close their eyes and they will feel you in their hearts. Every time they pray for you, you will hear them. And one day, because they believe and because they love, you will look up at that low green hill and you will see them walking towards you, and you can call for them to chase you—just like George called to you—and you will all be together forever.”
Another tear fell from Pup’s eye. “Yes, but that will be such a long time.”
Jesus rested his hand on Pup’s forehead; it felt cool. All Pup’s sadness melted away. “Time doesn’t matter here,” Jesus whispered.
And so Pup played and chased and ate and slept. And when he got bored with lemon tea and strawberry shortcake, he drank milk and ate chocolate cake. At sunrise and sunset, when the sky painted itself in a million shades of red and pink and orange and blue, and the clouds looked like cotton candy, he and George and Arthur and all the others would talk and talk and talk. But sometimes he just lay in the grass, closed his eyes, and whispered to Shaun and Tracey and Billy and Baby and Junior, and, somehow, he knew that they heard him in their hearts.
Sometimes he would stop in the middle of a good chase, or wake up in the middle of an excellent sleep, and he would smile. George and Arthur and all the animals that saw him would smile at each other because they knew what was happening to him. He could feel Shaun or Tracey or Billy or Baby or Junior whispering in his heart, and his heart would get a little bigger and a little happier. And when Jesus walked past, Pup would roll over onto his back and wave his little legs in the air and wag his long shaggy tail so much that it would almost fall off. Jesus would laugh out loud and kneel down and scratch Pup’s belly until Pup started to giggle.
And now and then, just now and then, Pup would sneak a peep up at that low green hill, and he would sigh.
The End
No comments:
Post a Comment