Prompt probably asked for a heartwarming story about a man and his dog.
A Heartwarming Story About A Man And His Dog
When I was ten my parents bought me a puppy, a black labrodor. I named him Racket for no reason I can remember other than I was ten years old.
Racket and I were inseperable from the very start. In my family’s culture, dogs play an important spiritual role. It was common place for each child in my ancestral homeland to be given a puppy from an early age and tasked with raising it. Failure or success both brought a lesson, and I was lucky enough to achieve the latter.
I cared for Racket like he was my child. I fed him by hand, tended him when he was ill, house trained him, walked him, socialized him. I saw Racket as an extension of myself, a part of me as important as an arm or a leg. I loved him, from the beginning, and in return he loved me, unconditionally.
As he grew older, bigger, Racket was a constant companion, coming to my aid at the first sign of trouble. We lived in a bad neighborhood and there were many times during my teens where Racket’s mere presence warded off gang members or junkies looking for a quick buck. There was never anything to fear with Racket by my side.
Racket was the center of my world until my 17th birthday, when I failed him. I called him to me from across the street. He came, as he always did. Neither of us saw the car coming until it was too late.
The year after Racket died I wasn’t myself. I got into trouble, started drinking and smoking, even sold some drugs. Everything felt like it had gone off the rails for me. Finally I got busted, arrested on the street down near the supermarket. My dad bailed me out and on the way home he told me exactly what I needed to hear.
There is another myth in the spiritual history of my people: A dog, well loved and well cared for, never leaves its owner’s side, in life or death. My father told me our forefathers believed their companions watched over them for the rest of their lives, canine guardians vigilant and loyal through space and time, present but unseen.
My dad was a good father. I took what he said to heart and held it close for a lifetime. I never knew, of course, whether Racket was really beside me all those many years of my life, but the possibility was all I needed.
Every good thing that happened, every danger narrowly avoided, I quietly thanked Racket. No matter how old I got, no matter the subject matter, Racket remained my protector.
When the cancer first came, when they found it in my belly, and the chemo shot it dead, I thanked Racket, though I was 76 years old. When it returned, two years later, and the chemo did nothing, I thanked Racket for the time he’d given me.
Now, as I think on my old dog, laying here lucky enough to be surrounded by family, waiting for that dark specter to arrive, I thank Racket one last time. But for him, I would not have become the man I became, the husband, the father or the grandfather I am. But for the responsibility caring for him taught me, but for the capacity for love he instilled in my heart, I would be no one at all.
My eyes are tired now. My arms tingle and I can feel a stuttering distance in between my breaths. It is here, the shadow Death, come for me, to usher me from this place I’ve known.
At first, I am afraid. But at last, I see him again, my dark black labrador, young and spry, Racket’s coat silky and smooth. He reveals himself to me as death approaches leaps up onto my bedside, and lays his warm head quietly across my blanketed legs.
We face the end together and my fear evaporates. After all, what is there to fear with Racket by my side?
If You Enjoyed This Story – Or Any Of The Hundreds Of Other Legends From The Multiverse – And Want To Give A Dollar To The Madman Behind The Curtain Who Writes Them All:
Subscribe to the RSS feed or leave a comment anywhere on the r/LFTM subreddit with “!subscribeme” or “subscribeme!”, and you’ll receive a notification whenever a new story or continuation is posted.
READ MORE FLASH FICTION
| ACTION | APOCALYPTIC | DARK | ESTABLISHED UNIVERSE | FANTASY |
| FUNNY MAYBE | HORROR | MISC | WTF IS THIS? | SAD |
| SCIENCE FICTION | SCIENCE FANTASY | TWIST ENDING | RANDOM |
READ LONGER STORIES
| THE DEMON’S CANTOS | INCIDENTAL SUPERHERO |
| BENEATH | THE HUMANITY SAGA |
| THE TRAVELER | I, LYCANTHROPE |