The Love I Have

A short story of a lonely man and his dog

The Love I Have
I have always been a man with a lot of love in my heart. Or so I've been told... It is a love for all things living. It fills me and it overwhelms me. I have often thought to myself that I must give this love to something, for I have nothing of my own to love. I have no kids. No lover. No family.
This lead me to buy a dog. A young husky. As mad in the face as it was adorable. I named him Maxie. The dog was very rambunctious and would often get into my toiletries and tear up my sofa when it began teething. I did not discipline the dog although I would verbally express my discontent with it as if it could understand me. Through time the dog grew and got stronger, as all things do. I played fetch with him, brought him treats home, let him sleep in my bed with me, and I would hug and kiss him almost too often some would say. One day, I woke up to him whining and nudging my arm. I had slept in and I guess that he was reminding me that I had to be at work soon. Today felt dif ferent.
I work at a warehouse downtown. No different than any other warehouse job. Just a lot of lifting and so on. Today, I felt fatigued. I felt weak, but I was able to complete my duties and return home.
When I arrived home, I picked up Maxie's ball and threw it. He did not fetch it. He looked me dead in my eyes and began to whine. It began to worry me.
"Are you sick Maxie?" I asked. I never referred to him as boy. He pulled on my sleeve with his mouth as if to say "follow me." I did.
He led me to my room and jumped on the bed and looked at me. His eyes begged me to join him.
When I sat down, I immediately felt a weight lift of my shoulders. As I layer out on the bed, I realized I would not be getting back up anytime soon. Maxie cuddled up next to me and we both feel asleep.
The next morning I felt even more tired than the last. This time I had a slight pain in my side. Nothing to miss work for. It felt as if I had slept wrong, I thought. I went to work, tired and weaker than the day before.
The next few days, the pain grew worse and Maxie seemed to notice. He would wake me up in the mornings and he would stare at me often with a look that saddened me.
I decided to go to the hospital. I told Maxie I would be back. I felt the need to express how much I loved him. The only thing I'd ever had to love and it couldn't ever understand how much I loved him or ever say "I love you" back.
After explaining how I'd been feeling to my doctor and a series of test he told me I had cancer. My stomach dropped. There it was. What Maxie was trying to tell me all along.. I was dying.
The doctor explained to me severity of the situation and walked me through a treatment plan. Then he left me alone to come to grips with my situation. I cried... To have lived such an empty life and to die so young seemed cruel. Even God had not loved me back, I thought.
Lost in my sorrow, I was then interrupted by somet hing nudging my leg... there in the hospital room with me, was Maxie, looking at me with a half grin. The mad faced dog I had watched grow from a pup and nurtured looked at me as if to say "it will be alright." I don't believe that was a prediction of my future. Just comfort from my beloved best friend. He walked 10 miles to the hospital to comfort me. The closest thing to an "I love you" I had ever gotten. My life wasn't much... but I had loved, and I was loved back.

Author's Note

Ignore grammar problems, please tell me how you felt and what I should work on in the future,