A Candle in the Dark Ch. 1

Elise Richards, a widow, finds an abandoned puppy that will change her life.

Soft brown eyes melted her heart the second she saw them. The thin, scrawny body was covered in white fur and brown spots. She was absolutely sure that he was covered with fleas and possibly even ticks, but that didn’t stop Elise from picking him up and cuddling him to her chest as she waded over piles of garbage in the yard of the abandoned home. The puppy she held couldn’t be very old, and was already wasting away. She’d found the body of the poor baby’s mother still chained to the tree where it had starved to death. The puppy’s siblings were also dead already. Elise had heard the pitiful whining as she’d walked by.

She’d climbed over the wooden fence and searched until she’d come on the poor orphaned pup. The sight had sickened her. How could anyone just abandon a dog and her puppies? From the looks of the place, it had been abandoned for a few weeks at least. She thanked whoever was listening that it was a warm spring and not the middle of winter or summer where the heat or cold would have killed them all.

Elise stuck the puppy in the front of her hooded sweatshirt and carefully scaled the fence again, lowering herself onto the sidewalk on the other side. She looked down inside her hoodie to see the puppy had curled itself into a ball, sleeping and giving a pitiful whimper every little while. She pulled out her cell phone and quickly used the internet to look up the closest vet’s office. She whispered the name to herself. “Simon A. Parker, Veterinary Medicine.” The address was only a couple of blocks away. She practically ran all the way there, her arms crossed over her chest to hold the puppy safely against her.

The building was small, nestled between a Subway and a hair and nail salon called Shine’s. She opened the door and was met with a blast of cooled air from the air conditioner. She walked to the desk, and was surprised to see it wasn’t manned, only a fat, sleeping cat was curled up in the middle of it, the cat’s tail curled over the keyboard of a small laptop computer which, according to the music library listing, was currently pumping out the song “Secrets” by One Republic. “Hello?” Elise called out, listening for any answer.

And then she heard it. A voice singing along to the music, not quite in the same key. She followed the sound of the voice and found herself watching something no one should ever be witness to. A tall, thin man holding a clipboard, going through bottles of medications while dancing and singing. She leaned against the doorframe and watched, waiting for him to notice her. But he seemed rather oblivious until she cleared her throat. She watched in amusement as he shrieked like a little girl and nearly dropped one of the bottles, fumbling it into place.

“I am so sorry, I…I didn’t realize anyone had come in. Do you have an appointment?” He asked, motioning for her to lead the way back into the outer office area. He sat down at the desk, moved the cat’s tail out of the way and stopped the music. He brought up a calendar to check for any appointments. “I’m sorry, I don’t seem to have you on the schedule.”

“No, I didn’t have an appointment, I found an abandoned puppy that’s in pretty bad shape and you were the closest vet I could find. Can you see him now?” She smiled as she said, “You didn’t seem as if you were incredibly busy.”

She nearly laughed when she saw that he was blushing all the way to his ears and took a second to study him. He was tall, taller than she was for sure. His eyes were kind, and were colored a deep golden brown. His hair was a lighter brown, and rather shaggy. His head came up suddenly as the puppy whimpered from within her shirt and he realized that she’d been holding her arms over her chest in order to hold the puppy against the warmth of her body. He stood up and held out his hands. Elise gently handed the little animal over to the doctor.

The puppy whined in a loud “voice” as it hung in the air for a second before the doctor’s warm, strong hands wrapped around it’s body. It quieted instantly and the doctor began looking the puppy over, murmuring softly to it. “Well, he seems to be generally healthy, other than the dehydration and malnourishment. I think he might make it with some care. I don’t think he would have survived much longer without your rescue, though.” He smiled at Elise and she smiled back, rubbing her fingertip over the puppy’s nose.

The doctor led her back to the small exam room. He put the puppy on a small scale that was lined with a towel. “So, Doctor, what can you tell me about him?” She asked softly, watching like an anxious parent as he began to fill out a form. “You can call me Simon. And right now I can tell you that he is definitely dehydrated and that he has fleas. I’m going to give him an IV for fluids and a bath for the fleas. He’ll have to stay a few days at least. Are you wanting to keep him or are you wanting to put him up for adoption. I’ll tell you now, that this is a no-kill shelter, if we don’t find a home for him, he’ll have a home here.”

Without even thinking about it, Elise blurted out, “No, I’m keeping him, he’s mine.” Simon smiled and nodded. “I thought you’d say that. Do you have a name picked out for him?”

She stared down at the little fellow and smiled. After a minute, she’d chosen. “Griffin. His name is Griffin.” In bold strokes, Simon wrote ‘GRIFFIN’ at the top of the chart. “And your name, for his records?”

“Elise Richards.” She took the chart from him and quickly wrote down her address and phone number, then thought again and wrote down her cell number as well in case Simon needed to contact her in an emergency for Griffin. She reached down and smooched the puppy on the top of the head. “You’re gonna be ok now, fella. Simon’s gonna take care of you.”

Elise followed Simon into the kennel room. It was empty except for a cage with a lone cat inside of it. The cat watched Elise and purred and meowed as Simon walked by holding Griffin. Elise sat in a chair and watched as Simon adjusted the water temperature as he ran a bath for Griffin. The puppy whimpered and whined as he was lowered into the water, his front paws paddling the water as he tried to escape. But Simon had him firmly and scrubbed him gently with a shampoo that he explained was an all-natural flea and tick repellant, and told her where she could buy some in case she needed it later.

“Are you sure you can pay for all this? I don’t want to start him on anything and you not be able to pay. I mean, I’ll do it anyways, but we’d find a way to work out payment or something. I just know how much I hate to think of myself in debt.” He rambled as he worked, his hands deftly sliding over Griffin’s skin and fur, rubbing the lather deep against his skin to flush out the fleas. Elise smiled as she watched Griffin try to bite a bubble and then sneeze as it popped. She laughed as Simon let him loose and Griffin began stalking the bubbles floating by him. He no longer seemed to be bothered by the water and his little tail had begun wagging.

“How old do you think he is?” Elise asked.

“Well, from the fact that his eyes are open and how active he’s trying to be, I’d guess probably about six to eight weeks.” Simon replied, picking Griffin up and wrapping him in a towel, and rubbing him semi-dry. He put the puppy down on a metal-topped table, just as a door off to the side opened and a stunning young woman walked into the door.

Like Elise, she was dressed in a hoodie and jeans, though hers were obviously cleaner than Elise‘s at the moment, after all, this young woman hadn‘t been wading through piles of garbage in search of a puppy. Elise would have killed for this girl’s figure, she was curvy and beautiful. Her hair was a very dark auburn, long and pulled back in a sweeping ponytail down her back. Her eyes were a stunning dark, stormy gray. Her eyes swept over Elise and Simon and then down to Griffin. “Awww, what a cute puppy!” She cried, in a soft voice. Griffin yipped in reply, his tail wagging so hard his whole behind wagged with it.

She walked over to the table, tossing her large bag onto the floor at her feet and gathering Griffin into her arms, rubbing him with the towel as he tried to sniff and nuzzle at her. He seemed to have more energy now than he had earlier, maybe because he was getting attention. “Elise, this is my sister and assistant, Rachel. Rachel, this is Elise, Griffin’s owner.”

Rachel smiled at first until she took a closer look at Griffin. “Oh my god, he’s so skinny. Haven’t you been feeding him? Simon! This woman has been starving him, look at his ribs!” She pinched Griffin gently, pulling the skin taught. “And he’s dehydrated too!” She looked at Elise as though ready for a fight. “I’m reporting you to the HSUS! How could you starve a puppy!”

Elise sat there in shock for a moment before she started to laugh. Rachel stopped her ranting for a moment and looked at Elise as if she thought she’d had a mental break. Simon looked shocked and annoyed. “For heaven’s sake Rachel. She didn’t starve the puppy, she saved the puppy! She found him abandoned in the yard of some house, his mother and siblings had already starved to death. And she’s decided to adopt him on top of that.”

“Oh. Oops.” Rachel looked sufficiently uncomfortable for Elise to take pity on her and smiled at her. “It’s ok, I probably would have jumped to the same conclusion you did. I was appalled at the thought that people could leave a dog with puppies chained to a tree in the yard and leave them to die. I’m going to talk to the local police when I leave here. I don’t know if there’s some kind of report I can file or anything like that, but I’m going to try. Animals shouldn’t be left to die like that. If nothing else, at least not chained like that to where they can’t even try to save themselves from starving.”

Rachel nodded in agreement. The thought of the momma dog and her puppies put a knot in her stomach that made her feel ill. “Some people should never be allowed near an animal.” she agreed. Rachel continued to rub Griffin dry, while Griffin kept trying to snuggle against her. Rachel laughed and held him in one arm while fixing a baby’s bottle full of puppy formula with the other. She was rather adept at it and Elise was impressed.

“How long have you worked as your brother’s assistant, Rachel?” Elise asked, watching as Rachel perched on a chair and held Griffin like a baby, while he sucked at the bottle of formula. Elise was amazed at how quickly he drank down every drop. He made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a burp before snuggling against Rachel and closing his eyes. Within a few minutes his breathing had deepened and he was asleep. Rachel continued to hold him while the three of them watched him. “Just this past year. I’m going to school to become a vet too.” She answered softly.

“He seems to know already that he’s going to be ok.” Elise whispered aloud, trying not to wake him.

“He will be! I’m sure of it!” Rachel whispered vehemently. “I almost wish I had found him, he’s so sweet, Elise. Are you sure you want to keep him?”

Elise almost laughed. “Yes, I’m sure. Sorry, Rachel. But if you ever want to be a dog sitter, you’ve got the job.”

That seemed to appease Rachel and she settled back into her chair, snuggling Griffin to her chest. “I wonder what breed he is?” she said softly.

“With the size of those paws, I’m guessing probably golden retriever or Labrador. He’s going to be a pretty big dog. Are you sure you’re going to have room for him? Dogs that size really aren’t great for apartment living, they like to have lots of room to move around.” Simon said.

Elise smiled sadly, thinking of the big empty house she was now the sole owner of. “Yes, I have plenty of room. And my house needs some brightening, I think Griffin will be just what the doctor ordered.” Literally, Elise thought, thinking of her session just yesterday with her therapist. Dr. Jean had told her that she needed a companion, a cat or a dog, to help her with her depression. She’d shown Elise articles where it had been shown that animals help alleviate depression and anxiety and recommended going to the local shelter and finding a new friend.

“Do you have a boyfriend or a husband?” Rachel blurted out suddenly.

Surprised, Elise shook herself out of her reverie. “Oh, no. I’m…alone.” She answered, feeling the familiar pang in her heart as she answered.

As if sensing her unhappiness, Simon tried to switch the conversation, but before he could open his mouth, Rachel asked, “Really, that’s surprising, why not?”

Elise struggled for a moment before she could find her voice to answer. “I was married for five years, but he died. I’m a widow.”