I ran into an issue at the pet store today

A Story by Lance Ruscoe

I ran into an issue at the pet store today. My current companion, a beautiful Dalmatian, had begun to turn on me. She was cuddly as a kitten one minute. Her eyes spoke to me. But if her favorite toy rolled under the refrigerator, or if I had to leave her alone unexpectedly, she became aggressively terrifying. She would bark. She would bite. She would run the other way when I came near.

Her behavior struck me with terrible grief. She was the only thing I truly cared about, after all. And for a while I thought that I was all she cared about too. We were companions for life. At least, we were... But somewhere along the line, that changed. I wasn't what she thought I should be. Too bad she couldn't speak.I longed for her to speak, because I would have taken every word she had to say to me to heart. I would have done almost anything.

But it struck me that perhaps it was time to cut ties.

I went into the pet store. As I browsed through the playing puppies, one stood out. In the farthest cage from me stood a young golden retriever, and as all of the others played amongst themselves, this darling puppy just sat there, looking at me. She raised one ear and cocked her head to the side. Could it be? Could this be what I have been looking for?

However, as I thought of this wonderful retriever, my mind wandered back home. I had another waiting for me. And I had to make a choice. I was already in love with another sweet girl. She was, after all, supposed to be my lifetime companion. There was nothing she or I could do to change the way I felt about her. But she was so malicious at times. She would bite me for no good reason. But there were also good times. Times that I was sure made up for the bad ones. Days in the park, when all she wanted to do was lick my face and cuddle with me. How long, though, could I stand to see this transformation occur?

This new dog already liked me. I could tell through her looks that She promised never to be spiteful of me. She promised to enjoy every second I could spend with her, and she understood that for every minute that we had to spend apart just meant that seeing each other again would be that much more magnificent! She was what I needed in a dog.

However, I knew I couldn't keep them both.

It was time to make a decision. I was left with two choices, both starkly contrasting in their sweet yet frightening outcomes.

I could get rid of the love of my life; I could get rid of the dog that I had grown to love so very much; the dog that had began to show increasingly sporadic hatred toward me. If I did this, I could adopt a new companion. One who promised to treat me the way that I should be, as long as I treated her right.

Or, I could keep my dog, the love of my life, try to reconcile things, and forget about the retriever that had promised to love me forever, with no conditions.

I broke down and cried, right there in the store. I felt like a fool. Of course, I was. And I always will be.