Flower

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay

His name was Flower. At least that was the name printed on the contract of adoption the day he rescued Jaime.

That first night at the long metal box Flower would grow proud to call home, he took a quick run around his new digs. Through a small hole in the wall, he found a big soft cushion, just big enough for the two of them. From his vantage point on the cushion, he noticed another hole. When Flower went through that one, he was greeted by what could only have been a water bowl, built especially for him.

It was white and inviting and sat up high, so he could drink out of it without even leaning down. That big hole in the bottom seemed kind of menacing, but the water was clean and cold and he didn’t have to worry about it splashing over the sides no matter how excitedly he lapped at it, so he decided to think about that later.

When he went back through the holes, Jaime had set out a virtual feast of crunchy kibble and savory liver mash. Flower, always a stickler on the finer points of doggy etiquette, wolfed it down in four big bites.

Fat and happy now, he stretched out to take a little nap. Before he got to dreaming, he heard a dogs second favorite sound- next to food hitting a bowl- the jingle of the tether between dog and human that meant he was going outside for a sniff.

As they were walking out the door, however, a pair of gruff looking humans gave them the hand signal to stay. Even though Jaime seemed to know them, Flower could sense he was less than happy to see them. They were covered in something dark from neck to paws, with a shiny spot on each ones chest that reflected the sun. They both had their paws on big black sticks that hung from the thick leather collars they wore around their bellies.

One of them barked a command, and Jaime tied the tether with Flower at the other end of it to a tree. One of the men proceeded to pet Jaime roughly up and down his whole body. When he had finished, one of the humans disappeared through the hole in the side of the long metal box, while the other one gave Flower that ‘I’m the Alpha’ look he’d seen so many times before. Usually right before a human hit him.

After they’d gone, Flower could tell something was different inside of Jaime. He hoped it would be fixed by a nice long sniff, and to some degree it was. This might have had more to do with all the sounds Jaime was making as they walked, as it seemed he was more interested in making sounds than he was sniffing.

When they got back home, they were both ready for a nap. Flower bounded up onto the big cushion and was happy to see Jaime pick the same place to lay down. He wiggled around a bit until he found just the right spot.

Then Jaime did something Flower couldn’t have expected, because it had never happened to him before, he rolled over and nuzzled up to Flowers back where he made what Flower recognized as whelping noises- sounds that felt wet against his fur, as Jaime wrapped his long human arms around him and held on tight.

They laid there like that for quite some time before Flower saluted the fine feast he’d wolfed down earlier with a odorous round of applause and made Jaime laugh out loud for the first time ever. They both knew then and there, everything was gonna be alright.

And it was.

Posted for Rachel Ritchey’s #Blog Battle- Flowers

29 thoughts on “Flower”

  6. Pingback: #BlogBattle Stories: Flower | BlogBattle ~

  8. Very sweet! I like stories told by animals. I think you have a very nice balance of “doggy view” and details to help us two-leggers figure out what’s going on. I look forward to reading more of your work!

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