A Girl and Her Dog

Okay guys are you ready for a sad ending?             

                        Daniela had wandered around her farm most days; she had been unable to do much else since the accident she was in when she was ten.  She had been unable to do many activities that involved running or a lot of walking.  Her right leg had been severely screwed up and all she could do was limp around.  Now, three years later nothing much had changed, her leg still hurt if she was on it for long periods of time and she still couldn't run and play with the other teens.

                Buddy was a yellow lab mix who was by Daniela’s side from when she stepped out the farmhouse door to when she stepped back in.  He would always greet her with his tail wagging and his tongue lolling out of his mouth.  They would check on the animals in the barn then head into the woods to the creek where, depending on the weather, Daniela would soak her bare feet and stroke Buddy’s thick, rough fur.

                Today, Daniela stumbled out the door with tears running down her face, buddy waited for her outside the door, but this time she hardly noticed him.  She made her way to the barn as quickly as she could, then, tried to climb the old ladder into the hayloft.  It was a difficult feat because she had to pull herself up it while anyone else would just climb it normally.  Buddy waited at the bottom with his ears drooped and his head lying between his paws.  He whined sympathetically but Daniela paid no attention to him, still; she was too busy sobbing.  This would be the last month she would have on the farm.

                Daniela’s parents were sending her off to a boarding school where she would be able to learn and compete in sports.  The boarding school was for kids who were crippled in some sort of way; the people there would create sports that the kids would be able to compete in.  Daniela hated the idea; she hated the thought of leaving her farm and the animals on it.  She hated the thought of leaving her friends and her family behind, and then she remembered Buddy.  She lowered herself down the ladder and sat in the dirt beside the loyal canine.  He nuzzled her hand and she stroked his soft head dreading the day when she would leave.

                Two weeks later Daniela stood on the porch with her suit cases lying beside her and Buddy lying at her feet.  He knew something was wrong but she would have never guessed that her leaving would bring him much pain.  She knelt down and squeezed his neck then, said goodbye and boarded the bus.  As the bus pulled away she looked back and saw her mother struggle to hold Buddy back. He was trying to leap out of her arms, barking frantically attempting to follow Daniela.  She turned away with the very familiar feeling of tears running down her face trying to forget but knowing she never could.  “I’ll be home soon.” She quietly promised Buddy then fell asleep.

                The second night at the boarding house she received a call from her mom.  “What is it like there, honey?”  Daniela’s mom asked.

                “Awful.”

                “No honey really what is it like?”

                “I told you awful, there are no animals, no woods, no hay, and everyone here is nice but they treat us like babies, then the girls really do believe that they should be treated that way and expect everyone to show them favoritism.”

                “Oh Daniela, try to like it there I am sure it is better than going to public school here.”

                “Then why don’t you homeschool me?”

                “You know we can’t do that, we have enough to do with your dad working two jobs and taking care of the farm and me teaching at the elementary school.”

                “Mom what’s wrong?”  Daniela asked, she knew something was wrong because her mom’s voice sounded more stressed than usual.

                “We just miss you is all.”  She sighed Daniela could tell it was a lie.

                “Why aren’t you telling me?”  Daniela accused.

                “It’s Buddy,” Daniela’s mom began and Daniela wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the rest.  “He was searching for you all day after you left and all the next day.  When we got up this morning he was gone; the mailman said he saw him running down the road you left on.”  Daniela stood by the phone stunned, her best friend was missing.  He had come after her, and she would probably never see him again, “You still there sweetie?”  Her mom asked on the other end of the line.

                “Ya,” She muttered weakly, “I have some homework I need to do, bye.”  She hung up the phone, she had told a lie, they hadn’t even started classes yet but she was too mad to continue talking with her mom.  Her mom let her best friend just run away and hadn’t found him yet, now he was probably going to die by getting hit by a car or caught and have some needle injected into him.  Daniela shivered, she had to find him.  After everyone had fallen asleep she grabbed the backpack she had packed with food and blankets and snuck away.

                Getting away from the boarding school was easier than Daniela thought; maybe the people there thought that because the kids were crippled in some way they wouldn’t try to run away, they were wrong.  It was a good thing she had woken up after the bus left her town or she wouldn’t have remembered the roads they took to the school.  She silently rejoiced because she had such a great memory, and followed the exact roads they took until she became weary and her knee started hurting her.  Daniela found a place in some woods to sleep and pulled out a sleeping bag then drifted off.

                When Daniela woke up she saw lights shining through the trees; there were voices that sounded far off but as soon as she shook herself awake she realized they were all around her.  There were people in the woods calling her name and as she looked back in the direction of the road she saw blue and red lights.  How would she be able to find Buddy if they took her back?  She sat there for a moment after she rolled her sleeping bag up then decided she would have to sneak farther into the woods.  Daniela wondered how she could sneak past the policeman when they had flashlights and would shine them on her if she moved, then an idea popped into her head.

                Ten minutes later Daniela turned off the flashlight that helped her sneak past the policemen.  She had hoped that if she turned on her flashlight the policemen would think she was one of them, and wouldn’t pay attention to her, she was right.  Now she was following some old railroad tracks that she knew would eventually lead past her town.  Her and Buddy used to follow them occasionally.  She made sure she kept close to the bushes so she could dive in them if anyone happened to come along.  No one, however, thought to look for her at the abandoned tracks.

                Once again Daniela’s leg made her stop to rest; she sat down on some rotting railway ties and pulled a sandwich out of her backpack.  She finished up the sandwich quickly then sat in silence for a moment.  Daniela was about to resume her trip when she heard a whimper, she paused for a second and heard nothing, but when she was about to continue she heard it again.  It sounded like the sound was coming from inside the woods and it sounded distinctively like a dog.  She rushed into the woods as fast as she could, hoping, and dreading that it could be Buddy; then the rain started.

Daniela knelt down and picked up the sopping furry body; the rain was pouring down but it didn’t compare to how fast the tears were flowing down her face.  She tried to regain her balance after she tripped on a tree root; the weight of the animal in her arms seemed to be growing heavier with each step.  Her best friend lay in her arms; it was just two weeks ago that Buddy had been comforting her while she was hurting.

                Daniela struggled to make it to the road, she knew the police would be there waiting for her, all she had to do was make it there.  She stumbled along in the woods for half an hour before she caught sight of the road.  She fell to her knees beside the road and pain shot up her leg like a wild fire, but she ignored it.  Her only thought was Buddy; she laid him beside her and looked to see what was wrong.  Even with the rain blurring her vision, Daniela knew what had been causing blood to pour from Buddy’s shoulder.  It was a bullet wound, deep and infected with puss oozing out of it.  She stifled a cry as she used a clean piece of cloth to tenderly clean the wound; it made her want to puke.

                Daniela sat by the roadside for twenty minutes before she saw the flashing lights approach; she knew help was there.  She looked down at Buddy, stroked his head, and told him help was coming.  He gazed back up at her with pain in his eyes, whimpered, and then tenderly licked her hand before he dropped his head back to the ground.  With one last heavy sigh, Daniela’s faithful and never criticizing friend, breathed no more.  Just then the lights appeared beside her and she felt strong arms lift her up off the ground.  Voices swirled around her and a blanket drooped over her but none of that mattered, because her only friend was gone.

                Three days later Daniela had been released from the hospital with the doctors saying that her parents should watch her cold, in case it turned into pneumonia.  All she did was lie on the porch swing where Buddy would lie with her, if he was still alive.  He had been buried by their favorite spot, by the creek and now Daniela would never visit there.  Slowly she allowed her life to ease away; she acted the same, day to day hoping no one would notice.  No one did notice until it was time for her to leave, by then she was too far gone.  She miraculously made her way to where Buddy was buried, laid her head beside him, and prayed that God would watch over her family while she was gone.

                Daniela’s parents knew she had been sick for a long time, they had hoped she would live long enough to make it through her young life.  They never realized she was slipping away from them in her last days, because she would hide it excellently.  But, when they found her body lying peacefully beside Buddy’s grave, they knew their mistake.  They mourned her loss and praised God for the time she had lived, they knew until her accident Daniela’s life was full of happiness and adventure.  Now she was embarking on the greatest adventure she could dream of.  Yes her parents mourned for their daughter, but they also rejoiced for they knew her pain was over, and her best friend would be there to guide her way.