The street was a hive of activity. People rushed by in both directions, hurried by their constant affairs, and most were so absorbed in their own lives that they could scarcely keep from colliding into each other (especially when one was less than half their height!). It was a sea of individuals, the space in-between a contradiction to the isolation of each man and woman.
Buddy, however, had no time for philosophy, he had a job to do, which was more than most of his fellows he knew could boast, and his job was his life. Past steaming grates leading into the sewers and stinking tail exhausts of cars that seemed to be positioned to emit right into his sensitive nose; Around broken patches of asphalt and stubborn on comers in the flood of humanity who would sooner correct their route than a boulder in a stream; Over piles of refuse that sometimes built around the overflowing trash containers like the base of an expanding pyramid and puddles of black, semi-congealed goo in the potholes that was less than half water and well on its way to evolving into a higher life form. Each curb, every bump was a challenge and Buddy noticed them all for he had the most important job in the world, as far as he was concerned, leading a human safely through the chaos all around them.
The towering black skinned, gray furred human behind him was known to other humans as “Dr. Mathias,” but Buddy had no need of titles, he was his human and that was all that mattered. The golden retriever that helped the good doctor get to his elementary school where Buddy would rest under his desk for most of the day was aware that his master was an important human; he had a seat on the board of education and if he was rather busy most of the time, at least Buddy was always by his side and ready to lend a friendly ear or belly to rub during those times he became stressed during work.
Yes, Buddy couldn’t imagine being anywhere else than beside the tall, dark man in the sunglasses. His harness and his cape stitched with the words, “Please do not pet me, I’m working” might as well have been made of gold for the way that he carried them and had been carrying them since puppy hood when Dr. Mathias got Buddy from “The Seeing Eye.” He’d spent more than half of his short, canine life in the company of his human and the fact that his best years were behind him meant as much to Buddy as the plastic bags that floated by in the cool Autumn breeze.
Buddy stopped at the curb as he had been taught and had done a thousand times since. His tail stiffened at the sight of the massive angular metal carts that humans rolled around in passing by; they were a threat, always a threat to the safety of his charge. For while Buddy knew that Dr. Mathias was vastly more intelligent, and larger than he was, he needed Buddy to guide him. There was nothing like the feeling being able to help such a great being in such a tangible way; it filled the aging guide dog with pride every time he stepped off the curb. Dr. Mathias came to a halt beside him and briefly patted Buddy’s head while they waited.
After a few moments, Dr. Mathias cocked his head this way and that, listening for traffic as Buddy knew. He said, “Forward.”
Now, at this moment, the critical moment, Buddy was in charge and had an important decision to make, Go or stay. “Selective disobedience” humans call it, but really all it was was letting the dog decide. However, as was ground into Buddy long ago by his mentors, this was a life and death decision at every crossing. Buddy never forgot, but the years wear on one’s sense of caution and even more heavily in the form of conditioning. The Golden had walked his route virtually every day for… as long as he could remember. Day in and day out, it was the same. Though he was as blind to the mysteriously colored traffic lights as Dr. Mathias, Buddy looked ahead and saw the cars lined up neatly to the right and judged it safe. He stepped forward.
A car came sailing lazily in from the left as it arched through the intersection. So slow was it moving that Buddy thought that surely it would realize there was an elderly man and dog in the street and stop. But it didn’t. The golden retriever, so very proud just a few moments ago in his very important job froze, his mind refusing to process quickly enough. His paws started to grind forward, but it was as if they locked in molasses, he wasn’t nearly as swift as he had been a few years ago. The car, however, didn’t wait for Buddy and soon a glowing headlight shined down on him, and filled up the world, like the eye of death drawing him into itself; that bumper was just the right height to catch him in the chest and break him to pieces like an egg dashed on concrete.
Buddy felt a push from behind and then he was flying. Funny, he would have thought getting hit by a car would hurt more, but then perhaps he had died instantly and was simply floating away…
The guide dog landed hard on the asphalt and the noise of the world which had fallen strangely silent returned in a flood, except with a few additions. There was the screech of tires for one, a woman was screaming, the humans were talking excitedly… and there were groans coming from behind. Buddy turned and found his cherished master lying face down on the road behind him, hands outstretched towards him. …He’d pushed Buddy out of the way at the last second. The good doctor’s legs lay twisted, the gray pants of his expensive suit marked with the hideous black of tire treads. Dr. Mathias lay gasping and groaning, clenching his hands again and again; Buddy smelled his master’s blood.
The entire world seemed flipped on its head. Things were not supposed to be like this. Dr. Mathias had placed his life into Buddy’s hands… it was what he lived for. Now… now not only had Buddy failed his human in the most terrible way imaginable… but his human had sacrificed himself to save him. It was a strange and horrible reversal of fate. He should be the one to gladly give his life, not this…
Buddy crawled forward like a puppy and settled his golden furred head near his owner’s. Gently he extended his tongue and licked some of the grit away from Dr. Matias’s face. A bony hand rose and grasped him gently behind the head, rubbing the inside of his right ear the way he had done for more than half a decade. Now the driver of the errant car was running over, cell phone in hand. The young human moved as if to touch his human, but Buddy showed his teeth and growled menacingly for the first time in his life; no more harm would come to his master from this man. Buddy started to rise, but the hand on his head grew tight.
"No… Buddy.” Dr. Mathias croaked, a thin stream of blood and saliva leaked out the side of his mouth. “Down…. Stay…” Buddy settled down, but the hand relaxed before his hackles could even lower. Buddy licked his human’s, his companion’s, face again, but there was no gentle response, no cracked smile this time. Pleadingly, Buddy looked to the young man, but he had backed off, still talking urgently into his cell phone. All around, humans watched as the one man Buddy cared for in all the world silently passed on, an invisible wall about ten feet in radius from the body formed; many humans were on their phones, possibly calling for help, but Buddy wasn’t so sure, one was pointing and taking a picture. ‘Why won’t they help?’ Buddy wondered, ‘Doesn’t anyone care?’
Desperately Buddy licked Dr. Mathias unceasingly, all about the head and face as a brooding bitch would trying to lick life into a still pup. The Golden’s mouth was dry by the time the ambulance arrived.
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The kennels of the Seeing Eye were cramped compared to the spacious apartment he was used to; it was also cold, damp and stank of the nearby puppies as they learned their toilet training. But above all of the discomforts he had suffered since being parted with the cooling corpse of his previous owner, it was lonely. Buddy curled up with his hind feet under his chin, as if he might squeeze himself into nothing if he tried hard enough for surely his life as he knew had passed with the generous man who had saved his life.
Buddy was not a young dog, but he looked even older now for lack of eating. Buddy had never been a particularly thin dog, enjoying a good meal as much as any other canine and his master being generous with his scraps, but now his belly tucked up frightfully under his chest and his ribs showed; patches of his beautiful coat were starting to fall out. He tried to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes he saw the aged, wrinkled face of Dr. Matthias, eyes glazed, bloody drool leaking out the side of his mouth. Buddy lifted his head and howled until he was hoarse.
Buddy wasn’t the only older dog at “The Seeing Eye” in fact; he was now “retired” a couple years before most; though usually retirees remain with their families as pets. The pups were nothing but pests, all legs and motion, jumping and playing, all the while disgracing themselves with their lack of discipline… The older dogs knew failure when the smelled it. It was fortunate then that the waiting list for retired service dogs was years long, highly trained dogs always being greatly desirable. Buddy found himself in a strange new car speeding away from the enclosed yards and kennels of “The Seeing Eye” before long.
Turning away from the rear window, Buddy settled down in the seat to avoid the bumpy, unfamiliar motion of the car; Dr. Mathias hadn’t drove for obvious reasons and Buddy now thought that it was fortunate the way that his belly was churning now. Besides the aging guide dog sat a small girl in a cute little dress, on the far seat was a very tall girl with black hair and black lipstick and black gloves with the fingers cut out… she wasn’t very cute at all, Buddy decided. In front, a be-speckled, balding man whose fringe of hair was a lighter shade of Buddy’s own coat, very handsome, the dog thought, drove and beside him a plump human female reclined, a face mask over her eyes and snoring quietly; her smock smelled of butter and dough. Fairly strange humans all, their skin like bleached bone compared to his former master’s and all of them were much younger. The human girl-child intrigued him, Buddy had curiously little time with children for all his owner worked in an elementary school, mostly he had sat in his master’s office with outside breaks during class time.
Cautiously, she , with her rosey pink cheeks spotted with freckles, reached out and touched his tail. Buddy swished it and she giggled, retracting her hands to her mouth. The tall girl-child rolled her eyes and twirled her finger on the plastic rectangle he held, a soft crashing noise that sounded like construction work issued from behind her limp black locks of hair. Buddy ignored it and continued to entertain the small girl-child with his long bushy tail as the tall buildings eventually gave way to smaller houses and then to forest…
Eventually the trees gave way to wide rolling hills covered with vast farms and still the car moved onwards. This family must have traveled a long way to get him. Buddy was no great thinker, but his long experience told him that these people must have really wanted him. Eventually, the little car, with a pause to fill up the gas tank, came to a new human city, though not so nearly as vast and tall and the canyons of gray sculpted stone, glass and steel he was used to. Just outside of the heart of the city, the car turned off the freeway and entered into a quieter area. Here the houses were more widely spaced, though many were identical to Buddy's eyes. Wide spaces of green grass lay in front of every home and trees were abundant; Buddy had never seen such a sight, 'So much space!' he thought.
By the time the car pulled into the driveway of a wide three storied house, Buddy was wagging his tail for the first time since the terrible accident and his failure. The little girl next to him leaned over and grasped his neck. She whispered, "Welcome home!"   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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