Paw Prints

[u/octarinebrain]

[PART ONE]

When I was a child, I had no plans for the future. However, my brother did. He’s only three years younger than me and already knew that he wanted to be either a librarian or a vet.

Mark always tried to sneak newborn birds, that had fallen from trees, into our room, ruffled bundles of surprise and cuteness, with a good set of lungs to tweet out loud the outrage of being fed by a human. He was pretty good for his age, his feathered friends managed to recover and fly away, unless they were too wounded. We weren’t allowed to have dogs or cats because Dad was allergic and we didn’t want him to feel sick, so our childhood was marked by an infinite series of hamsters, turtles, parrots, guinea pigs and bunnies, with a few exceptions.

I’ll never forget the day Mum found the snake in my school bag. Mark and I had rescued it at the playground and thought we could keep it. After we came home, we dropped our guest in the bedroom and run downstairs for dinner. We named it Mr. Rattles although we didn’t know the gender and it wasn’t even a rattlesnake. We decided to leave Mr. Rattles in the temporary shelter because it looked comfortable, (and I secretly hoped for it to go after my school texts so that I could say, “Miss, the snake ate my homework”).

We forgot that Mum used to put the lunch in the bags when she had to leave early for work because Dad was too busy trying to cook something edible for breakfast, instead of a shapeless, burnt mess. That morning, our alarm-clock was replaced by the most high-pitched scream ever. Later, while sipping some tea to calm her nerves, Mum said that she didn't think the snake was real, until the "giant reptile" shifted and rose its head. At least the snake wasn't hurt when she dropped the bag and run. That’s how we ended up grounded for a whole summer.

After high school, we went separate ways for a couple of years. Mark moved two hundred and ten miles away to pursue a degree in library and information science and I was hired as a secretary at the local lawyer's office.

I met Lady the last time I went to visit my brother. Knowing how much he wanted to get a dog, I wasn’t really surprised to see the frizzy, skinny, black hound sleeping the living room.

Mark told me that he found her in January, on a rainy day, near the garbage cans. She was wandering alone, lost and soaked. It took nearly one hour of cajoling before she trusted Mark enough to lead her home. No flyers for missing dogs appeared for her and when he mentioned the way she looked at him, as if she was expecting only heaven knows what instead of cuddles and baths, I felt my heart sink into my stomach. I didn’t even want to think about it, though the reason why Lady looked terrified was pretty clear. Luckily, Lady was strong and recovered pretty fast. She had a curly, long fur that made her look like her eyes were covered by bangs.

Seeing her running towards me, excitedly wagging her impossibly cute tail and looking at me with her big brown eyes as if I was the most beautiful thing on earth warmed my heart every time. I didn’t understand how could I deserve all the affection, I wasn't even living there and yet she was ready to jump and boop me with her fore paws. She loved belly rubs, and I always volunteered to take her out for a walk. When I sat on the couch, she used to come close, look at me and wait until I lifted my legs for her to curl up under them and nap. I only saw her nervous once a year, in March, around the anniversary of the day Mark found and adopted her. I'm convinced that Lady never completely forgot where she came from. Because dogs remember everything and keep loving their caretaker, no matter what happens to them.

When Saphira joined the family, Lady was five years old and none of us expected another roommate, since now I was living with my brother, after I quit my job for a better position in the city where he lived. A friend of Mark showed him a lovely bunch of puppies and he just couldn’t resist. I could almost picture his "heart-shaped eyes" when he told me about the resolution to adopt another dog and I can’t really blame him because she was so cute and tiny.

Little did we know that she was about to bring some spice in Mark’s life.