Corner

Ella ran down the stairs, out the door, and dashed into the old barn. Her father stood there waiting, with the most adorable thing she had ever laid eyes upon. She took him carefully in her pudgy arms and began stroking its brown and black fur.

Her father stroked her hair in turn. "What shall we name him?"

"Roo!" Ella cried. She had clawed at her mind all day while at school for a name. "Your name is Roo," Ella cooed.

"We'll take care of him in the house until he's large enough to be outside on his own," her father said.

Ella nodded. That was the deal, and she had whined enough already. She didn't want to spoil the moment.

"He's a handsome one," her mother said delightedly, having followed Ella from the house to the barn. "From Jenna's litter?"

"Yes," her father said. "The finest Shepard in the bunch. He'll grow big and he'll protect us and the sheep." Her father crouched, stretching his palm for Roo to sniff at and lick.

Roo nuzzled at Ella's arm, and Ella buried her face into Roo's fur. "I love you, Roo."

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Ella turned off the path and headed for the barn rather than for their adjacent home. She didn't want her mother or father to see her swollen eyes or tear-stained cheeks. The doors opened with a creak, and Roo's head popped upwards from the corner where he had been laying, watching the sheep. He bolted to Ella, nearly knocking her over. His great tongue sopped at her face, erasing her tears and turning her sadness to laughter.

Ella hugged him tightly. When had he gotten so big?

"I don't know why they make fun of me, Roo," Ella whispered into his fur. "They tease me for everything." She buried her face into his neck. "I just don't fit in."

Roo lay down with his head on her lap. Ella smiled. Whatever anyone else ever said, Roo would love her forever, just for the way she was.

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Ella climbed out of her window, sprinting for the barn as she heard more screaming. The shadows danced about her, and the rain had started to fall. Lightning flashed, and she could hear the sheep bleating fearfully. Roo was standing alert at the door. His great tail began wagging when he made out who tiptoed into the barn.

"I told you it was a terrible idea from the start!"

"I didn't know. Harry was a trusted friend. I didn't know he would make off with the money! He assured me that it was good land, fertile land! That all we had to do was--"

"I saw right through him from the beginning, but you refused to listen to me. Out! I don't want you in my house tonight. Go sleep on a friend's couch. At this rate, we'll lose the house, and that's what we'll have to get used to!"

Ella peered through the crack between the barn doors. The door was flung open, and her father stalked through it. He cursed loudly when he saw the rain, but was too indignant to go back for a jacket. He ran into his lorry, but Ella did not hear the sound of the engine turning.

Ella softly closed the barn door and sank to the floor. She wrapped her arms around an oblivious Roo, wagging his tail and happy just to see her. She took comfort in his fur and warmth.

"At least he'll be home tonight," Ella said. She was relieved her father would still be on the property, instead of going elsewhere like he usually did on nights like this. She drew her book and schoolwork from under her sweater and switched on her flashlight.

She settled down into the blankets that served as Roo's bed. Sometimes her father left, sometimes he stayed. At times it was her mother who stormed out. Each time it was Ella who was left behind, alone in her dark room. But Roo, she knew, would always be here, in the corner of the barn, ready to run into her arms.

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With trembling hands, Ella unfolded the letter. The room oozed with anticipation.

"I did it," Ella whispered.

"You did it? YES! Both of them!" Her mother jumped from her seat and began dancing.

Her father took the paper into his hands. His eyes became damp, and he stroked her head. "Thank you, Ella," he whispered, kissing her forehead.

Ella could feel her heart pounding against her chest. She was elated, and she jumped and danced with her parents. But when that was done, she dashed out of the house and into the barn.

Roo saw her from his corner, still laying on his stomach with his head on his paws.

"You dummy, get up!" Ella cried joyfully. She ran to him and crumpled by his side. Roo rolled onto his stomach, tail wagging slowly. "I did it, Roo!" She rubbed at his stomach and buried her face into his furry neck. "Tuition, room and board all paid for!"

She had applied for two universities--one nearby, and another in a larger city. She'd hoped for the one in the city, and not only because it was a better school. "I'll be going to school with my boyfriend," Ella said gleefully. A world of new experiences, out there to be explored.

Roo's tail thumped against her leg, and he licked at her hands and face in congratulations. "We did it together, Roo. You and I." He had been with her on dark nights, lonely nights. His company had given her the comfort of knowing she was not alone. Strange, what strength such a little thing lends to fragile human hearts. Roo's tail continued tapping against Ella's leg.

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"He won't last much longer," the doctor said.

"She'll be here," Ella's father replied. He scanned the horizon, past the fence lining their property and over the hills of neighboring farms. She'll be here."

Ella's mother joined them at the barn, her phone in her hands. "I've just recieved a call. The aeroplane has landed, and Ella's just gotten into a cab." She crouched down beside Roo. "She must get here on time. She'll be devastated." She stroked Roo's cheek.

The Shepard's once lively eyes were forlorn and hollow, as if trying to make out something in the distance. His once shining coat was coarse, and the lines of his ribcage pressed against his now leathery skin.

The soft pitter-patter of rain echoed throughout the old barn. Ella's father sat on the ground next to Roo and rubbed the dog softly. The Shepard's body heaved from labored breathing.

There was a slight sound of the rush of air as the last of life left Roo's body. The light was gone from his eyes.

"No," Ella's father whispered. Ella's mother began weeping softly.

There was the sound of a cab door being shut from beyond the fence, then the rapid thump of sneakers against wet grass. Ella dashed through the open barn doors and threw herself next to Roo. She took one look at the body and knew.

"No," she said through sobs. She could not see through the teary curtain blocking her vision. She buried her face into Roo's coarse fur one last time. The doctor left the barn silently.

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The dug a hole in the dirt of the barn floor, where Roo's place had been. They wrapped him in his favorite blankets and laid him down to a final rest. The entire family was tearful as Roo was covered slowly by the dirt from her father's shovel. Ella wondered if Roo would be warm there.

She cried herself to sleep that night, and for many nights afterwards. She could not forget the lingering feeling that she had somehow betrayed Roo by not being present in his last moments--that she had only taken all that he had to give her, and that she had not done the utmost for him herself. Suddenly it seemed that though she were to be given all the time in the world to have spent with Roo, it still would not have been enough.

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Many years later, the old barn was now a ruined barn. Ella's father and mother had moved on from their farming life and joined her in the city with her new spouse and children.

Yet the barn still stood, and Roo rested within it. Every so often, Ella would visit Roo. But sometimes life caught up with her, and she had not the time to go so far out into the countryside.

But whether Ella traved there or no, the barn still stood, and Roo within it. Time passed, the timbers fell, and the sheep had long since gone. Yet the barn stood on a corner of the family's property, and Roo occupied a small corner within the barn. As the year's passed, Ella sometimes thought that her heart might be like the barn. Worn, aging, but still standing--and within it, a little corner forever occupied by the memory of Roo.