I love you Friday

I live in a tiny room, glass covers all my exits. My roommate is asleep on the floor in the corner. His tail is placed over his face as he snores softly. Children walk by the glass, tapping and pointing. Giggling and smiling as they observe all of us in our rooms.

I feel my tail begin to wag as a woman passes by and smiles at me. Dragging her finger across the glass. I follow it, eyeballing her playfully. She smiles and speaks to the attendant. I am brought out of my room, into the playpen where she interacts with me. Ropes and treats are spread on the floor. I eagerly snatch up the treats, and unable to contain my excitement, pee on her sneakers. But, she does not yell or scold as some do when I am brought out to play. She simply pets my head and says, "You're just a baby. You will learn."

I threw up on my first car ride with her, mom. My mom. She calls herself that, she calls me Friday. I explored my new home. Sliding down the hallway, feeling relief when the slick floors turned soft in the bedroom. I slept with mom that night. Her bed was so much more comfortable than the glass room. I didn't have my friends here, but I had so much more. Water was always filled to the brim for me. Food was plentiful. Mom and I walked every morning.

Mom left me every day. She said she had to work. I played with the soft things, my toys. Sometimes, I didn't know which soft thing was a toy, and what was not. I was never yelled at by mom. She would say, "Well, I guess that's my fault for leaving the closet open." We watched movies every night. We sat on the big couch together and ate cookies and treats.

"I love you so much Friday." She would say as she rubbed my ears on the couch every night. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Mom and I lived together for several years. Every year she gave me a birthday party. All of her friends and my friends came to our house and we had cake and played fetch. At my last party, I turned 7. Mom called me a senior.

Early the next morning mom went to work. I jumped off the bed and ate my breakfast, and proceeded to take my nap on the couch. I went outside through the little door mom made for me to use the restroom. My tummy rumbled several hours later. Mom was usually home by now. I sat at the door and nodded off.

"Break it down." I jolted awake. A strange voice. I felt a growl deep inside my chest. Mom didn't want people here if she was away. I yelped and jumped back as the door slammed open. Two men cautiously stepped foot into my doorway. I barked, warning them to stay out until mom said it was okay. They continued to enter and I lunged at them. My head was engulfed in darkness, and I was drug out the door.

What felt like days later, the darkness around my head subsided, and I was surrounded by friends. Nervous, panting, wagging, barking, howling, so many friends surrounded me. It was so loud, I could feel myself barking. I wanted mom back, I wanted to know she hadn't been hurt by the men breaking into our house.

A younger woman approached me, and I stepped back. She went slowly and seemed friendly. So I let her slip a leash around my neck and lead me away. Maybe we were going home.

I was placed in a long metal kennel, with a door to the outside like my door at home. I relieved myself outside, remembering mom's rules, and ate the food the was placed in front of me. It was not good, and there were no cookies and treats.

That night I laid my head down on the pillow they had given me. It was old, and hard. Not soft and fresh like mom's bed.

I cried.

I lay on the pillow for what seemed like days. I ate and went outside to potty. The nice young girl occasionally let me out into the grass to run and play with my friends. And I did, I had fun with my friends. But when night came back. I thought of mom, and her hand on my ears. "I love you Friday."

Weeks later, a family walked by my kennel with the nice girl. The oldest woman asked, "What about him?"

"This is Friday! He is a very sweet and gentle boy. His parent recently passed away in a car accident on her way to work. He was reported to us by one of her friends and was later rescued from the house."

The family looked in at me with pity and continued to walk down the row of kennels.

Four years later, I was admitted to the friends' hospital for kidney failure. The man in charge stated nothing could be done; and that I would have to go to sleep. Sleeping did sound nice, and my body was always in pain. Old age had crept up on me quickly. The young girl who had brought me was not the same as the one who first started taking me on my walks. Many had come and gone since.

That evening, as I lay in the hospital. A needle was stuck in my paw, and sleep came quicker than it ever had before.

"Friday?" My eyes fluttered open. Mom stood above me. Light shone all around her. Her eyes were filled with tears as she pulled me up into her arms.

"Oh Friday, I love you so much."