Jasper

There once was a small black puppy by the name of Jasper. For as long as he can remember he has lived in the same village with the same group of dogs that he looks nothing like. He was this fast-growing puppy that was already taller than his family and looked nothing like them. As he grew older and his body changed more and more, he started to feel confused. He would walk around town and get looks from some of the others. It was clear to him that he was nothing like his family, so he went to his mom and told her how he felt.

"Mom?" he asks. "Why do I look so different?"

"What do you mean son?" answers his mom.

"Mom, I am already twice the size that you are, and it is clear that I look nothing like the rest of you. Why am I so different?" he asks with tears in his eyes.

"Oh, my dear boy, I knew this day would eventually come," his mom answers as she pulls him into a tight hug. "I wish it was not so soon though."

"Mom?" he asks, pulling away from his mom.

“You look different from the rest of us because you are different. I found you one day when I was coming back from trading with the next town over. You were all by yourself and just a tiny new puppy.”

“You are not my mom?” Jasper backs away slowly as tears are in his eyes. His mom quickly moves forward and pulls him into another tight hug.

“I am and will always be your mom, baby. I love you as my own.”

“I love you too, mom.” Jasper hugs his mom back before eventually stepping back. “If I am not the same as you, then what am I?”

“Let’s go sit down on the couch, and I will explain it to you.” Jasper follows his mom over to the couch and curls up against the one arm, making sure to face his mom. “Firstly, I am a Miniature Pinscher, just like everyone else in this town. We are a small breed, and when I brought you here, I did not think you would grow to be so big.”

“Would you have not taken me if you had known?”

“I would have still taken you with me, but I might have tried to find someone that would be better suited to helping you get used to your size.”

“Why did you not do that then when I started to get bigger?”

“As I said, I love you as my son. I could never send you away at this point.”

“Would you be upset if I leave?”

“I would be sad to see you go, but I would also understand why you felt you needed to leave.”

“I feel like I need to find out who I am.”

“Jasper, you are my son and will always be yourself, but I understand. When do you want to leave?”

“As soon as possible.”

“Well, let us get some things together for you.” Jasper and his mom spend the rest of the day getting things gathered up so he can leave the next morning.

As he lays in bed that night, he cannot help but worry about his trip and leaving his mom. She is the only family he has ever known, and he does not want to forget her.

As Jasper is leaving in the morning with the things that his mom packed for him, he stops and looks back towards her and the only home he has ever known. His mom waves at him, and he waves back before continuing on his journey. He knows from talking to his mom while they were packing that there are some breeds he should see first. She gave him a list of the breeds that she has suspected from watching him grow, so he heads to the first one listed: Beagle.

He can tell as soon as he walks into the town that he looks nothing like any of the dogs that live here. He cannot help but feel disappointed and finds a secluded bench to sit down on. As he sits there, he can feel the sadness building. He knew it was unlikely to find his breed on the first try, but he was hoping. He wants to figure out what he is as soon as possible so he can return home to his mom.

“Are you alright, little one?” Jasper hears suddenly from in front of him, making him look up in surprise to see an older dog standing in front of him. “Are you lost?”

“No, I am not lost,” Jasper says, trying to give her a small smile but not managing one.

“What is wrong?” the older dog says as she sits next to him.

“I am trying to find out who I am. Mom told me to check here, but it is clear I do not belong here.”

“Why would your mom send you somewhere else, little one?” Jasper explains everything to the old woman and shows her the list when she asks for it.

“Well, I can understand why she thought some of these, but I do not understand why she would think Beagle or Coondog.”

“She said when I was little I would howl like a hound dog, so she thought maybe one of those two.”

“Well, I can tell you now, little one, that you might have our howl, but you are not a hound dog.” Jasper cannot help but let out a little whine after she said this. “Oh, sweetie, do not fret. I am sure you will find out who you are. I would check with the Labradors in the next town over if I was you. Your coloring is the same as a Labrador.”

“Really?” Jasper cannot help but feel a little excited and hopeful.

“Really. Now, why do you not join me for some lunch, and then you can head out?” Jasper smiles and nods before following the old woman as she starts to walk down the street.

After having a nice and relaxing meal with the old woman, he graciously accepts the cookies she insists that he take and heads out to the next village over.

He feels like jumping for joy when he walks into the village and sees a bunch of dogs that look like him. He is so excited that he does not watch where he is going and ends up running into another dog, causing them to drop the things they were carrying.

“I am so sorry,” Jasper says as he starts helping the person pick up their items.

“It is alright, but you should watch better where you are going,” says a male voice from in front of him. After helping the man pick up his stuff, Jasper finally gets a good look at him and frowns slightly. “I have not seen you around here before.”

“I am new to town.”

“How about we go somewhere less busy, and you can tell me about yourself?” the man says, pulling him out of the path of another dog. Jasper nods and follows after the man, who leads him to a bench in front of a store selling toys. Jasper quickly tells the man why he is there and is worried when the man frowns.

“Did I say something bad to upset you?” Jasper asks, feeling worried that he said something wrong and upset this nice person.

“No, you did not say anything wrong. I am just sorry to tell you this, young man, but you are not a Labrador. I know you were hopeful, and I am sorry to shatter that hope.”

“How can that be? I look just like some of you.”

“You might have the same coloring as us, but you are not the same as us. Take a closer look at the way everyone is built and then look at how you are built.”

“I am still growing though, so I would look different. Would I not?”

“Yes, that is true, but I can tell from how you are already filling out that you will end up built differently. Do you see the young man helping that older gentleman by the fruit stand?”

“Yeah.”

“He is about the same age as you, and as you can see, he is built differently from you.”

“Oh.” All of that hope that Jasper had built inside him he can feel is just floating away on the light breeze drifting over him.

“Hey, there is no need for the long face. Why do you not come with me, and we can do some research to get some ideas?” Jasper nods and slowly follows the man as he heads towards a tall gray building. The man helps him ask around within the building, which turns out to be where the city elders meet. One of the elders mentions Pitbull Terriers, so after resting for a bit longer and getting something to eat, Jasper heads out again.

It takes him a lot longer to get to the village where the Pitbull Terriers lived, and he got to meet many other breeds along the way: Pug, Shih-Tzu, Boxer, Saint Bernard, Pomeranian, and Fox Terrier.

As he nears the village of the Pitbull Terriers, he cannot help but feel worried as he sees a wide variety of appearances in the people who live there. There are brown ones, tan ones, black ones, and gray ones. He stops at the edge of town and just sits down on the edge of the road, feeling very frustrated. Some look like him, but there are so many others that look nothing like him.

“Maybe I should just go back home,” Jasper says as he looks up towards the sky that is clouding up. As he feels the first few drops of rainfall on his face, he lets out a long sigh. Suddenly though something is covering him and blocking the rain. He turns and sees a woman about the same age as his mom.

“You should not be sitting out here in this rain, deary. You could get sick. Where is your mom? She must be worried,” the woman says, and Jasper takes a good look at her. She is a light tan color that almost appears to be white with a few light brown spots. Jasper goes to answer her but all of the frustration that has been building over his long journey finally causes him to snap and start crying. “Oh, deary, do not cry.”

Jasper just cries harder when the woman hugs him. As he is crying, he slowly tells her about his journey.

“I am sure you are missing your home so much. Come on, let us get you dry and warm. We can see about getting you back home once the rain stops.” Jasper follows the woman to her house, which is nearby, and she hands him a towel to dry off. As he finishes drying off, the woman gets him some water and some warm food.

“I still do not know who I am.” Jasper eats a little but pushes around most of his food, not feeling very hungry.

“You have been traveling all over trying to find out what breed you are?”

“Yes, I have not seen mom for weeks now.”

“Well, I think you came to the right place. You look like you could very well be one of us. We can check with the elders and see if they have any record of your birth tomorrow.”

“I do not have anywhere to go.”

“You can stay here.”

After a peaceful night of sleep, Jasper heads to see the elders with the woman, a little hope blooming in his chest. They get there and have to wait for a little before getting to see the elders, so Jasper takes the time to watch the dogs in the city out the windows. Once they are allowed to see the elders, they quickly explain why they are there. One of the elders pulls out the files from around the time he was born, and each of the elders takes some and starts looking. Jasper feels anxious as he looks and ends up pacing some as the time goes on.

“Why do you not get some fresh air?” the kind woman asks him suddenly. He turns to look at her and glances at the elders still looking before giving a small nod. He slowly walks out and sits on the steps of the building to wait. It is not long before the woman is suddenly sitting down next to me.

“I am guessing it is not good news,” Jasper says, letting out a deep sigh.

“I wish I could tell you there is, but there is not. They went through all the records that could have something and found nothing. They did have a recommendation for you though.”

“I honestly do not know if I want to know. I am so tired of getting my hopes up and having them dashed.”

“I bet you are, but you are almost there. They are willing to bet that you will get your information at the next town over across the meadow. Are you willing to go? If so, I can take you tomorrow.”

“I do not want to make you go out of your way.”

“Oh, do not worry. I am heading there tomorrow to do some trading, so I can introduce you to some people who can help you.”

“Ok. Thank you.”

Jasper stays the night with the woman again, and after a filling breakfast, they head to the next town over. Jasper looks around in confusion as this town seems to be filled with the same kinds of dogs as the last town.

“I thought you said this town has a different breed living here,” Jasper says as they near a vegetable stand.

“We are a different breed though many mistake us for being the same,” the man behind the stand says once they are near. “We are close relatives to the Pitbull Terriers.”

“What are you then?” Jasper asks. He instantly feels horrible for being so blunt, but the man just smiles before answering.

“We are American Staffordshire Terriers. You sure are a curious one,” the man says as the woman pays for some things she picked out.

“He is on a journey to find out what kind he is,” the woman says before explaining more what she means.

“You have come a long way,” the man says, looking surprised.

“I honestly think I should just head home. It is obvious that I do not belong anywhere,” Jasper says, looking towards the road leading out of town.

“Before you do, come with me real quick.”

“What about your stand?”

“My son can watch it for me.” Jasper for the first time notices a young boy sitting behind the stand. Jasper follows after the man and cannot help but sigh when he sees a tall gray building. When the guy gives him a look, he quickly responds to him.

“This would be the third time I have seen one of these.”

“Well, hopefully, this time will lead to some good news.”

“Hopefully,” Jasper says as they walk in and towards a large room in the back. When they walk into the room, Jasper is surprised to see it is not full of elderly dogs but some around the same age as his mom.

“Hello. What can we do for you?” one of them asks when they are near the group.

“This young man is trying to find where he is from,” the man says, which gets the attention of everyone in the room. Jasper is surprised when he is suddenly surrounded by everyone, and many of them are smiling brightly.

“What is going on?” Jasper asks, starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

“You are Josie’s son right?” one of them says, getting in his face.

“Who?” Jasper asks, backing away and backing right into the guy that brought him there. He quickly moves to hide behind the man.

“Guys, you are scaring him,” the man says.

“We are sorry,” the one who greeted them when they walked on says. “We just got excited. “You look like an old friend of ours.”

“Josie was a dear friend of ours, and you look just like her. Are you her son?” the ones that got in his face says.

“I do not know who my real mom is. I was found and raised by my mom.”

“You were found?” one of them asks. Jasper quickly explains what has happened and watches as they all share some looks. Once he is done, one of them walks over to a shelf and grabs a picture before walking back over. She holds out the image to him, and he takes it. He cannot help but gasp as he looks at the picture of a woman with a small baby that looks close to the pictures his mom has of him.

“What happened to her?” he asks without looking away from the image.

“She fell in love with a dog that was visiting and left with him to live in his town. She sent this shortly after you were born,” one of them says, causing Jasper to look up at them.

“She does not live around here?”

“No, we do not know where she lives. I am sorry we cannot tell you.”

“At least you now know what kind of dog you are,” the man who brought him says, causing Jasper to look over at him.

“Yeah,” Jasper says, holding the image back out to the one who gave it to him.

“No, you should keep that,” the person says, pushing it back towards him. Jasper smiles and carefully packs it into his bag, frowning when he notices how empty it is.

“Thank you,” Jasper says before they turn and leave.

He is torn between being happy and being sad as they head back to the stand. When they get there, Jasper is surprised to see the woman still there. When she gives a questioning look, he explains what they were told and shows her the image.

“Does that mean you will be heading back home?” the man’s son asks as Jasper puts the picture back in his bag.

“Yeah, it does. I cannot wait to see mom and tell her all about my journey,” Jasper says, going to put his bag back on, but he is stopped.

“You have a long journey ahead of you. You are going to need some supplies,” the woman says, starting to pack Jasper’s bag with all kinds of food.

“I cannot pay for that,” Jasper says, looking at the little bit of money he has left from his journey.

“Do not worry about it. We are not asking you to pay us for them,” the man says, adding some things of his own. Once they have his bag filled again, they all walk him to the edge of town and wave as he heads back towards his home.

Even though the trip home takes the same amount of time as it did before, it feels like it goes much faster to Jasper. He makes sure to stop and say hello to all of his new friends along the way back and tell them the news. While his journey was a frustrating one, he enjoyed it greatly, but nothing beats the feeling he gets when he sees his home in the distance. As soon as he sees it, he takes off running, ready to see his mom again. As he runs through the town, the people that once gave him looks for being different are all cheering for him and welcoming him home. When he gets to the middle of town, the crowd that has been following him and gathering around him is now too thick to run. He is happy that everyone seems to be happy to see him, but he is frustrated because he wants to see his mom already.

“Jasper?” he hears from behind him. He spins around and smiles as the crowd parts to show his mom standing there. He rushes to her and scoops her up in a hug. “I was not sure that was you at first. You got so big on me.”

“I am home, mom,” Jasper says as she is looking him over.

“I hope you still fit through the door,” she says, and everyone around them laughs.

“I am sure we can fix it if we need to,” one of the people around them says, making Jasper smile.

Jasper smiles as he looks around himself and sees all of the people he has known his whole life smiling back at him and something dawns on him. He has always known who he is. He may not look like everyone here, but this is his home and who he is.

“Let us go home,” his mom says, turning towards their home as everyone starts to slowly go back to what they were doing.

“I am already home,” Jasper says, smiling at his mom before following after her.