Pepper

I remember the moment as clear as day, it was a sunny afternoon, the sun burning the pavement on the beaming white sidewalks. The dazzling blue overtaking the skies, shoving away any unwelcomed clouds that wander about, getting from one place to another. The cars aggressively speeding past others, some small and dainty in shape and color, others big and loud trying to overpower the streets, and a few were lean and fast, bright in magnificent, stunning, rare, extraordinary colors, trying to make a statement. The roads were overrun by people, the traffic was heavier then normal.

In a dog shelter, there was a small midnight puppy whose coat shimmered blue and green. Her ears stood up halfway, then fell down, creating a little triangle shape that bounced as she walked across the floor. Her tail curled into a spiral, and it spun like a helicopter when she became excited. Her tongue fell out of her mouth, covered in black splotches. She carried a huge smile that would brighten anyone's day.

Her brother and sister played with her, tackling each others ears, having a good time messing around. My family walked up to the enclosure, these three puppies catching our attention immediately. But one was different then the rest. That one with her flopping ears, and black blotched tongue. But the story with my dog didn't start there. It started earlier that week, when the sun began to touch the mountains and the plants and animals of the earth. When the week had just begun...

A long time ago (I was seven at the time), a little puppy was abandoned with her siblings. Born one day, thrown away into a carboard box the next. They whined and cried with no mother to be there for them. They were alone, scared, and in desperate need of care and love. What felt like hours went by, until a man, a stranger opened the box. In it, to his shock, he found three puppies all huddled close together. But the most confusing, baffling part of this was that the box filled with pups, was sitting in his backyard. He didn't know where they were from, how they got there, why they were there.

For days he tried to care for them, but he alreayd owned a dog. And that dog he already had became jealous. He was a massive, strong, aggressive male dog, that was not so welcoming to the the puppies in his home, in his territory. The man was not able to watch over them and keep them in his house, when his dog had the tendency to leap out and kill them all at any given moment. He gave the puppies to a nearby shelter, in hopes of them finding a new home.

A few weeks after that, after the puppies became old enough to go somewhere new, to see and explore the world, they were put up for sale. That was the morning I was told that we would get a pet dog. The sun had risen earlier that day, and it was mid-morning at the time. My parents had called me and my brother up to their room for a surprise. I remember the rush and excitement in me that made me squeal, I loved surprises! The only downside to a surprise, is when they aren't what you excepted. Or when someone wants you to adore something they gave you, but in reality the surprise is disappointing, and you have to hide that you don't like it. Getting surprises and presents can be fun, but they can also be a bit depressing and had to receive.

Still, I was filled with hope, and my brother and I got something we didn't ever think we would get. Our parents gave us a card and a letter, and in the letter our parents said that we were going to get a dog next week. But that day we went to just check out a few puppies that we would consider and buy next week. That was the day I saw my dog, Pepper.

There she was, that little puppy with a coat of pure black delicate fur. Her brother and sister noticed us when we went up to their enclosure, but they continued to play. That one dog though, she walked up to the side of the enclosure, and she chose me. Her big brown eyes looking directly at me, at no one, at nothing else.

Usually when a person becomes an owner and goes to buy a dog, they are the ones drawn towards the dog. But Pepper was drawn towards me, and that was something I'll never forget.