Short Stories 13 — A walk with my lab

It time for our daily ritual. Its 8am and Milo is patiently waiting at the door with his collar. It the normal schedule as always. Had my breakfast and changed my cloths. I come down the stairs and I see this guys as usually giving me the puppy eyes as we couldn’t go yesterday.

“We are going today, buddy don’t you worry. But are you ready?” He barked and wiggled his tail which meant yes in this language. I put the collar on him and off we went on our daily trip.

The first stop is Harr’s shop on our way to get a newspaper. I am 57 years old and I like to read these instead of the phones and other things. I am an old soul after all. “Good morning Harry”

Harry replied, “Good morning James. Where were you yesterday?”

“I had a little back pain yesterday. So decided to take a day off.” Harry and myself chatted for a little while. Whereas Milo at first was happy to meet Harry but after a while he started to bark while standing with his front legs on the counter. Implying, “Lets go, what are we waiting here for so long.” And so we moved on.

Now we go for a walk. Now we usually walk at our pace and enjoy the fresh air. Milo has been here for a while now. He has been with us for 12 years if I remember correctly. He was a small puppy when he joined our family. My youngest son introduced him to us. After he passed away, Milo has been with us. He takes care of us while we give him treats, a warm blanket and lots of hugs.

We reached the bridge. Crossed it and sat on a bench. This is our second stop. Here we like to take a breather. Both of rest here for a while. I will read the newspaper, while Milo will be sight seeing. Sometimes he will look at the stream of water below the bridge. Sometimes, he will lecture other dogs who are passing. Sometimes when other owners and their dogs sit next to our bench he will play with them.

So many years have passed. It feels like yesterday, when our family was together and happy. Then came the tough times where things started to fall apart. My eldest son left for higher education. Which is a good thing. But some where the distance drastically increased. He completed his education, got a job and has settled in the Netherlands. I am happy for him but I miss him a lot. There are days when Marie will cry quietly thinking that I wouldn’t find out. But she feels very sad, especially when there is a festive season or holidays. She does miss her son a lot.

It was time to go. I looked at Milo and he knew that it is time to go. He jumped up the bench to say the last goodbye. I wish I could say goodbye to Marie and my son but its time. One last time I looked at Milo and he had tears in this eyes. He knew these were my last few breaths. Sitting on this bench I went through all the fond memories I have from this place. Milo’s barks turned into long howls. Sound started to muffle out and my vision started to blur out.