Jordan+Duggan

 Sitting up, I smacked my lips together. Putting on my glasses and blinking four five times, I looked at the clock. 8:00 AM. I plopped back down onto my bed headfirst. It’s a Saturday! I wanted to sleep, extremely bad. Minutes passed and I finally woke up from my dreams that I forgot as soon as my eyes opened. 8:25.  Putting on my jeans, I walked out of my room and walked into the tiled kitchen. Opening up the wooden cabinet, I grabbed the orange Reese’s Puffs cereal box. After grabbing a bowl and a spoon, I slowly walked to the table. I felt like a slug. Eating my breakfast to the sound of my little siblings watching Backyardigans was torture.  I walked back into my room during Pablo the Penguin’s snack time. I lay back down on the bottom bunk, which is my brother’s bed, and stared at the gray bottom of my mattress. //Ring, ring! Ring, ring!// The home phone started ringing.  My mom barged into my room and said it was for me.  Who could be calling me at nine in the morning? On a SATURDAY?  Grabbing the phone from my mother, I said, “Hello.”  My friend Sean answered, “ Hi.”  “Oh, hey, Sean. What’s up?” I asked.  “A lot, actually,” He replied softly.  “Oh that stinks. What happened?”  “Buddy’s been acting pretty weird and it’s making me kind of scared, you know? He is getting old…”  “Oh.”  “Yeah.”  The conversation was also getting old. “Umm… Are you going to do something about it?” I asked.  “Oh. Yeah, I am. I’m going to take him to a vet soon,” He said louder.  “KK.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> He hung up. I walked back to Jacob’s bed and sat down. The clouds on the sunny day quickly moved in front of the sun, making the day darker. What if Buddy is in horrible health trouble? Looking away from the dark morning sky and expelling the thought from my mind I told myself, “Buddy is okay.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> Days passed without word from Sean. And, honestly, I forgot all about the conversation I had with Sean the other morning. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> As I ate my breakfast, my little brother got dressed for a football game he had. I then put on my blue jeans and an average tee shirt. My family and I hopped into our blue mini-van and drove to the game. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> At the last quarter, as Jacob tackled a kid to the unforgiving ground, my friend Nick walked up to me. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Yo,” I greeted him. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “What’s up,” He answered. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Oh, nothing much. You?” I asked. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “You hear about Buddy?” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Oh yeah. It stinks.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Especially for Sean. He’s gonna have to put Buddy down.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “What?” I replied, shocked. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Yeah, you didn’t know?” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “No.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> Nick looked down. “Yeah. I feel bad for him. WE are sad when it’s not even OUR dog. It’s HIS! He must be depressed.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Yeah.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> The whistle blew, calling Nick over to practice for his upcoming game. Jacob ran up to Mom. His smile beamed up at her. “You see how good I did? Did you? Did you?” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> Mom nodded and said, “Let’s go.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> We all ran to the car and went home. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> It started to rain, which allowed me to play the out-dated NBA 2K11. As LeBron James tomahawk dunked the orange ball through the rim, My phone rang. Pausing the lopsided game, I answered the phone. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Hello.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> Sean answered,” Hey, want to come over?” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Um. Okay, what time?” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Now.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> I told him to hold on. I ran into Mom’s room and asked if she could drive me there. She gave me the look of death and reluctantly said she would. I told Sean I could make it. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Cool,” He replied. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> As I walked to Sean’s door, I pressed the doorbell multiple times until Sean’s sister Kyle answered the door with an agitated look on her face. Sean said hi and we walked into his living room where Buddy was laying down. Sean was talking, but I didn’t hear him. I was looking at Buddy. He looked fine. Until he stood up. Walking towards me, He used three legs. Lifting his left hind leg up, he almost hopped. Sean saw what I was observing. “Yeah. He has cancer in that leg.” Sean’s eyes drooped down and didn’t talk for a while. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> As I got home, I wondered what would happen. Questions raced through my head. Will he get a new dog? Will it be just like Buddy? I honestly felt like crying after seeing Buddy like that. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> Weeks passed and I was back to me. One night, Mom told me the news. Some good and some bad. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Jordan, Sean’s getting a new dog,” Mom informed me. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> “Why? Isn’t Buddy… oh no.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> Mom nodded. “Buddy’s dead, Jordan.” <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> I felt surprised, as if I never expected it. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> Exactly a week later, I went to Sean’s house for Halloween. Sean got a new dog, and he didn’t like it. I started playing with it, and for the first time in a while, Sean smiled.

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;">Author's Note

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> As you can see, my name is Jordan. You know that about me, but do you know why I wrote this story? You probably don't. You see, Buddy was Sean's dog. But he was also mine. I went to Sean's house all the time since kindergarten, so I saw not just my friends grow, but also Buddy from a small puppy to the hulking dog he was. Honestly, he was also the only dog that did not scare me. When I was in first grade, my uncle's Great Dane scratched my eye. Ever since then, I've been a cat person. Except for Buddy. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> When I found out about Buddy's health condition, I was shocked. I always thought about asking about surgery, but I realized he was a pretty old dog, and there was no point. I still blame myself for not speaking up, but the past is the past, and present is NOW. I should focus about today, and Sean's new dog, Sam, that I will love equally. Even though I will, Sam will never have the impact Buddy had on my life. <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS,cursive;"> Looking at the empty cage in the corner will always be disheartening, but at least it's filled with Sam.