Ten Days with Eddy

“S..E..R..E..N..D..E..P..I..T..Y”

“D..I..”, Riz said.

“What did I say?”, asked Lena.

“D..E..Wait. What is that?”, Riz pointed ahead.

Lena gasped as she looked ahead. “Oh, my god! It’s a dog!”

“What the hell is it doing in the middle of the road!”, Riz exclaimed.

“Slow down, Riz!”

“Maybe it’s lost. Should I go around it?”

“Nooo…”

“It’s probably a stray. I’ll honk.”

“Riz, No! That can’t be a stray. Look at him! Aww. He’s looking at us! He looks worried.”

“What should we do then?”, Riz tapped on the wheel.

“We should go check on him.”

“What if it bites us?”

“Riz, come on! He won’t bite!”

“How do you know that?”

Lena stared back blankly.

“Alright…Alright! Let me put the hazards on.”

Riz followed his wife into the chilly Autumn night.

“He’s so fluffy!”, Lena exclaimed as she bent over and pet the dog.

“Hi! What are you doing here, cutie?”

“Woof…Woof…Woof…”, the dog barked incessantly.

Riz watched from a distance as the dog moved out of Lena’s arms onto the pavement.

“Oh great, it’s leaving. Let’s go Len!”

The dog impatiently shuttled his gaze between Lena and the bushes below the pavement. He looked directly at Lena and gave three loud barks.

“I think he wants us to come there, Riz.”

“You want to go into those bushes in the dark! Are you nuts?”

“Woof…Woof…Woof…”, the dog barked as he moved further into the bushes.

“I think he needs something”, Lena said as she walked after the dog.

Riz dragged his feet behind Lena and the big, white dog. As the dog saw Lena approach him, he continued walking into the bushes, pausing occasionally to bark.

“Switch on the flashlight on your phone.” Lena turned to Riz.

The dog’s eyes shown back as the flashlight hit it’s face. As Riz pointed the light underneath the dog, he gasped, “Oh my God! There’s someone there!” Riz ran past Lena towards the man lying in the bushes.

“Sir! Sir! Are you okay?”, he said as he tried to wake the old man up.

“I am calling 911.”, Lena said.

“Sir! Can you hear me?”

“How did this happen?”, Riz turned to the dog.

The dog looked back worriedly.

“We can’t really say anything at this time. We’ll have to examine his condition.”, the Paramedic said.

“Does he have a heart condition?”, Riz inquired.

“It seems so.”

“I really hope he’s fine. He looks really old and frail.”, Lena said anxiously.

“And you guys don’t know him, you said?”

“No, we just found him by the si…”

“We don’t even know his name!”, Riz interrupted.

“Alright. You are under no obligation to wait here. Thanks for calling us. We’ll call his Emergency Contact and have her come here. I need to go talk to the Doctor right now. So I’ll take your leave.”

The Paramedic turned and started to walk towards the emergency room.

“One second!”, Riz shouted out to him.

“What….What do we do with the dog?”

“What dog?”

“The old man’s dog. He’s in our car.”

The Paramedic stared at Riz for a few seconds before walking back to the ER.

Lena was wiping down the stove when she heard a loud thud in the living room.

“What happened!”, she yelled as she ran out. Riz was sitting on the floor, looking really mad.

“AAAHHHHH! THIS DOG!”, Riz yelled out.

“What did he do?”, she asked.

“I…I TRIPPED OVER IT!”, Riz said, standing up.

“How could you possibly trip over him?”

“I was reading a text and I ran into it. This dog is too big for our house!”

Lena watched as Eddy walked across the room with a sad face. He took a seat by the large window.

She turned back to Riz. “He’s not too big! You need to pay attention when you’re walking around!”

“It’s not just the size, Len! He sheds so much! His hair is all over.”

“It’s not that bad, Riz. We’ll clean it up.”, Lena put her hands on Riz’s shoulders.

“We shouldn’t need to clean it up!”, Riz shrugged her hands as he walked away.

He pointed to Eddy, “It’s not our responsibility!”.

“HE”, Lena shot back.

“He what?”

“HE is not our responsibility! Not It!”

Lena watched the look of exasperation on Riz’s face.

“Really? You’re correcting my grammar now? Besides, it is grammatically correct.”

“I DON’T CARE WHAT THE GRAMMAR IS!”, Lena yelled out.

“He’s a living, breathing dog! Stop referring to him like a table or a chair!”

Riz watched as Lena took a seat behind Eddy and started brushing his chest. She hadn’t yelled at him for a while.

He took a deep breath, “Listen, Len. I don’t want to fight but this dog…”

Lena looked at him piercingly.

“Eddy…is taking over our lives. All the walks. Vet trips. He gets in our bed at night. I can’t sleep!”

Eddy sunk further down lazily as Lena rubbed his belly.

“It’s just for a few days, Riz!”

“Is it? It’s just been six days and you’re already so attached to him. All the hugging. Constant petting.”

“I can’t help it. He’s such a cutie! Look at this cute face!” Lena said as she smooshed Eddy’s face in her palms.

Riz chuckled.

“I know you like him, Lena! Just don’t get too attached, ok?”

Three days later, Lena and Riz found themselves sitting on a picnic blanket on a beautiful and warm evening. They watched as Eddy played with other dogs in the park.

Riz turned to Lena, “You think he misses his owner?”

“For sure. This is the happiest that I have seen him.”, Lena watched as Eddy ran in circles behind a labradoodle.

“I feel bad for him. He must be so used to living with his owner. The nurse at the hospital told me that the man had no relatives. Probably not a lot of friends either. So Eddy spent a lot of time with him.”

“Hhmmm.”, Riz said as he lay down on the picnic blanket, resting his head on Lena’s lap.

“I don’t know. Do dogs go through such complex emotions? Missing someone?”

“Of course they do! They feel happy, sad, they get separation anxiety when their owners go away.”

“Damn….He’s a cute dog you know?”

“Awww. Look who’s warming up to Eddy!”, Lena teased.

“I’m not warming up to him. He’s……He’s nice.”

“Awwww.”

Lena watched as Riz blushed.

“Don’t awww too much!”

“Hahaha. Sorry. I’m awwww-ful! Get it? Awww-ful?”

“Yuck!”

Riz looked away from Lena into the evening sky.

“There are certain things he does. Like when I come home from work and I am sitting on my chair, reading something or having a beer, I can feel him watching me from across the room.”

Lena smiled softly watching Riz speak.

“It’s annoying as hell! I hate being stared at like that.”

“I know.”

“But, he’ll slowly start moving towards me. He thinks he’s being discreet. Eventually, he comes right next to me, leans against me and rests his head on my leg.”

“He’s affectionate”, Lena beamed.

“Yes.”

Lena looked towards Eddy who was chasing a ball tossed by a man in a brown t-shirt for his yorkie.

“I think in a way he’s started seeing us as his owners.”, she said.

“Hhhmm.”

“Listen”, she turned to Riz.

“I don’t want to force you into anything. And I know this has been a massive inconvenience. And I also know you never planned having a pet.”

“But?”, Riz interjected.

“But, nothing Riz. I just wanted to thank you for being so patient with all this.”

Riz gave a momentary half-grin.

“And also wanted to say that we should go drop him off at the Rescue shelter soon.”

There was a momentary silence as Riz looked away into the sky once again. He turned back to Lena.

“What will it be like for him in the pet shelter?”

“He’ll probably be kept in a cage next to other dogs. They’ll have food and water for him in the cage, take him out for a walk once or twice a day…”

“Until?”

“Until someone adopts him. In a few weeks or maybe a few months.”

Riz turned away to the sky again, this time watching the sun set in the distance.

“Oh, no!”, Lena yelled out.

“What!”

“Oh, no, Eddy!”, Lena yelled out again.

Riz got up from her lap.

“What happened?”

“He went into the muck! We’ll have to clean him for hours. He’ll mess up the house!”, Lena started to walk towards Eddy in haste.

“Screw it! Let’s just leave him here!”, Riz yelled out.

“You’re horrible!”

“I’m not horrible. I’m awwww-ful!”

That night, Riz stirred in his bed till late. He was tired from the day but something kept him up. He got up to relieve himself and when he came back, he saw a big lump on his side of the bed.

“Aaah Eddy. Not again!”, he whispered to himself.

As he walked towards Eddy, Lena turned around in her sleep to face what should have been Riz. She laid her hands on Eddy and slowly pulled him into a tight embrace. The gentle glow of the night-light shown on both their faces. Riz watched as a gentle smile took form on Lena’s face. She looked so calm and beautiful. Riz stood there for a few minutes, watching her. He couldn’t remember when he last saw her sleep so peacefully. Eddy was in his usual deep slumber. Eyes wide shut, with his usual calm expression. ‘Calm Swami’ as Lena called him.

After standing there for what felt like five minutes, Riz quietly exited the room and lay on the couch. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

The next morning, Eddy watched as Lena and Riz got into a conversation in the kitchen whilst making tea. On most days, he would walk right over. But this morning he was indispositioned due to an itch that he felt behind his ears. After an intense scratching session, he walked to the bathroom and took three delicious swigs from the toilet bowl. He sensed a yelling coming but was pleased to find his owners locked in deep conversation. He took a few more swigs before heading towards the kitchen.

As he exited the bathroom, he smelled something interesting in the bedroom. His pursuit ended several minutes later when he found his long lost bone wedged in a corner of the closet. He spent an inordinate time chewing it.

He came out to find Lena crying over Riz’s shoulder by the dining room as Riz embraced her. He felt a strong need for a cuddle. As he approached his owners, his gaze wavered to a squirrel climbing the lemon tree outside the window. As he ran towards the window, he knocked the TV remote off the side table with his furry tail. He barked at the squirrel, pausing occasionally to try and open the window.

He failed. Each time.

He turned his face towards Lena to ask for help. Lena and Riz were still hugging. But Lena wasn’t crying anymore. She was smiling widely. As was Riz. They turned to look at him.

‘Eddy!’, Lena called out to him.

He forgot about the squirrel. He ran towards Lena and Riz excitedly. Lena petted him generously. She bent over and hugged him. He looked up to Riz. Riz smiled at him as he bent over and joined in the hug.

Eddy felt joy. A lot of joy. Eddy felt at home.

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