I Love Him and He Loves Me

In the Fall of 2018, I took the course "Short Short Story Bookcamp" offered at Capitola Community Center. The instructor, Victoria M.Johnson, is a professional writer and a filmmaker. One assignment was to write a story from a doll's point of view. Since I didn't have a doll story, I wrote a story from a dog's point of view. This is based on a true memoir I wrote a few years ago, A Boy and His Dogs.

I Love Him, and He Loves Me.

Every morning we walk to the big place he calls school. He hugs me before he enters school, leaving me outside. Then I spend time discovering new smells and places. I love chasing those things that eat nuts and run up tree trunks. They are so fast that I can't catch them. But I still enjoy the chase. Sometimes I get chased by other things or almost get hit by big moving things. I am cautious because I want to see him later.

I love him, and he loves me.

We protect each other from bad people. If some big thing runs at me, he chases it away. And, if something tries to hurt him, I bark and chase it away.

I love him, and he loves me.

At the same time every day I return to school and wait to smell him. I stand and stare at the big place. I wag my tail from side-to-side, and round and round in anticipation. Then I see him, and my tail and ears shoot upward. He greets me with a big hug, a quick tummy rub and we walk to the place where we eat and sleep. He calls this place home.

I love him, and he loves me.

We spend the rest of the day playing. He keeps losing that bright, round thing he calls ball. When I bring it back to him, he throws it away. I bring it back to him, and he throws it again. I guess he likes to see me run and chase things. Chasing his ball is more fun than chasing those nut eaters. We also roll in the grass. I run around and over him. Then we rest.

I love him, and he loves me.

At night, I sleep next to him. I curl up and get as close to him as possible. I hear the same comforting noises I heard before I came to his place. When it gets bright again, I jump down and stare at him. I make a few muffled grunts, and he jumps down. Then he hugs me and gives me a quick tummy rub.

I love him, and he loves me.

One day after he left me at school, I went to the place he calls home. I heard a sound and ran to the door. A big person was trying to get into his home. I didn't know this person's smell, so I barked and bit the big person. The mother, who sometimes feeds me, grabbed me and took me away. "Bad dog, bad dog,"

I love him but where is he? He should protect me.

We stopped, and the mother took me into a place I did not know. I noticed lots of strange smells in this new place. Someone picked me up. I felt a pinch and...

I love him, and he ... He's not here, but there are lots of dogs, and balls, and nut eaters and smells. I miss him, but I like this new place.

And, I still love him, and I know he still loves me.