Maybe, Berry

The saddest event in my life is the time I thought my dog was going to die. Firstly, let me explain how it all started. When I was a junior in high school I would always be complaining to my mom who was a short, dark skinned, beautiful Puerto Rican woman, how I wanted a dog. Well, one day she got me one. The dog was grey with blue eyes, a tiny little Chihuahua girl. She was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. My mom would always joke about whether we would keep her or not. To add onto this joke my mom even named her Maybe. Unfortunately, my moms joke was serious, we didn’t keep her. My mom told me she couldn’t afford the rent so she sold her to my uncle. I was crushed and went into depression. Three months passed from then and I just couldn’t cope with the loss of my dog.

Then one day while I was walking home from school, my mom called me hysterically telling me to get home immediately! When I asked why she said “I got you an early Christmas present.” I didn’t care about a Christmas present at the time because I was still depressed over losing Maybe. Finally I got home and I saw my older sister named Hope and my little brother named Michael. Hope was 22 at the time with looks very similar to me; she had brown skinned, big brown eyes, and short black curly hair. Michael was 12 with the same skin tone as me and everyone else in the family with long black straight hair. So, there were my siblings holding a black and brown fluff ball. My brother was touching it and saying “It’s the cutest thing EVER”! When they finally noticed me they showed me her. She was my early Christmas present, a silky haired terrier. Although at the time she just looked like a stuffed teddy bear. My mom promised me she was here to stay, but I didn’t believe her.

After three days of having this little fluff ball jumping around we decided to name her, Berry. Giving Berry an actual name was my moms way of proving to me we were actually going to keep her. I still wasn’t getting attached, however since she was claimed to be my dog I was the one forced to train her. One day I took her out for her midnight potty. There was dead silence in the house because everyone was asleep. At the time I shared my room with my sister Hope. So, I had to be quiet when taking berry outside.

When I took Berry outside she peed and everything seemed fine, until when I called her back into the house. Berry walked into the house and immediately started pooping. I was furious because she was just outside! However, when she pooped the poop was bloody and sticking to her butt. Scared, I ran to get a bag to clean the poop off her butt. The second I pulled the poop from her butt she yelped, I freaked out and dropped the bag and she ran straight into the bedroom. Of course, I ran after her. I then turned on the lights and caught her running under my bed. My sister yelled “What’s wrong with you! Turn off the lights!” I replied “No!” and explained how I think she’s sick and I saw blood from her poop. I was crying telling my sister because I was so scared. She started crying too and we both then went to wake my mom. My mom said we would take Berry to the vet in the morning. However, I was terrified of thinking she wouldn’t make it through the night. Hope and my mom went to sleep, but I stayed up all night with my arm stretched out under the bed holding Berry.

Immediately in the morning my mom and I took Berry to the vet. When we arrived they said it would be awhile and to come back in an hour. Instead of leaving somewhere else we walked to the nearby park. We found a bench to sit on and I held Berry never wanting to let go. It was very gloomy that day, the clouds were gray and heavy and looked as if they were going to cry. As I was holding Berry crying, I vowed to her I wouldn’t lose her. I told her nothing bad was going to happen, I wouldn’t allow it!

An hour passed and we went back to the vet. The Veterinarian was a tall, young and light skinned man. He examined her, and then shared with us his results. She was sick because she ate a hot cheetoh! I couldn’t help but be angry. My dog was a drama queen, she ran under the bed because she had an upset stomach! The vet gave her shots that were needed for newborn puppies and then sent us on our way. Till this day my family jokes about it, they say the eight hundred dollar hot cheetoh because that’s how much the visit cost me. What this event had taught me is that I must not hold onto past events. I must let go of grudges to let in new beginnings and welcoming’s. I would definitely act the same was if it happened again. However, I would wait a day or two to see if the problem persists before jumping to conclusions.