here it comes...duck and cover
There is always that one puupy at the pound that no one wants. There seems to be nothing physically wrong with it at all. It is pretty cute, has no behavioral problems, and is even trained well, but still, no one wants this puppy. Everyday it sits at the front of it's kennel, eagerly awaiting any person who looks like they might want a puppy. It tries many things to get people to want it. It sits silent, just in case the people don't want a noisy dog. When the people walk by it wags it's tail but makes no sound. "This one doesn't have enough spunk", the people say. So, the puppy tries barking excitedly at the next people it sees. "This one is far too noisy", the people say as they, once again, pass the puppy in search of a dog that has the "right stuff". Day after day the puppy sees it's friends get new homes. Even the one missing a piece of it's ear and the rolley poley one that outweighs all the other puppies get homes. The one that bites and the one who isn't quite potty trained get picked and still the puppy waits. All the people who work at the pound have encouraging words: "If I could have another dog I would take you home in a heartbeat!", "oh, too bad I am allergic to dogs because you would be perfect!", "If I could have dogs where I live I would take you." But the puppy knows that these are hollow words meant to make the puppy feel good about itself. The puppy is sure that something is wrong with it but the vet says it is in tip-top shape and it feels fine. Then, one day a boy comes down the row of kennels and stops in front of the puppy. Thinking that the boy is like everyone else the puppy just lays there, it doesn't even pick up it's head to look at the boy gazing down into the chain-link cage. When the man from the pound asks the boy if he needs any help the boy tells him that he would liek to have a look at the puppy. Hearing this the puppy jumps up and immediatly starts wagging it's tail. The man opens the kennel and the boy reaches in and strokes the puppy's soft brown fur. The boy comes to see the puppy many times after that. When he comes he takes the puppy outside on a leash and gives it treats that taste better than anything the puppy has ever had. One day the boy comes and tells the puppy that he's not coming back, his mom said he isn't allowed to have a puppy and he leaves. The puppy is so sad that it doesn't move for a week. It is crushed. From then on the puppy loses all hope. Eventually the puppy grows old and the people at the pound have to put the puppy to sleep. It never got a home and never loved anyone. It was just there.
Sometimes I feel like that puppy. I can't help but feel that I'll die alone. Live &Breathe &Die alone.