"Dog Heaven" by Sophia Steed

“I’ll let you say goodbye,” the man in the white coat walked away. John and Sarah were laying next to me, and Sarah never stopped crying. I tried to lick her tears away, but it was too hard for me to pick up my head. I didn’t want this to happen either. John and Sarah were the best owners any dog could have ever had. They fed me table food when I was good, and they let me sleep in the bed even though I wasn’t supposed to. John threw the baseball for me every afternoon when he got home from work. We would go on hikes together, and runs every Thursday morning. Once, Sarah fell and broke her leg, and I stood by her until help came. I comforted them when they were sad, and always greeted them at the door. But no dog lives forever, and for 15 I’m pretty old anyways. I’d miss them, but they’d miss me too, which made me feel better.

“You were the best dog I’ve ever had. I’m gonna miss you Gus,” she could barely get the words out over the sounds of her sniffles.

“Promise us you will have fun in heaven?” I wanted to snuggle up against John, but my body wouldn’t let me. The door to the white furnished room swung open.

“It will take about a minute. I promise it will be peaceful,” Sarah fell into John’s arms, and he held her tight. A prick hit my leg, and the world started getting dimmer. Goodbye Sarah, goodbye John. I love you, I always will.

“I promise we will never forget you,” Sarah’s voice whispered into my ear. That was the last thing I heard before the world went black.

When I opened my eyes again, it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. A huge field of grass, with all kinds of trees surrounded me. There were dog treats at the base of every tree. I tried to stand up, expecting my legs to give out underneath me, but they worked perfectly! I galloped around the field for what felt like hours, and I never got tired. But I did get hungry. I ran as fast as I could to the nearest tree. The closer I got to the tree the more the smell of treats took over my nostrils, they were Greenies! Those were my absolute favorite. I also noticed a multitude of baseballs laying there. I love baseball! Suddenly, a woman who I didn’t recognize appeared in front of me. She pet me all over, and threw the ball with me until she was tired. Other dogs played with me too. A little one named Melvin ran with me the rest of the day. It was the best time I had ever had. I heard other people tell Sarah and John about doggie heaven when I started getting sick, but I never believed that it actually existed. It is even cooler than anyone said it would be.

The big orange moon started to set, and all the dogs climbed into their clouds. I spotted a small cloud by the big Chestnut tree with my name on it. “Gus” it said. My name was written in what looked like daffodil petals. Everything in heaven was perfect, but I missed John and Sarah.

“I wish I could see them again,” I whispered as I fell asleep. All of a sudden, the world started spinning, before I could tell what was happening, I was back in my old home. Sarah was lying with John on the big leather couch in the basement. I recognized everything. My big bed still sat in front of the TV, and the rest of the food they tried to feed me earlier that morning sat in the stairwell. After examining all of my old things, and sniffing everything to make sure my scent still remained, I sprinted over to Sarah and John. Sarah didn’t look the same. Her eyes were all puffy, and her permanent smile wasn’t there anymore. I spun around, jumped, put my paws on her legs, but none of it got her attention. Sarah just looked right through me. I knew I wasn’t allowed to, but it was my only option, I barked once as loud as I could and waited for her to yell at me. But nothing happened, she just kept watching the tv. I laid down at her feet, just like I did every night, and shut my eyes. When I woke up, I was back in wonderland. I played, ate, got pet, and hung out with my friends every day. When the sun went down, I would go back to John and Sarah’s and lay with them every night even though they never saw me there.

Sarah’s gloomy expression never left her face. All I wanted to do was show her I was okay. Cheer her up somehow, someway. She was kind and hard-working, she didn’t deserve to be sad. But every night I came, her face always kept the same gloomy expression.

The days began to grow colder, and the softest sweaters started appearing under the weeping willows. Every dog I passed was wearing their own personalized one. Christmas was officially around the corner. Back at home, every Christmas John would get me a brand new baseball, and Sarah would let me eat the Christmas cookies. It was my absolute favorite day of the year.

When I woke up on my cloud Christmas morning, I found the whitest baseball I had ever seen, and whole bowl of Christmas cookies. Dog heaven knew exactly what would make each puppy happy. I loved my new ball, but it didn’t feel the same without John throwing it for me. I wasn’t sleepy, but I wanted to visit my best friends, so I shut my eyes and concentrated. When I opened them again, I was inside the old basement. My old food bowl was still sitting there, like every night, but something was different. My bed was moved to the corner of the room and in its place sat a cleaner, better version of it. Double the amount of dog toys covered the dirt stained carpet.

“Your’e such a good boy. Come here!” Sarah came in through the stairwell door. She had the widest smile on her face, I missed that smile. She had a pep in her step like she was a little kid again. She finally looked happy. She must’ve been able to see me again! This was all I had ever wanted, I could finally be with my family again. I ran as fast as I possibly could in her direction. But when I was about two feet away, a small black object came bounding through the doorway. John followed. It lept onto Sarah’s face and licked her all over. John and Sarah laughed and threw toys for it for what seemed like an eternity. The little black dog finally got tired, and curled up in my spot beneath the couch.

“You’re the best dog ever Carson,” Sarah smiled as she spoke. “I love you.”

My water bowl was taken over. My warm spot beneath the couch belonged to someone else. All of my toys had different slobber on them. My bed was cast aside, and my best friends had been stolen from me. I used to fall asleep to I love you every night. I used to be “the best dog ever”. But now, I’m nothing. They don’t even know I’m there. Sarah promised she would never forget me, but now they never even mention my name.