Her eyes opened, it took a minute for them to adjust. Wait! Where did her person go? Where are the familiar faces? Crystal’s heart began to race. Where was she? This place was much warmer than the room she had fallen asleep in.
All she could see was blue sky. Crystal stood up and realized she was standing on a cloud. There a little ways in front of her a towering and robust bridge. It sparkled and gleamed in the sunlight. Something pulled her towards it, a feeling that she knew she needed to follow. The bridge with its vibrant colors, enticing her to cross it. A hypnotizing ombré of red that faded into orange, then yellow, and green, all the way to violet.
Crystal was scared. She had a feeling she should cross over, but fear of the unknown held her back.
Her ears perked up. “What was that?” she thought to herself. She tilted her head to listen. There it was again! This time she recognized it, she’d know that bark anywhere.
Her tail straightened up, waving like a white flag behind her. She began trotting across the bridge. Her floppy ears bouncing with each step. The rainbow beneath her showed various paw prints of those who have gone on before her. She travelled a little over half way across the majestic bridge and stopped. There at the end of the rainbow waiting for her, was her pack. She yelped with pure happiness! There was a German Shepherd dancing with excitement to see her once again. His toes spread out as if he was getting ready to pounce on her the moment she reached their side. And there to the right was a regal Golden Retriever. The Golden let out a deep bark and lowered herself into playful bow. Crystal ran the rest of the way. Her old playmates greeted the Havanese with such joy. It had been years since they were all together.
Once the trio had finished their greetings and settled down, Crystal’s ears drooped. “Will we see them again?” She asked her friends. Amber, the Golden, responded. “Come with me.” Amber led the other two over to the edge of a cloud. The three laid down with their paws hanging off the edge. Crystal laying in between the bigger dogs. “We can watch over them from here. And sometimes we even get to go down.”
“Really?” The small white dog perked up!
“Yes,” Amber continued, “but they can’t see us.”
“Oh…” Crystal looked longingly at the earth below.
“They can feel our presence though. We get to visit them in their dreams. I visit Charlie often.” The Golden looked off in the distance. Crystal assumed she was looking at her person.
“You do? Oh I would love to do that.” Hope filled her voice. “You know she still misses you.” The little dog said to the Golden.
Amber smiled down at her, “I know she does. I lay with her at night. She still cries, I try to comfort her the best I can. I usually make it a point to visit her in her dreams when that happens.”
“It’s going to be okay kid,” Hercules, The Shepherd, reassured her as he propped himself up on his elbows looking like an Egyptian sphinx. “You’ve got us.”
“I’ve missed you both so much. Life wasn’t the same without you.”
“We know, kid. We were watching you.” Hercules said. Just then more familiar faces showed up. One was a black Shepherd, and the other was a giant Mastiff. Although the Mastiff used to terrify her, he didn’t anymore. He was a welcome surprise. Crystal felt more at ease. Even though, Crystal missed her human family, she had been reunited with her pack. As long as she had them, she was going to be just fine. They’d make it together.
The group got up and headed off into the clouds, chasing each other, barking, jumping, m playing making up for all the lost time. Although none of them said it, they each carried with them the hope of seeing their people again one day.
In memory of all the animals we have loved…
A Meraki Writer 