The Barks

Staring out the window, I watched as the rain poured its tears from above, drenching the ground, which will forever be under its flood.  My ears perked up as I heard the patter thicken to a thunder, and a flash lit before my eyes. I heard a clap from behind and jumped, spinning around to see a slim girl glaring at me. “Get OFF the couch,” she bellowed disturbingly. Saddened by the order, I tore myself away from the perch I had been occupying and padded to the sliding glass door in the back. Not nearly as comfortable, I slouched down onto my haunches and sat gazing still at the endless downpour. The girl from before shook her head at me, her long brown hair flowing in front of her chocolate eyes. I glanced once at her, ignoring her sarcastic distaste. In an instant, my attention was drawn from the weather, landing instead on someone I held close to my heart. Screaming behind me was a voice saying “It means nothing anymore!” Both shrieking and crying, the boy chucked something across the room, and I wandered over to investigate what the trouble was. As I smelled out the object, the slender girl rushed over to her son in an effort to comfort his trembling body. “Shh, shhh…It’s alright Isaiah,” she whispered, crouching at his level. My nose led me to a dog’s tags, still attached to a collar. I made the assumption that it was the dog that had come before me. After all, I had only just become one of the family. I picked up the collar and slunk away with it. It might not mean anything to young Isaiah, but the loss of the dog prior had allowed for my entrance, and I was grateful to whomever the rightful owner of the tags was. Something about humans, they just never seem to understand that there is meaning in everything: just because something is gone, doesn’t mean it never happened.