A tenacious dog

A tenacious dog

Animal: Dog
Colour: Black
Object: Hands

A tenacious dog
by Christina Voskou

There once was a dog who was certain he was not a dog. In fact, he was convinced that he was a human being. He ignored all other dogs. No matter how much they tried to play or communicate with him.

He paid attention only to humans and, believed that when he made sounds or light barks, he was in fact conversing with them. Hardly any of them responded. If they did, it was to say things like, “What an adorable dog!”, or “What a well-mannered pet you are!” This was very upsetting to him.

He had a moment of recollection when he realized how much he enjoyed the rubbing of his head and ears but had not seen the humans do this to one another and wondered why. He eventually let himself think that he had simply not witnessed it. It couldn’t just be him enjoying this exchange. Nevertheless, he wished they would take him seriously. “If they did, they would see that I am one of them.”

Some humans seemed afraid of him. His owners assumed that those people were afraid of all dogs until someone mentioned that black dogs don’t get adopted or bought as much. They were not wanted as much. That led them to believe that his beautiful black fur could be the reason behind this.

He is black like a raven
and disappears into the night.
a domesticated panther,
an umbra when there’s no light.

He is beetle, charcoal, and onyx
blending with the dark.
Like a shadow as he runs,
protruding in wet, green grass.

His humans treated him like a dog and expected him to behave like one. Show affection, have the desire to sniff, run around and roll in the grass, beg for food, bark at random, and pretend to be a guard dog. But he did none of those things. He thought of all activity as pointless. Almost all.

“They take me to play with these animals, getting dirty rolling around, chasing each other. Yech! I cannot even stand the smells. The dirt! I just put my head high, hold my breath and pull them away from those creatures. I’m not going anywhere near them.”

“I will never understand why they serve my food in those ridiculous round metal bowls when I am perfectly capable of sitting at the table and eating out of a plate as they do! At least the food is delicious.”

“When we are out for a walk, they keep saying, ‘Go buddy, sniff!’ as if that’s something that I would like! They don’t know me at all! How would they feel if I asked THEM to do that? And this leash they use on me like I am their slave.”

“I know that I have an unusual shape for a human, and I have tried to use the toilet in the house. They are built in such a way that it has made it impossible for someone of my size and shape to do so. So, I have decided to follow the canines on this one and simply go outside. It is in fact very satisfying.”

Now, the woman, sometimes wished her dog was different. One of the things that gave her great joy, was watching dogs play. She couldn’t understand why her dog didn’t like it. She liked it so much that she sometimes wished she could experience it. And there it was. An Aha! moment. A realization.

She sometimes wished SHE were a dog. They make people happy with their silliness and love long walks in nature. “I could do those two things all day”, she thought, “but I wouldn’t sniff anyone’s butt”. In all fairness, if the dog could hear her thoughts he would have said, “See! So why do you think I would enjoy doing that?”

The woman often felt she couldn’t fit in with other humans but never understood why.

She truly felt that dogs lead happier lives than humans. Except for her dog, who seemed different, seemingly sad or concerned about something. Perhaps because he too couldn’t fit in.

He would huff and puff, and his humans just found it funny. Yet, the dog was sad, because they did not sense his frustration.

Then one day something strange occurred.

The dog could feel a change inside. His front paws began to vibrate uncontrollably, and he didn’t know how to stop it. And suddenly, the paws have begun to fade away slowly. As they did, something else seemed to be taking their place. They were being replaced by what appeared to be nails and fingers, knuckles, palms, and wrists. The dog was growing hands. Human hands.

The white flesh promptly appeared
with two long limbs suddenly in tow
The black fur completely disappeared
And the human was no longer a dog

Up until that moment, he had been convinced, that he possessed all the physical attributes of a human being. It was almost like looking into the mirror for the first time and seeing that he hadn’t. The hands he ended up with, looked very familiar. He had seen them, and they caressed him, fed him, cleaned him. He was turning into someone he knew. He was becoming her.

By the end of the week, there was one woman and one dog in this house. But finally, things were as they should be.