My husband stared at me quizzically and confused as I casually strolled into our small cottage in Connecticut carrying a little puppy he had never seen before. “Who’s that, honey?” He asked me. “Oh, this is luna. She’s a samoyed, and she’s been ABUSED. We really aught to keep her, after all she’s been through and all of our searching.” My husband, named peter, took a little look at the pup. “ have you done the check to make sure she doesn’t have an illness?” At that, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Yes, I did.” I said, obviously lying. “She’s in perfect condition.” Peter looked at luna for a second, then back at me. “How are we going to tell the kids?” Our kids, Sara and Leo, were still mourning about the loss of Gunnar and said they didn’t want another dog because they don’t want to go through that pain of losing a dog again. “Well..” I hesitated. “I’m sure if we have them meet the dog, then they’ll love her just as much as they loved Gunnar.” “ I’m not sure. But either way, let’s just have them meet her.” “No. No, no, no, no.” I was on a call with Sara, trying to convince her that we should keep luna. “She was through so much, though, being thrown out of a moving car. She still has scars.” I said, trying hard to make her change her mind. There was silence at the other end of the phone. “What?” Sara finally responded. “You heard me” I replied. “Thrown out of a moving car.” More silence. “Well... if she’s been through that much....” she hesitated for a long time. “Ok.” She said. “Ok, ok, ok.” I couldn’t believe it! I had actually changed her mind! “Really?” I asked, hoping that this wasn’t just a horrible prank. “Really.” She said reluctantly. “Thank you so much! You’ll love her! Hey, why don’t you come stop by this evening to meet her?” “Sure.” At around 6:05, Sara arrived with a very grudgey Leo. “ I just don’t see why you couldn’t have waited longer to get another dog.” He grumbled. “It’s been almost a year since Gunnar passed away.” I replied. “It just isn’t home without a dog.” Leo didn’t reply. He just stomped into the house, not saying anything. “Sorry about him” Sara said, her face painted a crimson red. “He’s just grumpy because he didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” I just knew she was lying. “So...” she said, obviously trying to change the subject. “ where’s the pup?” At that very second, luna bounded into the family room, her little pink tongue flying. “Awwww, you weren’t kidding about her still having scars.” It was true. She did really have scars. One on her back left leg, and one on her left side. The back leg scar was easier to see. “But,” Sara continued, snuggling up with luna happily licking her face “luna isn’t the right name for her.” “Oh?” I said, slightly annoyed. “Yes. The right name I just know.” She stated. “And what’s that?” I asked, now more intrigued. “Sachi.” She responded. “It means happiness and joy in japanese.” Of course I knew what it meant. after all, I did spend the first 9 years of my life in japan until my father died and my mother was to depressed to live in the same place her husband lived his whole life. But of course, I didn’t want to make Sara feel bad, so instead, I played dumb, acting like I didn’t know anything about Japanese culture. “ really?” I asked, trying my best to sound dumbfounded. “Yeah.” She replied, sounding very proud. “She was born to be named sachi. After all, she’s just a little bundle of joy.”
Mostly based on true events, hope you loved it, part three coming soon!
