Ash
It’s been two months since Tess died and my world turned upside down. It all came on so fast I hardly knew what was happening.
I could see that Tess was slowing down but she was still full of herself and could play a mean game of bump and run.
Mom kept asking Tess what was wrong. Either Tess didn’t know or she wouldn’t say. Finally after lots of trips to see our vet Mom made an appointment with a specialist.
Two days before her appointment Tess was panting heavy and had a distant look in her eye. Mom didn’t like what she saw and took Tess to see the emergency vet. They ran some tests on Tess and did an ultrasound on her belly. The news was awful. Tess had a huge tumor and there was no hope.
Tess
We were stunned. Our beautiful crazy Tess was gonna die and we barely had time to say good-bye.
Tess came home that night and sat by me. We didn’t talk out loud but our silent barks went back and forth like ping pong balls.
“Ash, I’ve been called home,” Tess said. “I’m not ready to go but I don’t really have a choice.”
Tess and Ash
“I wish I was going instead of you,” I blurted out.
Tess pawed me and licked the tears from my eyes.
“You gotta stay, Ash. You’re the lynchpin at Asherpark. You have to put the pack back together after I go.”
How could I put things back together without Tess? We’d always been the Evil Twins. We did everything together. And now Tess was leaving and I’d be one sad and solitary mutt.
My heart was screaming and there was nothing anybody could do or say to make it stop.
Tess knew how bad I felt. She did her nasty girl growl and took off running. I chased after her and caught her half way to the front gate. We ran the rest of the way together, barking like a couple of fools.
Tess was still with me. The terrible day would come soon enough, but for now this was our time.
