BarkingProse

Tess and Ash

Yesterday Tess did a long Bark about having her own person. Because she was a stray and spent time in the slammer, she has this insecurity about life. She worries when we get left home alone. She worries about fireworks and thunderstorms.

Me, I had a better start in life. My parents planned my birth. I was born way out in the country up in northeast Washington. There were horses and lots of dogs. My birth family had a teen age girl who put me inside her jacket even before my eyes were open.

My chosen mom found me when I was five weeks old. I remember her holding me on her lap and whispering in my ear.

When I was seven weeks old I moved to Seattle and met my Aunt Codie. I’ve always had a family. I never spent time in the slammer. When scary things happen, my mom holds me and tells me not to be afraid. Then she shows me there’s nothing to worry about.

Codie was thirteen when I came home. She wasn’t thrilled to see me and warned me away when I was rude and too crazy. But after I got my adult teeth, we became fast friends. I loved Codie so much.  It never occurred to me that one day she would leave me.

I begged mom to let me cross the bridge with Codie, but mom said it wasn’t my time. Then I was alone, the only dog in the house.

I started acting real strange. I followed mom everywhere and cried if I couldn’t be right next to her. I pestered her constantly. I was nervous and jumpy.

A few weeks after Codie left us, mom held me real tight and asked me to pay attention. She said I was lonesome and needed a girlfriend. I knew I was lonesome, but I didn’t understand the girlfriend part.

Soon mom loaded me in the car and we drove to a bad part of town. A young woman walked up to us with the most beautiful redhead girl dog I’d ever seen. Mom started talking to the woman, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the redhead.

The girl dog seemed to like me too and started flirting with me. Next thing I knew me and the redhead jumped in the back of the car and drove back to Asherpark.

That beautiful redhead turned out to be my girlfriend, Tess. We had to give her a new name and clean up her hairballs, but it was love at first sight.

The first few weeks were a little rocky. Tess didn’t have the best manners and attacked me over food and toys, but we got that all sorted out.

For the past three years me and Tess have had the best time together. I taught her how to play with toys. She taught me how to open a door. Now everybody calls us the Twins. When we’re really bad they call us the Evil Twins.

Me and Tess want to thank our mom for arranging our life together. It’s the best!

Ash and Tess

Tess and Ash

Tess

If you read the DailyBark you know I don’t bark much. Well, I bark a lot in the house and I certainly bark at strangers, but I don’t do much formal barking.

The reason I volunteered to do today’s Bark is because of this picture. It’s a picture of me waiting for my dad to come back.

Me and dad make a strange pair. He didn’t choose me, I chose him. Well, not exactly. It’s hard to explain.

In 2009 Princess Codie died. I never met her and I’m not sure I would have liked her. She was the only dog in the household for thirteen years until mom decided to bring Asher home.

I’m told Codie didn’t like Asher at first, but she warmed up to him as he got out of his puppy madness.

Asher adored Codie. He would do anything she told him to do. They went everywhere together until the last few days of her life.

Once Asher realized Codie had crossed the bridge without him, he was so lost. Mom knew he needed a friend. Because Ash was young and handsome, mom thought he should have a girlfriend. That’s where I come in.

I had been picked up as a stray the day after the fireworks. Some kids adopted me and took me to live in a busy apartment. When they couldn’t keep me they tried real hard to find me a new home. Mom saw the ad for me on craigslist and the rest is history.

Me and Ash hit it off right away. There were all kinds of smells at Asherpark that made me crazy. I got into so much trouble I was always in the doghouse. I ran away as often as I could, but I’d hop in the car when they chased me down.

One day dad took me in his truck to get me out of the house. That’s when I knew he was my person, even though it took him a while to realize I was his dog.

One thing lead to another and pretty soon I was going everywhere with him. When he reads his newspaper, I lie next to his chair. When he watches TV, I lie next to him on the couch. Soon as he wakes up in the morning, I dash in to see if we’re going for a ride.

Before I came to Asherpark I never had a person like my dad. Somebody took care of me and fed me, but nobody took me with them every day. I guess I didn’t really know what it meant to have a special person.

One day me and Ash were talking. I told Ash I was confused about how I felt. My dad means so much to me it hurts to be without him.

Ash grabbed a hunk of my fur and gave it a twist. We started rolling around on the floor playing the mouth game. Then he looked at me real serious and said, “Tess, you love dad. That’s why it hurts to be without him.”

Ash got this far away look in his eyes like he was remembering something really sweet and sad at the same time. “Tess, I loved Codie. That’s why it hurt so much when she crossed the bridge without me. I miss her every day.”

I was still confused so I asked Ash what I feel when I can’t go with dad.

“It’s longing, Tess,” Ash said. “It’s the same thing I feel when I remember Codie and can’t be with her.”

So now I know. There are two sides to loving someone. There’s the fun side when you can be together and the sad side when you can’t. I gotta think about that, but right now my dad’s putting on his coat. I’m going with him. Watch me!