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Unconditional With No Reason
He was mute. He could hear the words I spoke, yet his reply was silence. I reached my hand out of the gold convertible to pet the dog with the folded ears. What kind of dog is this? It’s odd coloring and size of head was different, it wasn’t a Shiba Inu, or a Keeashound, it was something totally different. He looked at me, avoiding my eyes, and made a motion to his mouth. His lips moved as if words where being whispered, yet nothing came out. I looked at him, and realized he did not speak. Ashamed at thinking he could, I quickly looked away. He took out a piece of paper and wrote: Rhodesian ridge back/ Shar Pei. I nodded and said thanks, and then he was off. He tied his dog to the side of the door, and walked into the store. I trailed behind him, pet the nameless dog, and walked in behind him. With her head cocked, tail under her legs, she whined a bit, and the door was shut behind me. I looked back to see her sad eyes, and thought that the speechless man would be back. The man with the long black beard, with raggedy clothes and missing teeth, he would be back soon enough. Yes, the dog was not alone. I had nothing to worry about. I thought about it for the second, the man’s appearance. Was he homeless? If that were to be true, was this dog being taken care of? I would not know, I would never know. Was this dog sleeping in the dirt with this man somewhere? But why should I care? She is not my dog, he is not my friend. Yet I did. Should I ask? No, that would be rude… But what if this dog had nothing, what if the man could not support himself and a dog. I was worrying about something that wasn’t even my problem. I went outside, only to have found that the dog was waiting by the door the man walked in, leash chewed off. I walked up to her, held out my hand, and she sniffed it. She looked away, looked around for a second, as if expecting me to make the man come back out. He’s not here, I said as I tied her back up. I turned away to see her face, so disappointed and lonely. I felt terrible. I wanted to hold her and tell her he would be back, but most of all, I wanted her to understand. So I patted her head, and with a heavy heart I left. Why would this man own a dog like that? She was so attached to him, yet he left her there for only moments alone, and I figured it out so simply. The dog just plainly loved him. But why? Was this unconditional love without a reason? I sat in my seat, and turned around, only to see the dog jumping on the man, the man holding her, letting her lick his face of the days residue. He smiled and he waved to us. Goodbye is what I could hear him say. She is taken care of, because I love her. I looked at his expression on his face, as we drove away, hand on the window, and I waved back. The happiness on their faces were unbelievable. They were so lucky to have each other. No, this man took care of her, he loved her, and that’s all that mattered. Her love was unconditional because his was. And as I drove off into the distance, I pictured the dog I loved that much. Where was that friend of mine now? Wandering with no one to love his intentions.
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