Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 94716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Yeah. I don’t want to talk about it yet. I want to get through the funeral first and then I’ll tell you; just… just not yet.” He said gruffly.
“Okay.” He said and then kissed his brother on top of his head.
“Okay.” Tai said relaxing into the pillows. “Okay.”
Chapter 7
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
-Will Rogers
Jack
The door was shaking with the force of Kodiak’s lunges. He wanted out so badly that I was seriously glad that Adam and I had reinforced the door when he had a break in three years ago.
Kodiak was a smart dog and I knew he’d know something was wrong. It wasn’t like Adam to leave the dog alone for more than his twenty-four hour shifts. Once or twice a shift, he’d run over to his house to let him out. Sometimes even taking him to the station with him when he could. He became the station’s mascot of sorts, and it was very rare for him to be by himself.
He was at the station the day that Adam died and even though he knew me, I knew that I wasn’t a good enough substitute for Adam. It would take Kodiak a while to adjust and I was hoping with Winter being here, he would calm down some.
I waited to tell Winter the story of Kodiak. I wanted to see if the memories would come to her on her own terms, without my interference. I’d give it a couple of hours to see how things went and if she still didn’t have any memory of him, then I would tell her about Kodiak.
Taking Winter’s hand, I set her to the side of the door, gave her a look of warning to stay put and opened the door to Adam’s house. Of course, I made sure to brace my knees first.
Kodiak hit me like a ton of bricks. One second I was braced with my legs planted firmly on the front porch and the next I had Kodiak’s front paws on my shoulders and his face in mine. He was licking me for all he was worth.
It took him a few moments to realize that there was someone else there with me but when he did, he was off of me in a flash and then doing the same thing to Winter. Only this time, he was much more enthusiastic about it. Like he was greeting a long lost friend.
Which, in truth, he was.
When Kodiak was just a baby, Winter found him on the side of the road, near death. It took Winter four vets before she finally found someone that would treat Kodiak. At first, she didn’t understand what, exactly, she’d picked up off the side of the road.
When the first vet turned her down, however, her eyes were finally wide open. The vet explained that he was a wild wolf, and no matter what rehabilitation they could do for him, he wasn’t a safe animal to have housed in a small animal clinic. They didn’t want to put their employees, nor the dogs and cats in any unnecessary risk, and turned her down flat.
She went through that three more times before finally taking him to an older vet that was well experienced. He did, of course, have conditions, and Winter followed every one of them to a T. The vet agreed to help, but, in turn, Winter had to take care of Kodiak. She did that twice a day, every day, for six weeks before Kodiak was finally able to come home.
However, since my apartment had a ‘no pet’ policy, and Winter was barely living at home as it was, Adam was the next choice. Adam was reluctant at first, but with Winter begging and pleading, he caved in his usual fashion when it came to a teary-eyed woman.
Kodiak wasn’t too happy with the arrangement at first either; it took adjustment on all of their parts, and Winter and I were over there visiting Kodiak just as much as we were at my own place.
It wouldn’t be until a year after Winter’s disappearance that I realized just how different Kodiak was. Adam used to write me letters explaining the differences in him. Seeing it with my own eyes and reading about it were two different things.
Seeing them together now, seeing how happy Kodiak was, was a real revelation. It was also quite sad, because when Kodiak realized Adam was gone for good, he might just spiral back into the depression he sunk into when Winter was gone.
Winter giggled as the big burly wolf dog practically tackled her to the ground.
“Hi, Kodiak!” She said enthusiastically.
I was disappointed, because the longer she was in his presence, the more I became aware that it wasn’t going to bring the memories back as I thought it would.
“Let’s get inside you two. We’ve got some plans to iron out, and then we need to get to the wake by six.” I said to both of them.
Winter scrambled to her feet, and fit herself into my side as we walked into Adam’s house.
Sights, sounds, and smells assaulted me; reminding me of what I’d lost. Adam’s prized sectional that was the site of so many laughs, was the first thing I saw as I made my way into the room. Then it was the pictures of us on the mantle. The picture of Adam and Winter at our wedding, where he stood in for me, saying the very vows that I painstakingly put every ounce of my feelings into.
However, the hardest, was the site of the dream catcher I’d gotten him all those years ago. In fact, it was nearly eighteen years to the day.
When we met, we didn’t get along so well. It was only when we were both nearly attacked by a dog that we became friends. He made a comment that he would have nightmares for years thinking about the dog almost biting his leg off. The next day, I’d brought it to him and explained the significance of one.