Three young dogs were milling about at the rubbish dump one morning, but it was the dump that was the main attraction to the Labrador that was watching from afar.
They called him Bones, and he was the toughest canine in the neighborhood. Whenever there was a fight for territory, once he came on the scene, the fight was over. His howl was the loudest at night, and other dogs could only hope to match his domineering influence. He especially loved rubbing it in their faces. And so, with a smirk on his face, he hurried over to the three and climbed up the dump.
“Now, now,” he said whimsically, “Argue all you want, dawgs, but you know who the real king of this hill is.”
Garr, a cross between an Alsatian and a Terrier, stared up at him. “Hiya, Bones,” he said dryly.
“Now, y’all be nice to me,” Bones continued. “And I’d even let you grab a bite or two from this here dump. I can imagine it must be tantalizing to your eyes right about now, eh?” He licked his lips, but they did not seem amused in the slightest.
“Um… thanks Bones,” Ruff the pug said. “But if Nada here is right, we might not need to come to this dump ever again.”
Bones was taken aback. “Huh?”
Nada was a Doberman, and she was the youngest of the pack. She nodded with glee. “Yeah! There’s this human you’ve gotta meet. He’s really nice and I think he likes me.”
Bones arched a brow. “You’ve got a human? But … but we’re strays. It’s who we are.”
“Yeah, I know,” Nada said, her tail wagging faster as she spoke. “But this guy treats me like I’m a … friend. Anytime he sees me, he pats me on the head and pets me.”
“I’ve never been petted before,” Garr said with a pout.
“Me neither,” Ruff added.
“And he sets out food for me too,” Nada said. “Like I’m his ‘person’. One day he even gave me a bath!”
“A what?!”
“No way! What’s that like?”
Bones watched in disbelief as Nada shared more stories about this human that had caught her fancy. It sounded too good to be true, and Bones knew that human-attachment was a road to heartbreak.
“I’m suspicious,” he said as he approached them. “He your former owner or something?”
“Nope,” Nada said. “I was born on the streets, Bones. I’ve never had an owner before.”
“What do you think, Bones?” Ruff asked.
“I think this is a load of hogwash,” Bones said. “We can never trust the humans. They think we’re pests.”
“This guy doesn’t,” Nada said.
“So what you gonna do?” Bones said, staring her down as he stood in her face. “Take us all over to your human friend so we can be begging for scraps?”
But Nada was not intimidated. “He gives me more than scraps. I think he’s—“
“I mean, look around, dawgs,” he said. “See the assortment of grub we’ve got in this dump. Food from yesterday, some from last week, some from last month – a variety of all kinds just waiting for you to take. And the search, oh, searching through the other garbage and stuff is the real adventure. Getting to taste and spit out the stuff that don’t taste good to your liking, and trying out new stuff. What could be better than that?”
“But it’s not good for you,” Nada said. “Some of it is spoilt. Some of it can kill you.”
“Why?” Bones snapped. “Cause your human’s gon’ give you something better?”
“Actually, yes. And I think he can give us all something better.”
“What if he stops? What if one day he don’t like you no more?”
Bones felt more and more humiliated as Nada extolled the virtues of her friend.
“What’s your damage, Bones?” Garr asked. “Why are you so against this human?”
Bones shook his head. “Trusting humans is dangerous,” he said. “You don’t want to go that route. Once you’re emotionally-invested…” As he spoke, he realized his eyes were getting misted as memories flooded his mind. “No. It’s a can of worms. Just trust me on this. You can’t trust them two-leggers.”
Ruff placed a paw on the ground. “Well I wanna see what Nada be talking about.”
“Me too,” Garr intoned.
“Then come along with me!” Nada said. “He usually has food ready around this time.”
“You’ll come back here!” Bones called after them as they hurried away. “You’ll all come back here. Just you wait and see. Y’all gon’ be back here, with your tails between your legs, begging me to let you come to this dump! You can count on it!”
But as they ran off, their tails wagging in hope, Bones felt defeated. He had had his own experience with a human, and he had seen the slippery slope of trusting a human being. But after the conversation they had just had, the dump was no longer appealing to him. Curiosity got the better of Bones, and he hurried after them, if only to watch from afar.
Nada, Garr and Ruff crossed into the backyard of a quaint house on the edge of the street. Bones hid behind a tree and watched as Nada called.
“Hey!!!” she called. “It’s me, your friend, Nada!”
Bones had to stifle a chuckle. Nada probably forgot that the human would only hear her barking, and not actually hear her words.
But sure enough, a human opened the door. Bones had not seen that coming.
“Ah, Nada!” he came down to his haunches, petting her, her tail wagging like it had a sense of its own. “You came back!” He looked at the other dogs, who were already stepping backwards already. “And you brought friends too!”
He beckoned to them and they sauntered cautiously as he pet them on the head. Sure enough, those tails began to wag like Nada’s. Bones felt sick of it.
The Human held a hand up. “Wait for me, alright. I’ve got food ready.” He hurried into the house and returned with a bag of treats which he poured into bowls for them. “You must be hungry. I’ve got enough to go around.”
Bones had not tasted doggie treats in a very long time. The sight turned his stomach and tugged on his heart. But it was at that moment that he realized that this scene was all too familiar. It dawned on him even more when the human looked his way.
The Human’s eyes widened as he took in Bones from afar. There was a scar on across his left eye.
Oh no… It can’t be.
Bones’ mouth felt dry as he realized that he had known this Human, and the Human knew him. Shame and regret clouded his heart as he took a step back.
Nada looked up and noticed the Human staring, only to turn and see—
“Bones?!” she said.
Bones gasped. I’m not supposed to be here!
He scampered off, blinking away the tears from his eyes. He only stopped to catch a breath behind a wall. Nada’s Human was the same Human he had known all those years ago. He couldn’t believe it. The memory brought nothing but pain.
“Bones?” He turned to see Nada peeking from behind the wall. She came over to him. “Are you okay?”
He wiped a paw across his eyes. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Were you crying?”
“Me, cry?” he chuckled. “Don’t be silly. Go on, back to your friends.”
But Nada would not be so easily shrugged off. “You knew him, didn’t you?”
Bones shrugged. “Maybe. I-it doesn’t matter. Just forget about it.”
“Bones, it’s okay. I won’t think of you less.” She sat beside him. “You were once his pet, weren’t you?”
He wanted to deny it once more, but he just couldn’t. He nodded silently.
“What happened?”
There was no pretending with Nada. “You see those scars on his left eye? That…” He lowered his head. “That was me.”
“What?”
He took a deep breath. “It was a different life, a very long time ago. I was his friend too. We played and went everywhere together. He used to call me Pablo, if you can believe it.”
She chuckled. “Pablo,” she whispered, trying it out.
“But one day I saw this dump. I saw all this grub with many scents that I’d never tried before and I knew I just had to get a taste. But he didn’t let me. He kept pulling me away, saying, ‘No, no, don’t go there!’ Until one day I snapped at him and…”
He shut his eyes as he wiped his paw in the air, re-enacting the moment he struck his Human’s face.
“I was stunned, seeing him bleeding that day. He was shocked too, crying on the ground. I didn’t know what to do. I had broken our bond and his trust. I’d drawn his blood. I couldn’t go back again. I had to run away and make a life of my own, far away from him.”
They sat in silence for a moment, staring into the horizon.
“And you’ve been a stray ever since,” she said.
He nodded.
“It wasn’t him that messed up,” Bones said. “It was me. There’s no way he can forgive me for that. He’s Human. They don’t forget stuff. I can never forget that day, myself. It’s why I can’t allow myself to trust a Human again, because I could break that trust one day.”
Nada stared up at him in stunned silence. She didn’t know what to say to that, too.
But in that moment, the Human came from behind the wall. “Pablo?” he called.
Bones gristled, becoming defensive in that moment. He took a step backwards.
“Hey,” the Human said, stretching a hand towards him. “It’s me. Your friend.”
Bones bared his fangs, growling in warning. “Stay away from me,” he said. “I may bite you again!” Of course he knew the Human wouldn’t hear his words, but the growl would pass it across.
“Bones, what’re you doing?” Nada asked.
“Stay out of this,” Bones snarled.
The Human was undeterred. “All these years I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “Thank God you’re still alive. My, what has happened to you, Pablo?”
“Stay back!” Bones warned, barking. “I’m warning you.”
But the Human still approached him cautiously. “I’ve wanted to protect you from the dangers around,” he said. “I want you to be my friend again, Pablo. I want to feed you to good health and take care of you. I don’t want you to be harmed ever again.”
“I’m doing fine all by myself!” Bones snapped. “I don’t need you!”
But the Human would not get the message. He still came closer, reaching out with his arms. “It’s okay, Pablo. I’m not going anywhere. It’s okay.”
Bones kept trying to retreat, growling, but as the Human’s hand touched his head something changed. Sensations he had not felt in a very long time coursed through his body. His resistance withered away as healing flooded his heart.
The Human embraced Bones, and Bones sank into his embrace. All the shame, pain, fear, pride and regret he’d carried all these years were dissolved in the pool of love and acceptance that he plunged into in that moment. His tail began to sway on its own accord.
Is this what it feels like to be loved? Bones mused.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, licking the Human’s facial wound. “I’m so very sorry for all I did.”
“I forgive you,” the Human said, tears in his eyes as well. “I forgave you, Pablo.”
They remained there for a while, as they made up for years of distance and estrangement in that hug. Bones was a baby once again, in the arms of the Human.
Garr and Ruff came around to Nada, shocked at the scene before their eyes.
“I don’t believe it.” Garr said in shock.
“Is that our Bones?” Ruff intoned.
“I’ve never seen his tail wag before.”
“Never knew it even had the capacity to do that.”
“Alright, guys,” Nada said with a smirk. “Let him have his moment.”
The Human looked up at them with joy in his eyes. “Can you believe it? Pablo has returned!”
“Pablo?” Ruff asked.
Nada sighed. “It’s a long story.”
Bones turned to them. “Don’t you tell anyone about this or else—“
“Go tell your friends,” the Human said, oblivious to what he had just said. “Bring them over. We’re gonna have a dog party to celebrate. Pablo has come home.”
Bones sighed. He was going to have to get used to this.
He was loving every second of it. He didn’t know what the future held, but all he knew was that the Human – his Human – loved him and forgave him.
And that was enough for Pablo.
THE END
Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Jesus (Luke 15:10)
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Emmanuel Onimisi 