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After
swimming in the pool 'neath the cataract, Angus lay down in
the mist-dampened grass. He stared up at the blue sky and
the clouds blowing past the crevasse of the mesa. He was
unprepared for what he saw next.
Rusty-blonde fur covered a smiling face. A long, lolling
tongue spilled out of its jaws, and took a lingering lick of
Angus's face. The creature panted expansively and Angus
giggled.
Angus sat up and looked at the dog. "Where did you come
from?"
The dog eyed Angus, as if considering how to respond. He
barked and followed up with talking sounds; something
between a growl, a bark, and a whine. He then bounded down
the canyon floor. Angus ran after him.
He ended up at one of the ancient dwellings dotting the base
of the canyon walls. Homes long abandoned by the people who
had fashioned them.
The dog passed through the entryway. Angus followed and saw
the flicker of candlelight.
>From the umbra strolled his father, Thorne.
"Father! I didn't know you had returned."
"Yes, Angus, just this morn. I brought back some supplies
and stored them here, where it's cool."
The dog chuffed softly, drawing Angus's attention.
"Did you bring him with you? Is he yours?"
"Maverick? Yes, he came with me, but he is not mine."
"What kind of dog is he?"
Thorne had his son follow him outside. Maverick kept close
pace at Angus's heels, nearly tripping him with his long,
gangly legs.
A cool breeze brushed past them, carrying the dusty scent of
the ancient soil, canyon grasses and water soaked rock from
the waterfall down the path.
Thorne began. "In the days of the past long gone, most
humans called his kind Goldens. Our ancestors named them
something else--in our folklore. Our antecedents believed
Goldens to be more than what they appeared. We felt that if
you bonded to the heart of a Golden, you released the magic
held in a Golden's heart."
"How did you come upon him?"
"On the trip I happened upon an elderly traveler, too ill to
continue. Before he passed away he asked me to take the
pup."
"You know I have always felt bad about it, when a human
companion precedes his or her fur kin into the afterlife. I
worry what will become of the one left behind."
"Angus. What do you think the remaining companion feels? For
them, it would have been less merciful had they been the one
to go first. For it is they, who worry and fret about their
human companion; wondering about the safety and well being
of their friend in their absence.
"Many know when they are going to pass from this existence;
they can feel it in themselves before the happening, and it
is at this time they begin to secretly grieve for their
companion. Once they have reached adolescence, they are
aware that they cannot always outlive their companion; it
becomes a small sadness they carry with them always. It is
why they give so freely of themselves while they may."
***
Maverick had a small branch in his mouth and gave a
stick-muffled woof as Angus bent down to take it from him.
Maverick wiggled to and fro, eager to play fetch.
Later, Maverick left the stick with Angus, licked the boy's
hand, then trotted off. Angus looked at the branch.
Something shiny, and white protruded from it. Angus plucked
out the hard object and studied it closely. A puppy tooth!
Maverick was making that transition from puppyhood to
adolescence. Something about that struck a chord with Angus.
Weren't they both making that transition?
***
"You have big, floppy feet, furry arms, and bony, furry
knees!" Angus teased. Maverick laid a paw against the boy's
leg; cast a sidelong glance, as if to say, Do I have your
attention?
"Where to, boy?"
Maverick led him to the canyon wall and up a narrow trail.
They came to a darkened walkway and Angus stopped. Maverick
returned to the boy, and urged him forward. They emerged
into a cave. At one end of the grotto, water dripped to the
floor, forming a pool. A breeze, redolent with the
fragrances of summer drew him to the cave??™s ledge.
Before him was the most beautiful valley Angus had seen.
Verdant grass rolled over hillocks. Bursting from the grass
were flowers of vibrant colors. Large bejeweled dragonflies
drifted in the air above the valley. It seemed as though all
below them was one living entity.
Angus turned to Maverick and found the dog watching him.
"Thank you, Maverick, for sharing this with me."
Maverick put a quizzical look on his face then retreated to
the back of the cave and barked once, beckoning Angus. Time
to leave.
***
In late autumn Maverick took the boy back to the cavern.
From there, Angus could see the stone circle that surrounded
the tree he had planted in remembrance of his mother and
sister. Both claimed by the same disease that Angus,
himself, had contracted. The only reason Angus thrived was
that his father had brought him to the canyon, where the
climes and clean air halted the disease??™s progression. The
day after Maverick had shown him the hidden valley; Angus
had planted an evergreen sapling there.
Angus wondered how often Maverick had stood here, watching
him when he trekked into the valley. He looked at Maverick,
wishing he could ask him.
"You can. I was just waiting for the right moment. I
believe this is such a time. Do you agree?"
Angus gawped as Maverick quirked an eyebrow, studying the
lad with concern. "Angus, is it not a good time?"
"Why? How?"
"Because we have bonded. In that pendant hanging from
your neck, do you carry one of my puppy teeth?"
Angus grasped the wooden pendant and pulled it over his
head.
"I do. You don't mind, do you? I found it that day after we
played fetch. I carved this container for it out of that
branch."
"No. I don't mind. I left the tooth for you. Look into
the container . . ."
Angus took the stopper out, upended the pendant. The tooth
twinkled in the afternoon light. Then the tooth began to
blur; Angus could feel it moving in his hand. It went from
brilliant white to silver-gold, dazzling. Angus glanced up
at Maverick, then back at the tiny horn he held. He gasped,
looked back at Maverick and saw not a dog, but a unicorn.
Angus fainted.
***
Angus reached up and touched the spiraled horn, and velvety
muzzle. He stood, and said, "You are not a very big
unicorn."
Maverick tossed his head up and down with mirth. "And you
are short for a human. I will grow as you grow."
Angus looked down at the tiny horn in his hand. As he was
dropping it into the pendant, it changed and was again a
bright, shiny puppy tooth. Angus then walked over to the lip
of the cavern, and Maverick followed.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
"You are welcome. I know you go to pay your respects.
I've watched you each time you make your trek to the secret
valley. Not out of curiosity, but to offer, in spirit, my
support."
Angus nodded. "I have found the magic."
"And I, my lifetime companion."
***
Copyright ?© 2005 by Kathy Anne Harris
"All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all
answers, is contained in the dog."-- Franz Kafka |
