Stories, Commentaries, Poems, etc.

A Broken Hearted Memory Revisited

By Hanna

I once had a friend named Fallon. She was a Scottish Terrier.

She came from the state of Washington when she was just a little puppy.

Fallon was the only dog in our family to ever fly-and she flew from the West Coast to the East Coast-that’s pretty far! She was a year and a half younger than me, so I had to show her the “ropes.”

Fallon learned pretty fast, and she was great to play with! We would run and jump on each other all the time. I even drug her around the floor while she held onto a pull toy. And she loved to swim! She would take a flying leap into the pool and splash around like no body’s business-what a nut! She was funny too! I thought I made a lot of noise at dinner time, but she would dance around and croon until she got her food. Some times I would just stop and look at her, but then I’d have to go back to my bowl.

Fallon was different though…she always seemed more nervous than the rest of us, and she had this problem where she kept going to the bathroom. I worried about her, but she still played, so I didn’t worry too much. Then one day, I heard that Fallon was going to have to go to the hospital-they needed to find out what was wrong. Our owner took her to the doctor one day and came home without her. I missed her, but our owner said she would be okay. One day passed and then another, and then the next day while I heard concern in our owner’s voice, she still said Fallon would be okay. Three days later our owner announced before she left for work, that Fallon would be coming home today. I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to see my friend. A few hours later, our owner did come home with Fallon, but Fallon did not move. She had died unexpectedly from a complication of surgery. As I watched our owner hold her and cry, I moved closer and cried with her. My friend would no longer play with me.

I never fully forgot that day, as that was a day when my heart broke. But you know how with time, it gets easier to remember the fun times? I will always miss her, but I DO remember all the fun we had!

Now we got another Scottie-we waited three years after Fallon. His name is Trevar. He is nice, but he isn’t my friend Fallon, so Darby played with him, not me. Then lo’ and behold doesn’t the owner go and bring home another Westie puppy last year! I didn’t like her much, she growled at all of us in OUR OWN house when she arrived. Humphf! But as is typical, we all adjusted, and I have to say, she’s not a bad new friend. So this year I started playing with her-it’s kinda’ fun. But then, just as we started playing almost every day, the unthinkable happened! She had to go for emergency surgery, the same type of surgery that Fallon had when we lost her. My owner was scared and so was I! I kept thinking about Fallon, and I know my owner did too. We all worried so much! Thankfully Rori made it through it all okay, and is now home and wanting to play. We didn’t lose our new friend, but we are remembering our old dear friend a lot more lately. Rori has some of the same actions that Fallon use to show us-a funny looking side glance, a bouncing personality, and for some reason ever since she came, the owner unconsciously has called her Fallon on many occasions. Coincidence? I don’t know why ten years after Fallon left us, our owner began using her name? Why will I play with Rori and not Trevar? Why was the heart breaking memory of Fallon brought back to us in Rori? I don’t know the answers. But I do know I am glad that Rori is home and feeling better. And I am very happy that I had the fun of knowing and playing with Fallon. I know, I will see her again and we will play, forever.