Come home

The unwanted and homeless pup, a mongrel, looked part wolf, part collie and part shepherd. The shy, sensitive and small boy for his age loved that abandoned puppy the moment she lay down in his arms. The dog immediately trusted the lonely boy.

Throughout that first summer, the two explored hills and forests, growing, loving, and becoming as close as only a child and a dog can. No one ever asked why he called her Sugar; it just did. The dog with love, care and attention turned into a beautiful animal. The boy found out he had a friend. He knew that whatever his flaws, Sugar loved him and totally accepted him.

When classes started, the dog would lie by the road during the day, looking down the path the yellow monster had taken, with her child inside. When the bus finally returned, the boy and the dog found themselves in a happy reunion. Until dark, the two of them spent time in a private hideaway or took their favorite walk through woods and hills. For hours they sat together. While the boy spoke out his soul, the dog, with eyes full of adoration, looked him in the face. When the words finally stopped, the dog, heaving a deep sigh, laid her head on the boy’s lap. The boy, stroking the dog’s head, his troubles calmed down, he saw the distant horizon in peace in his mind. No matter what rejections or injuries the boy suffered at school, his dog helped heal the pain.

But one day no happy body, barking and moving, met the bus. No one ever knew what happened: Sugar was gone and was never seen again. After the first night, the boy never mentioned the dog, but every day for weeks two eager eyes scanned the way to and from school, and a face pressed against the bus window when the bus arrived at night. . Every morning, a worried mother found a pillow damp with tears when she made the child’s bed. Finally, the observation and the gaze ceased. The boy retreated into his shell. Her only relief from her grief and pain remained the tear-stained pillow.

Trying to comfort him, the boy’s parents took him on a trip. His older sister and younger brother tried to share their pets and toys with him. At last he seemed to come out of his shell and enjoy his world. He befriended a boy who moved up the street with his parents. He, however, did not accept another dog and did not talk about Sugar.

Summer is back. One day in the forest a child’s voice shouted: “Come home, Sugar, please come home! Sugar, please come home. I need you! Come home, Sugar! Come home!”

The only response was the echo of her youthful voice that screamed, “Come home … come home … come home …”

That night, the boy’s parents decided to find another dog for him, thinking that another puppy could help heal the wound. When a friend told them he had a litter of American Eskimo puppies ready for weaning, the parents drove to the friend’s house. Leaving the sleeping boy in the car with his sister and brother, the parents looked at the puppies, chose one and took her to the car.

“Honey, wake up. Look what we’ve got,” her mother called. The boy opened his eyes and sat up slowly, his hair tousled and his eyes sleepy.

“Here.” His father placed a white fluff ball with soft brown eyes and a black button nose on the little boy’s lap.

“Oh oh, is it really mine?” the boy asked, his eyes now wide and bright as his arms scooped up the moving bundle.

“Yes, honey, it’s yours.”

Another love story between boy and dog began. He named her Sugar, and the name suited her as her white fur resembled spun sugar. The boy opened his heart again and Sugar adored her boy.

When classes started, the boy was afraid to leave his dog, but after the months passed and she was always with the bus, he forgot the nightmare of the disappearance of his first dog. He forgot his shyness and his problems while cavorting and playing with Sugar. Now he, his dog, and sometimes his brother created a world of their own: tracking bandits, hunting wild animals or living in the wild, a world much more pleasant than the real one.

Just before the end of the school year, Sugar gave her son a wonderful gift, five furry puppies. The boy in his emotion believed that nothing could be as special as his Sugar. He immediately reported every change in the cubs to the rest of the family. Oh yes, the boy’s world had become a truly wonderful place.

Then came the day when the family came home from town to find the puppies but not Sugar. The boy, his parents, sister, brother searched and called; but Sugar could not be found. The boy walked for miles, until his little legs ached, looking for and asking for his Sugar. They finally convinced him to go to bed, his eyes filled with pain and tears.

Two days later, the boy and his brother slipped to their favorite play spot in the creek behind the house. Suddenly he was running, crying, yelling at the house, “Mom! Mom! It’s Sugar! Mom, it’s Sugar! She’s dead! Mom, she’s dead! My Sugar! My Sugar!”

While his mother tried to comfort the boy, his father ran to the creek where he found Sugar lying partially in the cold water of the creek. Its legs, worn and broken, seemed to have walked many miles. Apart from its legs, no other wounds or marks could be found. She had apparently walked a long way trying to get home that hot summer day, and when she reached the cold spring-fed creek, the shock killed her. It also killed the joy of a child.

Once again, the boy retreated to a shell with his pain. Once again, a tear-stained pillow became the only outlet for her pain. Once again, his family tried to help him get over his loss.

Months passed; school started again. The day before Thanksgiving, his mother was sitting writing a letter when her son arrived and stood by the arm of her chair. After a few minutes of silence, he solemnly announced, “I know what you would ask Santa Claus if I still believed in him.”

“Oh really? And what would you ask for?” The mother looked at the serious face still rounded with baby outlines.

“A puppy like my Sugar.”

“You mean a white one?”

“Yes, a white girl. But there is no Santa Claus.”

His mother put her arm around him. “Honey, you might be surprised what there is.”

A frantic search began. Finally, a friend of a friend located a kennel that sold American Eskimos. The week after Thanksgiving, the parents picked another fluffy white fur ball and picked it up on Christmas Eve.

On the way home from the kennel, the father expressed their wish: “I hope nothing happens to this dog. I don’t know how Bobby could bear that something happened to another.”

Finally Christmas Eve arrived. After the children fell asleep, the father brought the special gift for the child, placing it on a bed in front of a large chair. The cub, after seeing a huge teddy bear under the Christmas tree, started barking.

The boy, if he had listened to the puppy, must have thought that his barking was part of his dreams because the next morning his surprise and enthusiasm overcame any desire for his other gifts. For hours, the only time the puppy’s paws touched the ground were the brief periods it was outside. The rest of the time he carried her in his arms.

Thus, Sugar number three became the boy’s number one interest. They became as close as only a child and a dog are capable of. Day by day, the sugar alleviated the pain and the fear of pain caused the loss of the previous sugars.

Years passed. Sugar had become a member of the family. She accepted the others, but knew to which member she belonged: her son. She waited patiently when he left, whether it was for school, ball practice, or ball games. When he was at home, he found her constantly by his side. If he wanted to play, she played; if he wanted to sit, she sat. As he grew older, their love for each other never diminished, but continued to grow.

More than seven summers passed. Sugar was expecting puppies. The boy, now a sophomore in high school, had become a member of the soccer team. Sugar always had his time with him before his daily preseason practices.

One afternoon, the mother came home from work expecting her son to be waiting for her to go to soccer practice. Instead, her sister and brother came out of the house to greet her.

“What is it? Where is your annoyance?”

“Mom, Sugar is dead.” Sister’s concerned eyes pleaded with her mother for help.

“Oh no! What happened? Does Bob know?”

“He found her. She tried to have her puppies; something went wrong. They are all dead.”

“Where is?”

In the bedroom. It won’t come out.

Sighing deeply, the mother left the car to address her son. When she entered his room, he looked up from where he was sitting next to the bed, his eyes filled with tears and pain. As she sat up, hugging her broader shoulders, she heard a youthful voice ringing in her mind saying, “Sugar, I need you! Please come home! Sugar, come home!” Once again, there was no reply.