Forever Home

As Max, a seven-week-old black and tan Jack Russell Terrier, played with his brothers and sisters in the basking sun, he thought to himself how lucky he was.

As the night crept in and the moon came out, the temperatures dropped. After his brothers and sisters fell asleep one by one, he snuggled up to his mom, his yellow blanket with green spots underneath him. Max was a sensitive soul and his mother paid him close attention because of it.

‘You know bunny,’ she started, ‘one day soon you will leave here and go to your forever home!’ She licked the top of his head as he asked what a forever home was.

‘A forever home is somewhere only the luckiest puppy’s get to go to. Its somewhere they are loved and cherished and given a person to look after,’ she explained.

‘What’s a person?’ the curious ball of fur asked confused. His mother stopped licking his head and for a minute contemplated how to explain that her baby, her most dependant pup, that he was going to have to leave her.

Tears welled up in Maxs mother’s eyes. ‘A person,’ her voice broke, she cleared her throat and tried again. ‘A person is someone who will look after you when you leave me, and who you will be expected to look after.’ She resumed licking his head, finding a patch of dirt behind his ear.

‘Do you have a person mammy?’ he asked, curious.

‘I have Farmer John, he is my person!’

‘Can I have Farmer John as well?’ Max asked innocently.

His mother giggled as a tear fell from her eye. She only wished that Farmer John could be a person to each of her five babies, but she knew he was only keeping Pippy, so she could breed her.

‘No bunny,’ she licked the fallen tear from his head, ‘you will have a person who is just for you!’

‘But how will I talk to my person?’ Max asked in a small, disappointed voice.

‘The thing about having a person,’ his mother explained, ‘is that you develop your own language with them. You know they are right for you when they understand you, and you them.’

‘I need to learn a new language?’ Maxs eyes opened wide like saucers at the thought.

‘No, no bunny,’ his mother giggled, ‘you will just know when the right person comes for you!’ Finished with the dirt behind his ear, she said in a soothing voice that it was late and he needed to get some rest.

Max lay his head on his mother’s paw, the cogs in his mind turning until he yawned a big yawn and finally went to sleep.

The next day arrived, the sun high in the deep blue sky, and with it came a little family. There was a mom, a dad, a younger boy and an older girl. He couldn’t get his mind off the fact that he would have to leave his mother shortly. He wasn’t in the mood for playing with his four brothers and sisters that day, but then a shadow was cast over him. He looked up and there was the older girl. She was getting ready to sit beside him.

Once she was sitting on the grass she said ‘hi,’ to introduce herself to the very unhappy Max. He was taken aback. He actually understood what she had said. He raised his head and looked into the older girl’s face. It was the most beautiful face she had ever seen, but then again, he had only ever seen Farmer John and his family.

Max winced as the girl’s hand came rushing towards his face. She didn’t touch him however, instead she held her hand in front of his nose. As Max smelt the most fabulous smell he had ever come across, he opened his eyes. The girl was simply saying hello. He got up to investigate her more closely. He was grateful that she wasn’t pushing herself on him.

As he tried to climb onto her leg, Max fell back in the grass, his paws pointing towards the sky. ‘Oh my,’ the girl laughed as she helped him up and placed him gently on her lap, ‘you are a funny bunny!’

‘How did you know that?’ he asked confused.

‘Know what?’ she answered. Max was astonished that he was actually able to understand her.

‘How did you know my mother calls me bunny?’ he wondered, all of his fear about leaving his mother soon obliterated.

‘I didn’t!’ she beamed down at him as he placed his front paws on her stomach and rested his chin on them. He was grinning from ear to ear.

‘Are you my person?’ he asked intrigued.

‘I’ll tell you what,’ she answered gently rubbing the folds of loose skin on the top of his head, ‘I’ll be your person, if you’ll be my puppy!’

Max felt a sudden connection to the girl. He was bashful and only agreed after they played for what seemed like hours. She rubbed his tummy in such a way that it tickled making him giggle, which made her giggle, which made him giggle even more.

As his eyes grew heavy from all the playing, she picked him up and placed him on her chest. He had only ever felt this safe with one other living thing…his mother. He yawned a big yawn but before he closed his eyes, he said, ‘I would be honoured to be your puppy!’ and went to sleep in the bosom of who would become his favourite human in the whole world.

That night, as Max was having a quiet conversation with his mother, he told her all about the girl and how she made him feel warm and complete. ‘That’s great bunny!’ she beamed down at him, tears in her eyes. ‘Farmer John told me she is going to be your person and will be collecting you tomorrow!’ Max yawned a big yawn and was happy in the knowledge that he felt safe with this girl, yet sorrow crossed his face as he realised that this was his last night with his mother.

The next day was one full of sorrow and joy. The girl showed up very early. The sun was fenced in by clouds. Farmer John approached his mother and her litter and picked him up with one hand and placed him roughly in the hands of the girl. She graciously took him and held him close to his chest as he cried, he never got to say goodbye to his mother.

On the car ride to his forever home, Max sat in a cardboard box, his yellow spotted blanket underneath him, and cried. The girl picked him up and wrapped his blanket around him before pulling him in tight and asking him what was wrong.

‘I…didn’t…get…to …say… goodbye!’ he sobbed.

The girl kissed him on the top of his head and told him all of the great things about his new forever home.

‘You will have a garden all to yourself, and I got you a lovely soft, fluffy grey bed to sleep in. Oh and there is a park just across the road so you will have loads of opportunities to make new friends.’

Max’s sobbing stopped. He looked up to his new mammy doe eyed and asked, ‘really?’

‘Yea!’ his new mammy answered. ‘And we’ll play all the time!’

‘What will we play?’ he was curious. He loved to play tag with his siblings.

‘We can play whatever you want!’ she smiled down at him, his crying ceased. ‘Oh and I got you loads of toys we can play with together!’

Maxs mind grew farther and farther away from the farm the closer they got to his forever home. His new mammy, his person, was going to be the soul focus from his life from then on. He just had one request…

‘Can you make me porridge in the mornings?’

His mamy laughed, ‘I’ll make you all the porridge you can eat!’ She leant down close to him and kissed the top of his head.

He knew that no matter where he was going, he had definitely found his person. He was happy at the thought of spending the rest of his life with her. He licked her nose, making her giggle. He was home.