58 "Natural Love" - a boy and a dog

There are things that happen in life that no one can really explain “why” they happened. They just happen. As in this story, a boy and a dog came together for some unknown reason and just seemed to be meant for each other. Kind of like a “Natural Love”.

“Natural Love”

A boy and a dog.

It was Friday and Georgie arrived home from school kind of dragging not looking forward to another day by himself. He has friends but most are older and would rather not have Georgie with them, so he had to spend a lot of time alone. The walk home was only a couple of blocks, longer than normal blocks, and normally he enjoyed the walk with his friends. But, for some reason, it seemed longer today. It was the end of a long day, that was the end of what seemed like a longer than normal week. The other reason he should have been more excited was that this was the last day of school and summer vacation started.

Ever since his family had moved to California from Colorado 4 years ago, hi parents had been promising that when they were in a house where they could have a dog they would get one. But, they had moved 5 times already in that time and haven’t been in a place yet where they could keep a dog.

What had made this week worse than normal was the homework the teacher had given the week before. The assignment was for each student to give an oral report on something they really loved about their family or something their family may have done together. Georgie always had a problem getting up in front of class and giving oral reports. But with this one he had no problem other than being a little nervous. And he was actually relieved that he was one of the first to give the report on Monday morning.

He stood up in front of the class and he told about the trip his family had made from Colorado to California. He explained that his parents had divorced and that his new dad (step-dad) was really nice and that he was happy that he and his sisters were still with their mom and not split up. He also told that his older sister had just gotten married not too long ago.

The teacher was impressed with his honesty and openness in his report. She said he needed to learn to relax a little, but other than that, he did very well and gave him a B for a grade. The grade for that story wasn’t what had put him in his little depression that week.

The problem came the next day when one of the other boys stood up in front of the class and told about his family, two brothers, one sister and the family dog, a mixed German Shepherd. All Georgie heard was the part about the dog and how it played fetch and how every day when the boy would come home from school the dog would meet him at the door. This is what put Georgie in his little depression.

He had wanted a dog for as long as he could remember. Even in Colorado where they lived practically in the country they weren’t able to have one. And then, with the boy on Tuesday, talking about how happy his dog made him, it only made Georgie want one even more.

After hearing the boy’s story, he wished so hard to have his own dog to meet him at the door when he arrived home from school. But wishes never do really come true, do they? When he opened the door all there was to greet him was his mom’s voice as she asked if that was him from the bedroom. She needed help with his baby brother.

He went to the bedroom and handed his mom a clean diaper. She made a comment about how sad he looked today and said she had noticed that he seemed down all week. She asked if he was OK and what was wrong. He told her nothing was wrong and that he was just feeling a little down.

Just about that time, before his mom could dig any deeper, his step-dad came home. He gave the mom a big hug and mussed Georgie’s hair. He also asked what was wrong. Before Georgie could say anything, even though he really didn’t know what was wrong or how to explain how he was feeling, his step-dad said, “Finish with Stevie, (baby brother). We will go to McDonald’s for hamburgers, fries and malts. Then we will go to the market for Jiffy-pop and some sodas. I got a raise today and we are going to celebrate, besides bub, you look like you could use a little something special today.”

As they drove to McDonald’s, which was always a special treat in itself, Georgie was sitting in the back seat by himself thinking about how he could bring up the subject again of wanting to get another dog. Every time he would bring it up in the past his parents would get upset. They just felt bad because they knew how really bad he wanted a dog and always hated to disappoint him. And with the happy mood they were in this evening he hated to cause anyone to be unhappy.

His one sister was staying a few days with their older sister that was married, so he didn’t even have her to talk to. She was 5 years older and was very easy to talk to and always seemed to have an answer in these kinds of situations.

After they had the 19 cent hamburgers and malts, ‘dad’ could usually eat at least 10 by himself, they drove to the market.

Georgie, Stevie and mom stayed in the car while ‘dad’ went in and picked up the few items, Jiffy-pop and sodas. While they were sitting there his mom turned halfway around in the seat, looked at Georgie and asked, “OK, now what’s wrong?”

Georgie started to say something but, whether by design, by magic or by Divine Intervention, they were interrupted. Something or someone hit the door on the outside of the car. Because of the twisted position his mom was in it really hurt her back when she jumped. They turned to see the paws and head of a big yellow dog in the window. The windows were open because it was still warm outside even though it was early evening. After all, they were in California. When his mom cried out from pain the dog jumped down and started to leave. Georgie opened the door and called to the dog. The dog came over to him like they were old friends.

The dog had no collar or tags or identification of any kind. Georgie turned to his mom and asked the obvious question, “Mom, can we take him home? He doesn’t look like he has a home. He’s very skinny. Can we, huh?”

She looked at her son and she could see how happy he was for the first time in a while. She said, “It’s obvious that he’s friendly and he sure seems to like you. You will have to ask ‘dad’ when he comes out. What he says goes.”

The dog stayed right there and played with Georgie. When his ‘dad’ came out of the market the first thing Georgie said, “Look ‘dad’, can we take him home?”His ‘dad’ looked at the dog with one eyebrow raised, a lot. He said, “That looks like a yellow Lab. Pretty skinny and no tags so he looks like he doesn’t belong to anyone. You know we don’t have a fenced yard’ He would have to stay tied up outside and he will be totally your responsibility.”

Georgie said, “I promise, I will take very good care of him.”

His ‘dad’ said, “OK, but there are a couple of stipulations. I will put a “lost dog” note on the bulletin on the market and we will run an ad in the local paper about a “lost dog” and if someone claims him you will have to let him go with no problems. Can you agree with that?”

Georgie just nodded his head real hard and fast. He couldn’t have said anything anyway. He had no problem getting the dog in the car.

His mom turned a little, as much as her sore back would let her, and said to the excited young man, “OK, now for your first big responsibility.” His face got real somber. She continued, “What are you going to call him?”

His ‘dad’ said in a very serious voice, “I don’t think he should name him anything until we are sure he doesn’t belong to anyone.”

His mom said, “He has to have something he can call him, even if it is only temporary.”

With that Georgie said, “I already know. I will call him the obvious and when he is all mine it will stay the same. I will name him after “Old Yeller”, the movie dog. He looks just like him.”

His ‘dad’ nodded in agreement, then he said, “Son, don’t get your heart set on him just in case someone does claim him.”

Georgie said, “I won’t dad.” Though the dog had already won his heart and deep down Georgie was praying that no one would ever claim “Yeller”.

(A note: Though the family would never know anything about the dog’s background he has a bit of a background too. He had been living with a homeless man since he was a puppy for the last 2-1/2 years, and keeping him company.

The dog was in the parking that night because just 2 days before the old homeless man had passed away in the alley behind a row of stores close to the market.

So, unknown to the family there would never be anyone to claim the dog.)

{Just for the record, Disney’s movie “Old Yeller” had come out just a year or two before this took place.}

Also just for the record, Georgie didn’t pick Yeller. Instead, Yeller picked Georgie.

Well, they managed to get the dog home without Georgie being licked to death and since it was mid-summer, it wasn’t quite dark outside.

His ‘dad’ found a piece of rope and they tied Yeller up at the far end of the yard where there was some wood and that gave him a little shelter. Also, in that spot, Georgie was able to look out his bedroom window and see that Yeller was OK during the night.

Once Yeller was settled and Georgie’s excitement had subsided somewhat, they went inside and had their Jiffy-pop and sodas, and dad had even splurged and bought some Neapolitan ice cream. They found something and watched TV for a couple of hours. After all it was Friday and Georgie had still been to wound up to have gone to bed at his normal time.

When he did go to bed he must have looked out the window at least 4 times before he finally drifted off to sleep. When morning came and he opened his eyes he thought it was later than his usual time to get up. He jumped up and ran to the window. When he looked out he had to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He could see the rope, but there was no Yeller. He didn’t even take the time to put on his slippers or robe. He went running through the house, not yelling, but making enough noise to wake the rest of the house. His mom and ‘dad’ were right behind him as he opened the door asking what was wrong. “Yeller’s gone”, he did yell now, and finished opening the door. He ran out the door and right into Yeller. The dog had chewed through the rope and came over to the door, where he had last seen the family, and slept on the step.

‘Dad’ said, “It looks like we need to get a chain instead of a rope. So, let’s eat some breakfast, since you two got us up before the birds, and we will go to the hardware store and pet store this morning. I will also stop by the paper and put the ad in that we agreed on.” With that Georgie dropped his eyes and looked sad.

‘Dad’ said, “Remember the agreement?”

And with noticeable sadness in his voice Georgie said, “Yes, I remember.”

“Look at it this way bub, if you and Yeller are meant to be together, you will be. After all, it seems that he came to you, and that had to have been for a reason.” said his ‘dad’, trying to make him feel better.

Being Saturday, there was no school and it was one of the few, very rare, Saturdays that ‘dad’ didn’t have to work. Mom and Stevie stayed home while ‘dad’ and Georgie went to the stores and took care of the other business. The newspaper was closed, but there was a drop box for people to leave requests for ads and since this was for “lost & found” the ad would be free.

With that all done the two of them went home. Georgie was anxious to get back and spend time with Yeller. His mom said he had been sitting and waiting very patiently for them to get back. He didn’t chew the rope again.

‘Dad’ connected the chain and got it ready while Georgie put water and food in Yeller’s new bowls. Yeah, ‘dad’ splurged a little, but the happiness on the boys face was well worth it. ‘Dad’ was even saying a prayer under his breath, to himself, in hopes that no one would answer the ad or post at the market. He didn’t remember when the last time was that the boy seemed so happy.

With everything in place Georgie was feeling like the dog was actually his. Now he just had to keep secretly hoping and praying no one would come to claim “his” dog. They had even bought a collar for the dog. It was a red one.

As the days went by and there were no replies to the ads, Georgie and Yeller grew closer, if that was possible. The two of them were almost inseparable, like they had grown up together and it was looking like it would be able to stay that way.

Now when school started again and Georgie would come home from school he would have his best friend there to meet him, maybe not at the door, but he would be there and something to look forward every day. Yeller now even had his own tags.

Georgie had the best summer of his life spending every day with Yeller. They even went down to the river bed and played.

There were times though when Georgie would go off and play with his friends, but never very far from home. On a lot of these occasions, when his mom would want Georgie, usually for dinner, it was to the point where all she would have to do is release Yeller and say, “Bring him home boy.” And with that, Yeller would find Georgie and they would come home right away. It seemed like a pretty good system.

They were like this the whole summer. They would play together for hours on end. Georgie’s sister even liked Yeller.

Then summer vacation was over and it was back to school. Georgie would get up, make sure Yeller had food and water and said, “See you later boy.” before he left every morning. The first Saturday after school started Georgie and Yeller were playing. Some of his friends came by and wanted him to play. He tied Yeller up and the boys went off to play. Yeller lay down as usual and waited patiently for his buddies return.

Georgie and his friends went inside the house of one of the boys. They didn’t plan on being in there very long so he didn’t bother telling his mom. When it came time for dinner, his mom went through the usual routine and went outside. She turned Yeller loose and said. “Bring him home boy.”

Yeller made a couple of trips around the houses where he would normally find Georgie. He wasn’t anywhere to be found. He came back by his chain and sat down. His head kept turning like he was trying to hear his buddies’ voice. Then his ears perked up and he took off running. Only this time it wasn’t in the normal direction. He actually ran towards the street. He stopped at the sidewalk and listened. Then he heard it, there were kids playing down the street. That must be where Georgie is. He headed down the street and when he saw the kids on the other side he ran toward them, right in front of an oncoming car. The car hit Yeller and didn’t even stop.

The children that were playing there recognized the dog and knew where he lived. Two of the boys went running toward Georgie’s house. They arrived about the same time Georgie was going to walk in the front door. They told him what happened and the three of them went running back in the direction of Yeller. His mom had heard and was right behind them.

When they got back to the spot, the other kids had moved Yeller out of the street and onto the grass. Georgie kneeled down and placed the dogs head on his lap. The dog looked up at Georgie and with one last sigh, knowing he was with his best friend, closed his eyes for the last time. With tears rolling down his cheeks Georgie removed the red collar and tags. He was still holding his head when the Humane Society came to remove him.

Theirs was a life of only a few months together, but those memories lasted Georgie a lifetime. Looking back on this memory, the two had to have been brought together for a reason. We know it sure made a big change in Georgie’s life and left him with that great memory. Although Yeller probably had an OK life with his homeless buddy for 2-1/2 years and probably brought that man some happiness in his last years, he definitely made a difference in one boys life.

There was love both ways and I can assure, that was an unforgettable love.

Greg