An Unprecedented Journey

The sun is high and bright. A mother dog and her only surviving pup trot through some tall dry grass. A brief whiff of rotting flesh fills the mother’s nose and sends her on a mission to feed herself and show her young baby how to find food on his own. Grass is so high that it tickles the mother’s stomach. She paves a path for her little one to follow behind comfortably. Occasionally, the young pup nips at some of the grass that manages to swipe against him. It is irritating against his skin where his puppy fur doesn’t cover as much.

Eventually, the smell grows stronger and the mother dog finds herself upon the remains of a dead buffalo. It has already been slightly scavenged already, but there are still some edible bits left for the mother and pup to consume. Before approaching, she scans the area for any sign of a threat and then begins to fill her belly. It has been a couple days since she has last eaten. The young pup starts to imitate his mom and approaches the dead buffalo. He nibbles a couple bites off a femur but quickly loses interest. He would much prefer his mother’s milk.

Distracted by her hunger, the mother dog starts paying a little less attention to her son. She watches him lay down, scratch his ears, sniff his paw, and then slowly start to fall asleep. Once she’s confident he won’t disappear, she focuses all her attention on finding the best pieces to eat.

A slight rustling in the bushes causes the young pup to perk his head up, his mother still distractedly chewing away. The sound happens again, and the puppy stands, his ears perk up, and he closes his mouth tight to listen intently. Once more, the grass rustles a little way away and the young pup takes off as fast as his little legs can take him toward the sound.

The mother hears him trot away and gives the pup a slight warning growl. He doesn’t listen, so she takes one last bite, and follows slowly behind. A sharp rattle comes from the direction the puppy was headed. Little curious barks emanate from the pup. The mother dog panics and picks up her pace.

In a small clearing of dead grass, a rattlesnake is on high alert. It’s tail-end shaking away, making an intense sound. The young puppy begins running up, nipping, and then backing away once the snake tries to bite. The puppy goes to attack. In an instant, the mother dog jumps between the two. The mother releases a harsh yelp in pain as the snake manages to sink its fangs into her front leg. Quickly, the mother picks the puppy up by the scruff of his neck and carries him away. She limps a bit but manages to carry him until she doesn’t have the strength to hold him any longer.

Luckily, she feels the threat of danger has subsided. Once on his own little paws, little pup begins to follow his mother through the thick grass once again. A little longer they walk, until eventually they find a dead tree and decide to rest. The day’s events exhausted them. The momma pup lays down and the puppy curls up into a little ball on his mother’s side. He is too tired to feed and falls asleep instantly.

A few hours later, the puppy wakes with a start. His mother’s breathing is labored. She lays on her side. Her leg that was bitten, is laying limp. Her mouth is slightly ajar, her tongue sticking out the side, resting against the dirt beneath her head. Every few minutes she whimpers.

The pup doesn’t know how to react. He licks her face. He nibbles her ears. She doesn’t budge. Every time she whimpers, the pup lets out a little cry himself. Accidentally, while trying to nuzzle her neck with his nose, the pup hits her injured leg. The mother pup cries out in pain. Confusion overwhelms him. He starts to lick her open mouth to make her feel a bit better.

Eventually, he decides it’s best to just curl up and try to sleep again. So, he finds a spot a little further away from her leg and curls up once again. Her harsh breathing continues, but her whimpering has stopped.

A coldness wakes him. In his 7 weeks of life, he has never felt so cold. The pup gets up, stretches, but his mother doesn’t move. She lays there in the same position as when the pup fell asleep. Her breathing is no longer labored. In fact, she is no longer breathing at all.

Somehow, the puppy knows his mother is dead. It is an instinctual wisdom to know when something is no longer living. Little high-pitched howls of agony come out of the pup’s tiny mouth. He begins to nudge, lick, and bite, different places on his mother’s body. He tries everything he can to get her to rise. She is heavy and her body is stiff. He cannot move her. She does not move herself.

The pup lays down at her side once more. But the comfort he normally has from the sound of her beating heart and lungs filling and exhaling are no longer there. His eyes get droopy, but every few seconds he opens them wide. He is hungry. His little tummy is rumbling. He tries to feed, but nothing comes out. He whines and whimpers. For the first time in his life, he is terrified.

Overhead, he hears a screeching sound. He stands abruptly, startled by the noise. He looks above. Perched on a decaying branch is a barn owl. Its face is mean looking. The moonlight highlights some of its white feathers, but the darkness swallows its eyes. Again, the bird screeches. The puppy begins to bark at the intruder.

In an instant the bird takes off from the branch. It flaps its wings a couple times, glides slowly over the almost barren earth, dives down, and emerges back up with a critter in its claws. Moments later, the bird flies back, drops the animal to the ground, and settles on the dried-out limbs of the tree.

The small animal remains still, whether from fear or death, it is hard to tell. Slowly, the pup approaches it. When he deems it safe to do so, he begins to eat. This time, with no hesitation. The owl takes off silently into the night once again, leaving the pup to feast.

The pup takes the little bit that is left of the animal and drops it next to its mother’s head. He knows she will never eat it, but he leaves it just in case. Then, he crawls back into his little spot next to her cold, stiff body and falls asleep.

When the sun rises. The puppy doesn’t move. He spends all day underneath the dead tree, next to his mother’s side. He has nowhere to go and the fear of leaving his mother behind almost incapacitates him. Throughout the day, she begins to smell. Yet still, he does not move.

Hours and hours go by and then the night comes again. The moon even brighter than the night before. The owl returns to its spot on the branch above the pup and his mother. The owl finds the puppy curled up next to his mother’s decaying body. When the barn owl screeches, the puppy rises. He is expecting another mouse.

Again, the owl takes flight. The puppy barks. He keeps track as best he can with his new puppy eyes. The owl swoops down about a hundred yards away and comes back up with a small creature dangling in claws. The owl returns and lands on the branch. Instead of dropping the mouse, the owl feeds himself. The puppy watches in pure jealousy. A little playful bark comes out of the pup, begging the owl to feed him too.

With a brief swooshing sound, the owl takes off again. This time, it makes no indication of catching prey. The puppy looks down at his mother’s dead body, licks her face one last time, and takes off into the night after the owl. He follows the highlight of the owl’s body in the moonlight. As fast as his little body can, he chases the owl. At times, he collapses from his exhaustion.

When the owl senses the puppy is no longer following, it turns back and circles above him. It gives the puppy strength to get up and follow longer. Eventually, the two end up at an abandoned barn.

The building is in decent shape. The paint has faded, and the natural woods is showing through certain spots, but overall is still standing. The owl flies in through a hole in the roof, disappearing from the dog’s sight. The puppy yips outside of the barn, but the owl never comes out.

A new sense of determination envelops him. He sniffs around the outside until eventually he comes across an opening in the structure. Without any hesitation, he pushes his way inside. The inside of the barn is stuffy. Dust particles float in the air. There is a strong smell of rotten hay and feces. This doesn’t deter the puppy. In one of the stalls, he finds an old hay pile and curls up on top of it. He quickly falls asleep. When he wakes up, the owl is perched on an old beam staring at him. It screeches once. The puppy stands. They leave the barn the way they each came in.

The night is cool. The owl catches its prey and the puppy watches. This time, the puppy decides to try to find food himself. He uses his little nose to smell around. Eventually, he finds a little hole and begins to dig. Inside, he finds his dinner. He kills the animal quickly and carries it back to the barn. He eats fast, discards the carcass in the corner, finds his little resting spot and goes back to sleep.

A few weeks go by with the same routine. At night, the puppy and owl go out, hunt for some food, bring it back, and eat. Then, they sleep or rest all day, safe from outside foes. Fear causes the puppy to never leave the barn unless it’s to hunt. He grows taller and bigger. Soon, the small mammals won’t be as satisfying to him, but he manages to survive.

One day, there is a sound at the front of the barn. Two large animals push the door open and come in. They are humans. It is the first time the puppy has ever seen a human before. The owl remains perched in his spot. It is awake but does not make a sound.

At first, the puppy hides, but he hears a lovely sound. Laughter from the humans and then some chatter. It is music to his ears. There is something so reassuring about the sounds, that he decides to emerge. He peeks out from behind one of the stalls he has made home.

“Oh look. A puppy!” A soft voice calls.