Skylar and the Book

It was an uneventful afternoon sitting by the hospital bed by my father, who was inevitably not going to be coming back home. My mother was sitting beside me weeping. The grim news that his transplanted kidney was septic came right before Halloween. My mother had a stroke before Thanksgiving the month before. Christmas was a complete uncertainty. Our family was truly on hard times. I was looking out the window of the rural single story hospital. In Texas, the winter weather doesn’t always feel like snowy fields and ice flurries, but more just dry and barren land and who knows what temperature. Especially in the “Hill Country” some call it here in central parts of Texas. Maybe it is just what some of my family and friends called it. I wanted to cry but I didn’t have any tears left. I felt a painful numb. To tell you the truth I’m not sure if the numbness was a blessing or a curse. On one hand I felt like I was too emotional at times and I needed to hold it together for my family. On the other hand I felt like not crying was a sign my heart was turning cold from a life of pain and suffering. Hardships were a familiar thing when it came to my life.

All of the sudden a dog appeared. Her fur was as black as a foggy, full moon eclipse night. Smooth, shiny, and silky almost flowing, yet not excessively long. Her eyes pierced me into my soul. They were an icy blue, magical, and unlike any canines eyes I had ever seen before. She was staring at me and I was staring back at her wondering what she was doing out there. Why was she staring in our window of all the windows? Our hospital had a garden in which our window overlooked, and at first I thought maybe she was just someone’s escaped pet but there was something off about her. I looked at my parents and asked them “Do you see that strange and beautiful dog out there?” My mother looked out but she wasn’t there by the time she looked. I thought to myself “I hope she finds her way back home…” I decided to go out to the store so I hugged and kissed my parents goodbye and I headed out to my little beat up blue pickup truck. It wasn’t much but it got me from place to place pretty well.

As I was approaching my truck, there she was! The dog I saw through the window. She was carrying a little black notebook. I called out to her saying “Hey little girl what do you have there?” She whimpered and dropped the book into my hands and sat in front of me. I looked for anyone around calling for a dog but there was nobody around other than nurses going back and forth from hospital building to clinic to lab buildings. It was all an intertwined connection of buildings. Being one of a more curious nature myself, I went ahead and opened the book. There wasn’t a lot written in it but it baffled me beyond belief at the first words written. The page read “Hello, my name is Mildred and if you are reading this then I have already passed on. I have trained my best friend Skylar to go pick a new owner in the event of my passing. She is a very special dog that one! If you ask her, she will lead you to me. You will need to call the authorities and I have everything written out in my will by the bedside table. If you will do this for us, you will be greatly rewarded.” I looked down at Skylar again and said “Are you freaking kidding me right now? Why me? This has to be a joke!” I called my mother and told her I had to run another errand and would be a little longer than expected and to call me if anything changed with my father. She agreed and we said our “I love yous” and hung up the phones. I looked at Skylar and said “Well girl, show me where you live. Don’t go too fast, I am out of shape pretty badly!”

Skylar stayed just a few feet ahead of me, making sure not to lose me. She led me down the walking path that trailed through town and out into the woods. As we came to the edge of town we had to go through a fence and follow the creek to a little rock path that led to a little cottage. A little wood cottage out in the country just outside of town. What a beautiful sight! There were beautiful flowers growing in a little garden bed out front that had been well tended to despite the dry and yellow fields mixed with nasty weeds around us. In the garden there were pink tulips, purple irises, and a few other yellow and purple flowers. It was quite the sight to see! Ms Mildred definitely had great taste in flowers…and dogs apparently. I approached the door and almost knocked out of instinct but Skylar pushed the door open and whimpered for me to follow her. She led me to Mildred. Mildred was a beautiful old woman probably in her late 80s to mid 90s. She had snow white hair and little oval glasses on her face. She was a petite little woman I doubt weighed a hundred pounds. She had on a very basic robe and fuzzy light pink, well worn slippers. It looked as if she just went to sleep and didn’t wake back up. She looked so very peaceful. I briefly thought about my father and hoped he would look this peaceful when his time came. Everything was just as described in the little black notebook. I got on my cell and called the authorities to do what they needed to do. I offered to take care of Skylar until the legal paperwork could be gone through. They took the notebook and my info and told me I could go ahead and leave now. I walked away with Skylar at my side not knowing what would come of everything that had just happened.

A couple of weeks passed and my my father succumbed to his illness. He too looked very peaceful just as Mildred had and he was even sort of smiling in his casket as if to let us know he was finally not in pain anymore. After the funeral I was helping my mother with things around her house when I got a phone call from an unknown number. I answered and the voice on the other line said “Hello Miss, I know you are extremely busy at the moment but we would like you to come down to the local attorney’s office to discuss some business with you about the woman named Mildred that you found. It also pertains to the ownership of the dog, Skylar.” I agreed to go meet with the attorney’s office. I walked in the door and it smelled like a typical office. The scent of cheap candles and paper. The woman from the phone, which I could tell by her voice, said “Right this way ma’am!” in a cheerful yet professional tone. I followed her to an office in the back and sat down in the first chair in front of the desk. She proceeded to tell me that Mildred had left a very unusual will in which whoever found her and took guardianship of her dog Skylar would be granted her estate as well as $20,000! I was speechless for a moment and asked for a bottle of water. I exclaimed “WHAT?!” She said it was all laid out in the paperwork and she just needed me to sign some forms and agree to keep Skylar and treat her well for the remainder of her life. Of course I agreed and signed the forms.

I went home as fast as I could to tell my mother the good news and hug my new fur-baby that just changed my life! I agreed to split the money with my mother to offset the well over ten grand she had shelled out for my fathers last expenses. Skylar, my little family, and I lived happily and peacefully from then on out. We weren’t rich but we had each other. We also had Skylar, the very special dog with the very unique little black notebook!