Hi, my name is Fionn. I'm a shiny red Irish setter. This is my story.
I was born on a glorious sunny day on a farm amongst the rolling green hills. My first master was a sweet old man, who loved all his animals equally. He always played music to them. There were chubby, rosy pigs, black and white cows, fluffy rabbits, lots of curly sheep, noisy turkeys and chickens. And then there was this other dog family of tri-coloured border collies. It consisted of 3 boys and 2 girls and their mum Trixie. I only had my 3 sisters and my mum, Misty. So one of the border collie boys became my best friend. He had a blue spot in one eye and he called himself the most handsome of the pack. We got into all sorts of mischief together. Oh boy, did we have a ball. We particularly liked teasing our sisters and annoying the sheep.
One day strange people came to the farm to cuddle and play with us. My mum told me my sisters and I were going to be adopted and so were my best friend and his family. She told us not to be sad as some sunny day we would all meet again and we would have a good life. We didn't have names yet, but we would recognise eachother anywhere, they assured us.
When we were 8 weeks old it was time to say goodbye to our siblings and mums.
And so I came to live with a frail girl with milky white skin. Her dark curly hair had a red glow to it, just like mine. And she had the most beautiful big greenish brown eyes, just like, you guessed it, me. She lived with her mum, who ran the local pub and who looked exactly the same, only 25 years older. My life couldn't be more different from life on the farm. At first I really missed it terribly. The girl told me my name would be Fionn, with an o in the middle, after the hero in a Celtic mythological story. "I'll read it to you one day," she promised. "And I'm going to tell you all my secrets," she whispered, picking me up and cuddling me. I wasn't sure about all the girly stuff she was going to confide me with, but I think I liked her from the beginning and to demonstrate it, I licked her nose. The regulars were always nice to me, except for one short man with grey hair. I found him really weird as he always wore the same black suit and a white collar. He gave me the creeps. As it turned out the girl really disliked him too. I also got to meet her best friend, a tall, dark haired, quite bossy girl. She lived with her dad in a big villa, up in the hills. Her mum died a few years ago. They had something in common, as my girl's dad left when she was only 8 and died two years later. They were at school together until 3 years ago, when they moved on to secondary school and went their separate ways. Her friend wanted to become a nurse or a teacher and the girl wanted to do something with languages or literature. When we weren't out playing in the fields or walking the woods together, she was curled up on the couch in front of the fire place, reading. Poems were her favourite. And when she read, I always lay on top of her feet. So time passed and I grew big and strong. I got too heavy to be picked up, but I was never short of cuddles. The girl was pretty mature for her age. As her mum had been on her own for almost 8 years now, she was always there to lend a hand. In a few weeks, she was going to be 16 and she and her friend were throwing a big party to celebrate.
Then the time came when she was old enough to go to college and only came home for the weekends and holidays. So it was just me and her mum most of the time. We became very close, but of course we missed the girl terribly and looked forward to every day off she had. After cleaning up one night, we were cuddled up in our favourite spot on the couch when she said :"You know Finn, I met someone I really like and I think he likes me too. We've even started making plans for the future."
In those days I also made a new friend. The local garage owner had a six year old son, who loved playing with me. He looked cute with his freckles, blue eyes and curly hair. Mum was glad, as she didn't have much time to take me out and play. She didn't get much help these days and could hardly cope on her own. As time passed she really started looking ill and one day she just collapsed in the kitchen. I ran into the pub and started barking to alarm the regulars. An ambulance came and they took her away. I felt so sad and lost. What was wrong? Would she be back? Who would look after me?
The boy and his dad took me into their home. They took good care of me, gave me lots of love, took me for endless walks and played with me to keep my spirits up. I was of course very grateful for that, but underneath I couldn't help feeling sad.
Much to my relief, it was only a few weeks later that the girl came back. I was so happy to be able to go home, but unfortunately mum wasn't going to return.
"Oh Fionn, mum just died in hospital. She had breast cancer. There was nothing they could do for her, it was too late. She never complained, but I should've seen there was something wrong. I feel so guilty. What am I going to do? How am I going to cope on my own to run the pub? I'm only 21. But you know what, I'm going to fight, I have to for mum, I promised. I can't let this place fall to pieces. She's worked so hard to turn it into the warm heart of the community that everyone loves."
It was a good thing she had been helping out her mum all those years and had even mastered how to do the books and stocktaking, because she had a really tough time alone during the months that followed. But without all that knowledge it would've been nearly impossible. She also had the support of most of the villagers, who didn't want to loose their favourite meeting place. Her best friend even worked for free, as she couldn't afford to pay anyone. She barely made enough to keep herself.
But gradually, after a lot of sweat and tears, the future seemed a bit brighter. One day, her boy friend from college appeared, a tall man with bright blue eyes and dark curls.
'Leo wants to give us another go but I'm not sure, I think he would be wasting his life here. I don't want him to stay just for me. It wouldn't be right in the long run. If he really was Mr Right then I guess I'd be prepared to leave, but I'm not." So it was just the two of us again.
One day the creepy little man in black appeared with a tall guy in the same suit. How odd, I thought to myself, not another one of them. But after a while I found out, he was really nice. Although they quarelled quite often, he and my girl became good friends. He often would help her clean up in the evenings. Afterwards they'd share a glass of wine and chatter away into the night. I felt he was really good for her and seemed to totally change her in a positive way. She was more lively and less moody. Her dull pair of jeans and dreary dark t-shirts were shed and changed for pretty bright coloured dresses and flowery skirts. She also wore her hair in a much nicer way. For once she seemed genuinely happy. But the old man didn't seem to approve of that one little bit and was determined to keep them apart. Why? I just couldn't understand. I may only be a dog, but I'm pretty good at sensing if someone means well or not.
After cleaning up one night, she sat down on the couch and just broke down crying. I ran up to her wagging my tail and tried to lick her tears away. She pulled me onto her lap and cuddled me. "What ever would I do without you? You're the only one I can confide in, my only true friend, who'll never betray me and just takes me as I am. What's wrong with me Fionn? Why can't I just find someone to love? Why does everything have to be so complicated? Trust me to fall in love with a priest of all men. Peter's just so kind and sweet. What am I going to do? I can't just tell him, can I. It would ruin his career, his life. You don't do that to someone you love, it just wouldn't be right. I don't know if he feels the same way about me. Sometimes I think he does though.
