Roxy the Red
written by Polecat
The snow was cold, falling in little icy spots across my back. I sped up my pace but the icy ground make it hard to hurry across with out slipping. The wind was screaming through the street and freezing the tips of my ears. Water sprang into my eyes and my heart felt heavy. I was cold and hungry and on this night, the night many celebrate as Christmas, I just wanted a warm place to lay my head.
I tried to work my charm on a few people I passed, I batted my eyes, gave them big sad eyes and shivered so heard I felt my teeth rattle. All I got was a few sad looks and a good swat from a man in a red suit reeking of alcohol.
I finally made it to the park, the snow was now so deep it came half way up my legs. My feet were frozen, they had hurt before but now I couldn't barely feel them. Even the continues rumbling in my stomach had quieted down. All I could feel were the icy tips of my ears as the wind bit at them.
I pushed through the snow intent on making my bed for the night on an empty bench in front of me. It took me awhile to move through the thick snow and whipping winds, by the time I reached my destination it was no longer empty. I sighed, sitting in the snow and quickly jumping to my feet. Now my read end was wet and cold.
I cried then. I couldn't help it. I was trying to be brave, tyring to be strong, but I was just so cold. I cried, little pitiful whines escaping my mouth. The person who had sat on my bench looked down at me with big, wet brown eyes. He was crying too.
He brushed his hand over the tears running down his cheeks. He peered at me from his perch on the bench, squinting through the falling snow and just looking at me. He sat there just looking for a few minuets and I turned by back to him. I did not need some stranger staring at me. I took a step forward and stumbled on my frozen feet. I shook it off and the snow collecting on my hair and took a few more steps.
I yelped as two hands grabbed me around the middle and lifted me into the air. I was spun around and was now face to face with the stranger. His eyes were still wet but he was now longer crying. He peered at me again and then laughed. I jumped, startled at the sudden out burst of noise. He said something to me I couldn't understand and I just shook in his hands.
"A Chihuahua who doesn't understand spanish?" he asked me. He smiled and it lit up his face. A warm and gentle smile. It was the kind of smile I remembered seeing as a very little pup, a memory so faded I wasn't sure anymore if it was real or just a dream. He tucked me in side his coat and I sighed at the comforting warmth of his body. "Sorry about the coat."
I looked at him, understanding his human words but not knowing what he meant. He smiled and rubbed my head with one gloved hand. "I heard that red heads should never wear red." He chuckled but I did not understand the joke. I just snuggled closer into him with a satisfying snuff.
We walked a long while in silence until he finally spoke. He had been crying again, his tears had fallen onto my head. "It's Christmas and it's always been the hardest holiday for me."
I looked into his eyes as he looked down into mine, I patiently waited for him to finish.
"My mother died on Christmas Eve when I was nine. Then last year..... last year my boyfriend died. It wasn't Christmas, it was the day after New Years. He had been...... sick. This year," he sighed and was quiet for a long while again. I had began to drift off listening to the steady beat of his heart when he finally spoke again.
"This year has been so hard. I was going to kill myself..... I'm pretty sure I was. I went to church, cried, prayed, begged God for some sign, some answer as to what to do. I was in that church all evening. When I finally left I went to the park. The park isn't even on my way home. But it's cold tonight, bitter cold. I thought that I'd just sit on one of the benches and just freeze to death. When I saw you, I thought you had been an illusion. You, little pup, you must be the answer I begged Him for, right?"
I wanted to answer him. Wished that I could. I did not know the him that he spoke of, be he sounded so unsure and I only wanted to make him feel better. I scooted a little closer to his face, still keeping most of me in the jacket and close to the warmth. I kissed him. Just a small little kiss on his chin.
He laughed and I felt more tears fall onto my fur. This puzzeld me, if he was laughing, why was he crying too?
"You were a gift from her," he said in a soft voice cuddling me close to his chin. "My Mama who loved dogs, had a dog all her life. Yes, my Mama sent you. Her name was Roxanne." He smiled that face glowing heart warming smile at me. "And I'll call you Roxy. Roxy the Red."
My heart swelled. A name. Not just 'Doggie' or 'Pup-pup' or 'Street rat dog'. I was Roxy.
"I'm Julian, Roxy. Julian Cruz. My Mama called me 'Mi hijo', but Jack, he was my boyfriend. He called be Bumlets."
I looked at him and blinked my eyes in puzzlement and in wonder. For all my life I had no name, none except what my mother called me which was 'luv'. This human boy nearly a man had three. I also did not understand the sly smile on his face when he mentioned the last of his names. He looked ahead of us, walking still but seeing things very far away and not there anymore.
When we finally stopped walking the streets we ended at a very tall building and a very small room. Small by human measurements, large for me. There was a bed and televison in the same room, a little bathroom and a little kitchen. Right away Bumlets put down a big bowl of water for me. I sniffed but did not drink. It was my stomach that needed something, not my throat. He smiled another glowing smile and took a package of red, raw meat from his refrigirator box.
"I hope you like burgers, Roxy," he said.
The smell of the cooking meat was intoxicating. I spang onto the soft mattress as Bumlets cooked food for the both of us. Finding a perfectly comfortable spot in the middle of the sea of blankets, I snuggled down, drifting off to sleep at the smell of the best Christmas dinner ever.
A Christmas tail (pun intended) with a twist!
Roxy the Red is inspired by one of my own dogs, my little red fawn Chihuahua named Roxanne Paige.
I do not own Bumlets, Disney does, I only borrwed him for a bit. I promise to return him..... soon.
Please review....
or flame.....