Posting another chapter just to feel something 😎
It took me a few of those periods, of Viktor being home and then Viktor leaving in short bursts, to realize that he left about 10 times before he took a long break and was home, then left about 10 times again, and so on. Then, one time, he came home more excited than he had been before.
Of course, he was always excited to see me, and I, him. But this time, there was something else, I could feel the pride coming off him, him and Mom and Dad. It wasn't until later, when we were in his room, did I find out what for.
We were both sitting on the floor. I had my head in Viktor's lap, half-asleep, enjoying him being home again. Enjoying his warmth and his love.
Then he showed me a round, flat-ish thing that was a shiny brown color. I blinked and shook off my sleepiness to examine it. The thing was cold and attached to a ribbon. Viktor put the ribbon around his neck and displayed it proudly to me.
"I won bronze, Makka," he said grinning. "I'm going to aim for gold next—soar right over silver."
I sniffed it curiously, not sure why he'd be proud of a metal disk. And it was too small for him to throw, so we couldn't play catch like those bigger, plastic disks we often played with. When I went to give it an experimental lick, Viktor laughed and pushed me away.
"No, Makka! That's not a toy," he said taking my face into his hands and ruffling my ears. His voice took on a playful tone, "Silly dog, that's not a toy."
I licked his face instead, just happy that he was home and that he was happy with that strange metal disk. Even if it wasn't a dog toy.
Viktor came home with more and more of those metal disks. Sometimes they were that shiny brown color, which I learned were called bronze metals, sometimes a shiny silver color like his hair, and which I learned were called silver metals.
Then, one day he came home and I could feel his pride and excitement before the door had even opened. I greeted him as soon as he came into my line of sight, though I had learned to control my strength and not knock him over every time.
As soon as we were done greeting each other, Viktor pulled out a shiny yellow metal disk, or as I would later learn, a gold metal.
He spoke with barely contained excitement, "I finally won gold, Makka! I won gold!" I wagged at my name and barked, feeding off his excitement. Viktor laughed and ruffled my ears. "Yeah, that's right! I'm a gold metalist now!"
The color of his metals each time he left rotated in a strange, random pattern. Sometimes he'd have bronze, sometimes silver, sometimes gold. Eventually, I figured out a way I could tell what metal he was going to come home with: When Valentina and I watched Viktor on the television, I could tell when Viktor was doing something people liked because there would be cheers coming from the television and Valentina's energy would go from anxious to excited, proud, and happy. She'd point at the television and look at me saying stuff like, "Look Makka, Viktor scored high!" So, I knew when he did well at his skating, and I finally put together that when he did well, he often came home with silver or gold.
On extremely rare occasions he wouldn't come home with a metal at all. Although he was happy to see me, like always, his happiness was dampened by a hurt in his chest. Not a physical pain, but an emotional one—sadness and disappointment swirled inside him, and when he hugged me, it was more for needing comfort than out of excitement like when he did win a metal. He would bury his face in my neck and at night, when everyone had gone to bed, he would cry. I was always there for him, especially when he didn't come home with a metal. I could tell how much it upset my boy, and I did what I could to help him feel better.
Thankfully, that didn't happen a whole lot, and eventually he always came home with a metal. Though, as that went on the bronze and silver metals made him feel disappointed, just not as strongly as when he'd come home without a metal at all. I didn't understand it, but I was always there for him regardless.
Throughout all this, my boy continued to grow out his hair, as well. It often tickled my nose when he petted me, but I liked it. It was soft and smelled nice. He often pulled it back and held it there with a small, round, stretchy thing. And I didn't understand why he had so much hair if he was just going to pull it back like that.
One night, when Valentina and I were watching Viktor on the television again, she was bursting with excitement. A voice said something through the speakers, and everyone went crazy. The voice was high and strained with excitement; Viktor had jumped up from where he was sitting, arms raised, grinning, tears brimming his eyes, and Valentina jumped up from her seat, throwing one of her fists into the air. I jumped up, too, wagging, reacting to her excitement.
"Viktor broke a world record, Makka!" she exclaimed looking down at me. "How amazing is that?" Then, to my surprise, she howled, so I howled with her, getting caught up in her excitement. She laughed when I did this, howling again. I howled again, too, as I continued to wag and jump around like she was doing. Even if I was unsure what exactly we were celebrating.
Not long after, my boy came home with a gold metal that was somehow more special than his previous ones. I couldn't tell how because it seemed pretty much like every other gold metal he'd won. But Mom and Dad, and even Valentina, were very excited and proud of him. Viktor, himself, was also extremely proud. My boy was practically glowing with happiness. So even though I couldn't figure out why this gold metal was more important, I was happy that he was so happy.
During one of the warm periods, when Viktor was finally home and would stay home for a while, some strangers visited the house. It was actually really soon after Viktor had come home from his seventh time during that period to do skating competition, the one when Valentina had gotten extremely excited. I wondered if that meant more strangers would visit my boy when people got excited like that as they settled into the chairs and sofa in the large, open room of the house that the humans called a "living room."
I wandered over, wondering what was going on. One of the new people had a pen and stack of papers in his hand. The other new person had a strange black contraption, with a shiny circular surface at the front of it. Curious, I went over to them to sniff at the things in their hands but then Viktor called me over to him. He was sitting on the sofa, opposite the new people.
"Makka-girl, come over here," he said, patting the spot next to him. I wagged at my name and quickly went over to him, leaping up onto the sofa. "Good girl," my boy praised, patting my head and rubbing my back. I wagged. Yes, I was a good dog. "Just don't tell Mom and Dad, okay?" He pulled back winked at me. I boofed because I'd learned when he asked a question and I responded with a bark or a woof, he really liked that.
Viktor turned his attention back to the two new people while I rested my head in his lap. One of his hands rested on my back, rubbing gentle, soothing circles. It put me right to sleep.
But then I was rudely awaked from my well-deserved nap. Viktor was standing up and so were the two new people. I stayed where I was, ready to fall asleep again but Viktor called my name and patted his leg. I didn't move, just wanting to go back to sleep. My boy laughed when he realized I wasn't going to get up and he came back over to me. He leaned in close, petting my head.
"How about this, if you get up, I'll give you a treat," he said. I lifted my head at the word "treat." A treat? Those were given to me only on special occasions these days.
Viktor laughed. "That's right! A treat, Makka-girl."
I wagged at both my name and the fact that Viktor had said treat again. My boy stood and called me over to him, this time I went, still wagging. Treat? When was I going to get that treat?
Instead of getting a treat, however, we went outside. Viktor threw on a white jacket and a black scarf before exiting with the two new people.
Were the treats outside, then?
I followed the three humans to the side of the house. The human with the shiny black thing was talking to Viktor about something. I tried to wait as patiently as I could; didn't that person know that Viktor was supposed to be giving me a treat?
"Why don't you sit with Makkachin right over there," the person instructed, pointing to a spot on the grass. "And I can get a few shots for the article."
Viktor nodded before looking at me and calling me over to him. I went obediently, hoping this might get me more treats. When I was first learning these commands, I always got extra for being an extra good dog.
My boy sat down and then told me to sit next to him. He put his arms around me and then looked toward the person with the black shiny thing.
"How's this?" Viktor asked.
The person with the shiny black thing smiled and gave a thumbs-up before lifting the black thing up to their face. Suddenly, the thing flashed a few times. What a strange contraption. I didn't understand it.
"Oh, I just had a cute idea, why don't you put some of your scarf around Makkachin?" the person said.
"Okay." Viktor shifted, throwing his scarf around me, which caused a strong wave of my boy's scent to hit my nose. I couldn't help it, I turned and licked his face. I loved my boy so much.
Viktor laughed and ruffled the hair at the top of my head. "Silly dog. I love you, too, Makka." I licked his cheek again. Viktor put his arms around me again and turned to face the person with the shiny black contraption. The light on it flashed a few times more.
"Okay, one more batch, just for good measure." The person paused. "Do you think you could get her to put her paw on your leg?"
"Sure." Viktor looked at me and said, "Makka, Paw." I obediently gave him my paw, which he set down on his leg. "Stay." When he was sure I was going to leave my paw where he'd put it, he hugged me again and looked back at the person with the shiny black thing. More flashing lights.
"Great! Thank you so much!"
Everyone stood and Viktor had a short conversation with the other two people. Finally we went back inside. Treats now?
I followed Viktor into the kitchen and began panting with excitement—this was where the treats were!
I tried to wait as patiently as I could, my tail wagging behind me as I sat like a good dog.
When Viktor turned back to me and set the treats down, I was delighted to count five whole treats! For a split second, I was caught between eating the treats and licking my boy's face out of gratitude. I decided to eat the treats first. Viktor sat down and petted me as I did so.
"You were such a good girl today, Makka," he said. I wagged. Yes! I was a good dog!
When I was finished, then I licked Viktor's face to thank him.
Humans could be so confusing sometimes. They would get so excited over nothing. At least, to me it was nothing. One night, when Viktor was away to do skating competition, Valentina's phone—a small, square-like thing with lots of buttons—made a bell-like noise. She checked it, her energy mellow. She'd been reading a book. For some reason Viktor was not on the television tonight. That happened a lot when he was away. Sometimes he would be on the television and sometimes he wouldn't. I always hated the times when he wasn't.
Valentina set down her book and looked at her phone for a minute. Suddenly her energy changed, and she jumped up from where she was sitting, causing me to jump and stand at attention. Was something wrong? I couldn't sense any danger. I listened for foreign footsteps in the house and sniffed the air for something that didn't belong but didn't come up with anything. What was Valentina so excited about?
"Makka!" she exclaimed. I waited, wondering if there was a threat I was missing. She showed me her phone, grinning and practically vibrating with exhilaration. "Viktor qualified for the winter Olympics! Can you believe that?" I barked at Viktor's name, the only thing I understood in her sentence. She laughed. "Yeah, that's right! He's going to be an Olympian!" Then she laughed again before howling. I couldn't help but howl with her, getting caught up in her excitement, even though I still didn't quite know why she was feeling like this.
When Viktor returned, he had the same energy and excitement Valentina had felt that one night. He even said similar words, something about Olympics but I still had no idea what that meant.
I could feel the nervousness starting to bloom in my boy, though. It was a swirling mix of anticipation and anxiety that made me worry about him. He'd felt like this before, but it hadn't been as strong. This was stronger than I remembered him feeling and I wondered what was different about this Olympics thing.
Viktor went away to do two more skating competitions, like usual. What was unusual was the fact that he left an extra time, and much, much earlier than I was used to.
I could tell he was going because he got that same sadness he'd had when he first began going away to do skating competitions. This made me extremely sad, too, but I knew there was nothing I could do about it. Viktor was going to go either way. But I was confident, after so many time of him going away and coming home, that he would be coming home after he did whatever it was he was going to do.
One night he hugged me tightly, that sadness filling him up momentarily, dousing out his other feelings.
"I'm going to be gone for a little longer this time, Makka," he said. I whined, my tail half-heartedly wagging at my name. Viktor's arms hugged me tighter. "I know, I'm sorry. But I'll be back, I promise." That anticipation and anxiety began to swirl inside him again, followed by a strong sense of determination. "And I'm going to bring home the gold."
The day he left, I almost tried to follow him. But he told me to stay, so I was a good dog and stayed, watching as he got into the car with Mom and Dad, and then then drive off.
Valentina looked down at me with a smile, but it didn't meet her eyes. "Come on, Makka. Why don't we go for a walk?" Usually at the word walk, I was bouncing up and down, barking with excitement. I loved walks! But with Viktor gone, and at a time I wasn't used to, my heart wasn't in it.
Regardless, we went for a walk. I sniffed along the trail, trying to find a good place to relieve myself with so much snow blanketing nearly every surface, dampening and washing away smells. Once I had done that, we headed back home. I immediately went into Viktor's room and lay on his bed, my head on his pillow. My dreams were once again filled with my boy.
"Makka-girl," Valentina said, pulling me from my sleep. She was sitting on the edge of Viktor's bed, petting my back. Her energy was buzzing with excitement, but her body language didn't communicate this. Her voice was gentle as she said, "Why don't you come watch the opening ceremony with me?" She smiled and stood, heading out of Viktor's room. I watched her go, uninterested. She hadn't said "come" in the way I knew it was a command, so I didn't get up.
Valentina stopped in the doorway. "Come on, Makka," she said again, gesturing for me to follow her. "Come on." She patted her leg.
Since she seemed so insistent, I pushed myself to my feet and slowly trailed after her into the living room. She sat down on the sofa, and I plopped down at her feet, letting out a sigh.
She turned the television on, her anticipation slowly growing. Occasionally, she'd glance down at me, and indecisiveness would shoot through her. Eventually, she leaned forward and petted my head.
"Makka?" she asked. I looked up at my name. She smiled and patted the sofa cushion next to her. I tilted my head wondering if she meant what I thought she meant. Viktor was the only one who ever let me up on the sofa. Valentina nodded and patted the cushion again.
I boofed and hopped up, resting my head in her lap. She laughed and began petting me. She obviously wasn't my boy, and she smelled really different than my boy, but I enjoyed her warmth and her pets. I fell asleep again, dreaming of my boy.
Valentina woke me up yet again and I could tell some time had passed because the windows were dark and she had turned on a lamp next to the sofa.
"Look, Makka," she said in a hushed, yet excited tone, pointing to the screen. After so many times saying that, I finally understood that command, and turned to look at the television screen. And there was my boy, Viktor!
I barked and wagged my tail but remained on the sofa. Valentina laughed and petted my head. "That's right, Makka."
So, he was away doing skating? But why during this time? I was used to Viktor being home. Why was this skating competition any different? And why hadn't it occurred before now?
I didn't expect my confusion to go away, but at least I knew where Viktor was. Now that I knew he was just doing a different skating competition, I was less worried he wouldn't come home.
I had become accustomed to the amount of time Viktor was away. So, when that amount of time had passed, I waited by the door. But as soon as Valentina saw me, her sadness hit me, and I knew that Viktor wouldn't be coming home just yet. My only solace was the fact that Valentina kept letting me up on the sofa to sit with her and I got to see my boy on the television. Though, with this new skating competition, I was never sure exactly when he was going to be on the television. Valentina seemed to know somehow.
One night, when Viktor hadn't been on the television, I was laying on Viktor's bed again when Valentina came in. I felt her excitement and giddiness before I saw her and sat up when she got to the door.
"Makka," she said with a big grin. "Someone wants to talk to you." She held out her phone to me.
"Makka-girl, it's me!" a voice came through the tiny contraption, and it was Viktor's! My tail started to wag. Was he here somehow? I didn't quite understand how I could hear his voice but not see him.
"She's wagging her tail," Valentina said loudly.
I heard Viktor laugh. "I wanted to say hi, Makka." Finally, I couldn't hold in my excitement and barked. My boy laughed again. "That's right, Makka-girl. I wanted to say hi and check in on you." I jumped from his bed, head-butting the phone and barking. It was my boy! I was so happy to hear from him!
Valentina smiled widely, joy flowing off her. "Okay, Makka, okay. Sit," she instructed. Panting, I tried to hold my butt still and sat, but my tail continued to wag so it was hard to keep my butt on the ground. Valentina held the phone up close to me.
"I love you, Makka-girl. I'll be home in no time," Viktor said. I barked at my name and the word "love." I learned that one really quick. Viktor said it a lot and the rush of his love hit me every time he said it. I couldn't feel it this time, but perhaps it was due to the phone somehow.
Valentina pulled the phone away then and put it to her face, then, and continued talking into it. She gave me a pat before leaving Viktor's room. I followed her, too excited now to lay down.
I wasn't quite sure how long Viktor had been gone at this point. But it sure felt like a really long time. Certainly, far longer than when he left for his other skating competitions. I missed him every single day but was comforted when I got to see him do skating on the television or hear his voice on the phone.
Then one time, when we were watching Viktor, Valentina grew anxious. I became instantly worried about my boy. I could see him on the television screen, and he looked unharmed, so I was unsure why she was so anxious. I wanted to go check the rest of the house, just in case there was some kind of danger, but I didn't want to miss Viktor. I did listen for any sounds of a stranger, or smells of something that didn't belong and got nothing, just like that one time a while ago. Except this time, she was extremely anxious, rather than excited. It worried me, especially since I couldn't find the threat.
Valentina's anxiety came in weird waves and when Viktor entered that big expanse of white to do skating, it spiked so high I began pacing out of my own anxiety. I couldn't detect the threat and there wasn't much else I could do to reduce any of her anxiety.
It lessened when Viktor got off the white expanse. Unlike the other times when those squiggly lines appeared on the screen, under where Viktor was sitting, Valentina didn't seem excited. She remained anxious, but it wasn't as bad anymore, so I sat down in the middle of the living room. Her anxiety remained pretty steady as a bunch of different people also did skating, but it spiked again at some arbitrary point. Someone I didn't know was being shown on screen. Then the squiggly lines appeared, and Valentina yelled, jumping up from where she was sitting. The announcer on the television's voice sounded strained with excitement, too. I stood, stiff and ready to attack if necessary.
Then I realized that Valentina's anxiety had melted away, replaced with such joy and happiness I was shocked. I looked at her, confused, and saw tears in her eyes! She had sat back down as she cried, one of her hands at her mouth. I went up to her, putting my paws up on her knees and licking at her face. She laughed and petted me, sniffling.
"I'm okay, Makka-girl, I'm okay." Her voice was surprisingly calm. Finally, she took her eyes off the television and looked at me. She took my face in her hands and pressed her forehead to mine. "Your boy did it," she said, her voice soft. She pulled away, ruffling my ears and looking at me, more tears were in her eyes. "Viktor won the gold medal for Russia."
We continued to watch the television and I saw more of Viktor than I had in what felt like a long time. They had laid something out on the large white expanse along with platforms that rose above the people standing beside them. I realized, as I continued to watch, that these platforms were unequal in height. It was very strange.
When they called my boy's name, Valentina cheered, and I barked. He stood on the very tallest platform. There were also tears in his eyes and I was worried at first, but perhaps if Valentina's tears had been happy, so were Viktor's. His facial expression, at least, didn't look sad. It was a mix of joy and shock and disbelief.
Whatever they were doing was kind of long, but I didn't mind because I got to see a lot of Viktor. Valentina continued to cry. Thankfully, her emotions had mellowed out. I could still feel them swirling inside her—so many emotions, all of them positive. She seemed just as shocked as my boy looked.
A little while after, I was able to talk to Viktor using the phone. Valentina and I howled together, which made Viktor laugh a lot. My boy was gone for a little longer after that. I got to watch him skate one more time before he finally came home. I had never been so happy to see my boy ever.
Valentina and I waited outside the house this time. She told me to Sit and Stay, but I had trouble with both of those. I was doing a full-body wag and couldn't keep my butt on the ground. I was so excited I was going to get to see Viktor again. This time, I knew he'd won a gold metal and this gold metal seemed much more important than any other gold metal he'd won before. Still wasn't sure why.
I could feel the excited, proud, elated energy coming from the car before I could see it. When it turned down our street, I shot to my feet, barking.
"Stay, Makka, stay," Valentina reminded me. I barked again but stayed where I was, though I could barely stand still, I was so excited. I just wanted to see my boy!
As soon as the car stopped, the door to the backseat opened up and I was racing toward it.
"Makkachin!" Valentina called in a startled tone. I ignored her and bounded right into the back seat where Viktor was. He let out a surprised laugh as I licked his face. My tail was smacking the seats as I wagged. Then my boy pulled me into a tight hug. I sat down, my tail still wagging, and let out a content sigh, closing my eyes, resting my head on his shoulder. I could've sat there like that forever, but Mom and Dad made us leave.
Later, in his room, he was sitting on the floor, taking his clothes out of the big bag he took with him when he went to do skating. His energy changed, then, from a steady happiness to awe and wonder. I lifted my head from his lap and looked up at him. He was holding the gold metal, looking at it with wide eyes. His heart began pounding and I was suddenly worried something was wrong. Then he smiled at me, and I felt a rush of pride from him before he lowered it for me to sniff.
I had learned by now that Viktor didn't often like when I tried to lick or bite his metals. This one sure liked like a doughnut, though, and I was tempted to at least nibble. But I could tell this metal was somehow extremely special to my boy, so I restrained myself. Instead, I lifted myself up and licked his cheek.
Viktor laughed, hugging me to him with his free arm, petting my side. "Thanks, Makka." He continued to gaze at the metal in his other hand. I wagged at my name, and the warmth and love coming from my boy.
We're just going to ignore the fact that dogs can't see color like humans do lol. They do in this universe.
as always, i hope you enjoyed! comments are appreciated!
thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight