Variations on a Happy Ending - D

Author's Note: This is one of four short stories from a writing assignment called "Variations on a Happy Ending." I may eventually post the others once I finish writing the "rationale" portion - but I digress. The purpose of the writing was to create four dramatically different short stories that all had a similar ending theme. The theme was coming to terms with - and more importantly, being content with - who you are. The other three characters were a woman with a compulsive overeating disorder, a gay many in a polyamorous triad, and a sociopath. I thought this particular one, however, one forced me to work very much outside my normal writing style, length, and theme.

___Rhett never meant to harm his Alphess. He had no reason to; she was always good to him. She’d found him when he was just a small, lost puppy, wandering alone in the streets after his mother had been hit by a car. She could not replace his canine mother, but the Alphess nurtured him, keeping him warm, offering him food, and even allowing him to stay in her home. She was also the one who walked him, every day, in all weather, and that more than anything else was Rhett’s favorite thing to do. For all of these reasons, he loved her the way dogs love humans.
___Rhett’s father was a greyhound and his mother a husky; fast and strong were in his blood. As a puppy he would smell the air, feel the wind in his short black fur, and want nothing more than to run at his top speed down the sidewalk, enjoying the thunder of the pavement beneath his paws. But the Alphess was not young, fast, or strong; she was old, slow, and weak. She could not run with him, and grew angry with his tugging and lunging. She taught him not to run, but never was able to take the urge away.
___Two years later, Rhett was a larger, stronger dog, and his Alphess only slower and weaker. She barely had the energy to chase the squirrels away from the bird feeder, a task Rhett took up by barking through the open window so that they scattered in all directions. One morning, while returning home from a walk, Rhett saw two squirrels fighting atop the bird feeder, chattering with their great plumes of tails flicking and jerking angrily. They were distracted, and he could catch them; he wanted to catch them for his Alphess and knew she would be very proud.
___But he was only a dog, his thoughts likely limited to impulse. When he lunged forward suddenly in pursuit of his quarry, the Alphess pitched forwards, hitting the ground with a funny little shriek like a wounded animal. She couldn’t get back up. He doubled back, whining and licking at the air in submissive concern, and she struck him hard in the face with her little frail hands. She called him a Bad Dog.
___Rhett spent the next two weeks at a dog shelter. The first few days, he waited for his Alphess, but she did not come back for the Bad Dog. The next few days, he wallowed in sorrow, pining for his master. After that, he looked to each person that came through the doors with guarded optimism, tail wagging slung between his legs and head lowered. They never stopped to look at him; he was too old, too big, or too plain. At the end of two weeks, they’d moved him to a cage in the back, beyond where people never even bothered to look, alongside snarling ferals and sickly old animals. There was a door in the back of this room, and whenever it opened, he smelled harsh chemical odors, emptied bladders, and the pervasive odor of death. It frightened him.
___One afternoon, a Man and his Boy stopped in to the shelter. The Boy had something wrong with his legs; they were stick-thin and pale, and his father pushed him along in a strange chair with wheels. The shelter staff showed the Boy little lap dogs, and old dogs who didn’t have the energy to run and play, but the Boy pointed to Rhett enthusiastically. His father pushed the wheelchair closer, and Rhett sniffed and licked his outstretched hands.
___“You don’t want him; he’s a Bad Dog. Broke his last owner’s hip pulling,” warned one staffer.
___“Horrible leash manners, and he’s so fast when he gets running.” confirmed another.
___“He’s perfect!” the Boy proclaimed, smiling widely.
___Rhett did not understand their words, but his tail wagged at the sound of the Boy’s voice.
___Initially, Rhett had been afraid he’d hurt the Boy like he'd hurt the Alphess. He walked slowly, refused to play tug of war, and was very careful not to jump up no matter how excited he was when the Boy came home from school. The Boy seemed disappointed, and Rhett was confused. Then, one crisp winter day, when the snow was freshly fallen in a shimmering white blanket over the hills, the Boy’s father carried his son outside, whistling for Rhett to follow. The dog watched as the Man lowered the Boy’s body into a small wooden sled, head tilted and tail wagging. The Man tied a rope hanging from the front of the sled to the back of Rhett’s collar, then threw a tennis ball. Rhett watched the ball longingly as it sailed through the air, tumbling down the snowy hill, but he didn’t want to run with his leash on.
___“Go get it,” the man sternly ordered. Rhett whined and slowly approached the ball. As the sled moved behind him, the Boy giggled excitedly.
___“Faster, Rhett!” he yelled. The dog picked up the ball, doubling back on his rope and dropping it in the Boy’s gloved hands. This time, the ball was thrown even further, and the Boy yelled “Go get it!” with an urgency that made Rhett trot after it this time. The child’s laughter grew more excited, and the happier he was, the happier Rhett was.
___“Run, Rhett!” cried the Boy, a smile lighting up his entire face and voice rolling with laughter. Rhett understood, finally. He smelled the cold winter air, felt the wind in his short black fur, and for once, he ran, enjoying the thunder of his paws through the crisp new snow. He ran for the Boy, for he had legs for both of them. He was a large, strong dog, made for running, and in his own canine way, he finally accepted that. And Rhett was content, because the Boy was happy. When their games came to an end come lunch time, the Boy hugged his dog close and said,
___“You’re a Good Dog.”