PART THE SECOND

            One day we were all sitting around, talking about me, of course, and everybody saying he’s so cute, and so good, and so smart, and that kind of thing.  Then the mean one called Bill says, “We’re putting an ad in the paper, see, ‘free yellow dog to good home,’ something like that.”

            “But, Bill!” they all cried.

            “I’m sorry, we can’t have a dog in the office.”

            They all petted me on the head again and said, “OK, OK, we’ll find a home for him, we promise.  Right, fella?”

            I looked up at them with my beautiful big brown eyes.

            “Hmmm…” said the one called Bill, “well, just don’t name him,” and he stormed out the door.

            They named me Felipe.  Well, it’s a wonderful name, of course.  The perfect name, really, for me.  The name of kings and princes down through history.  And, of course, well, the last Aztec prince, of course, no one knows, really , what happened to him and, well …, but, as I say, it was a perfect name.  And soon it was Felipe this, and Felipe that.

            “Good boy, Felipe.”

            “Run, Felipe!”

            “Felipe, look out!”

            “Felipe, you rat!”

            And “I love you, Felipe!”

            And sometimes, “Felipe!  I’m going to string you up by the you-know-whats!”  This was the one called Bill, of course.

            “Would you string me up by the you-know-whats, Bill?”

            “I might.”

            Pretty soon, the big long stairs weren’t scary at all, and I could run up and down the steps about a hundred times a minute.

            “Look at ‘im go!” they would all say, and I ran faster and faster, and I went everywhere.  And I liked to look at everything.  I looked in all the boxes and out all the windows and under the chairs and up on the roof and behind the curtains and everywhere.

            Down at the bottom of the stairs there was a big, iron door with lots of holes and I could look out and see the people going by and the holes were just the size I could stick my adorable, little head out and see everything in the street.  And I would smile at the people going by and I liked to see the little kids on their way to school and they would run and play and the mamas going to the store and it made me feel so good to see them all.  And lots of times I would run down to the bottom of the stairs and look out the little holes and see all the nice people going by and sometimes I would call out to them and say hi and good morning everybody.  And everybody was so nice.

            And sometimes at night when I was all alone I liked to go downstairs and look out into the night and see all the lights and the cars and I liked it a lot.

            One night, I was looking out and a man was going by and I called out a big hello and he looked down at me and then I saw his foot swing way back behind him and then started to come right at me and suddenly… everything went dark and the sky started spinning around and I screamed and pulled my head inside and felt the most horrible feeling I had ever felt.  I staggered across the floor and fell down hard on my side and then everything went black.

            I knew I was a goner.  I was going to die.  Giant tears fill my eyes and then the tears became red and I was all wet and crying and I couldn’t see and my head was spinning and I couldn’t do a thing but lie on the cold, hard floor.  I knew it was my last night on this earth.

            I thought of all the days, playing and running in the sun, never thinking of tomorrow, spending whole days doing whatever I wanted.  How they seemed so long, so many hours running through the rooms and up the stairs.  They seemed so few now, really, hardly a month, and yet my life was ending.  I was looking into the abyss.  Everything went black.

            I was on the way to meet my maker.

*  *  *

            Then I was being lifted up to Heaven by a beautiful Angel.  I could hardly open my eyes.  It was all bright.  And then I saw that the Angel looked a lot like the one called Mary.

            And then the Angel was saying, “Here he is!  Here he is!”

          Then other voices were saying, “Felipe!  Felipe!  What happened, fella?”

            “Where did you find him?”

            “He was under there!  Oh look at him, he’s all bloody!”

            “Bring him upstairs, we’ll clean him up.”

            And I was being carried upstairs, and they put me in a little, soft bed and they brought a warm cloth and started gently rubbing my face and head, and pretty soon they brought some stuff which stung real bad, but only for a little bit and then it wasn’t so bad.  And they were all coming in and out and talking to me and petting me on the head, and the angel who looked like Mary kept kissing me on the head and on my nose and she was even crying a little, whispering over and over, “Oh, Felipe.  Oh, Felipe.”

            And my head hurt really bad, and I could hardly see out my little eyes, and I couldn’t move.  And then I slowly started to realize something; I was not in Heaven.  I said to myself I didn’t die.  I was in my home.  And all my friends were here.  I was going to live.  And I was going to be alright.

            It changed my life, that day.  I determined, that day, to live my life to its fullest.  To live each day, to enjoy each moment.  To never let another day go by without enjoying the sun coming in the window.  And I knew then, we don’t have tomorrow.  We have today.  This day, this glorious day in the sun.

            All you little puppies, gathered around and hearing my story, you might think you’re immortal.  You may think you’ll live forever.  But let me tell you, I have seen over the other side into the dark.  I know.  And I tell you, little ones, and you listen to me.  Live, live each day, little fellas, and I’m telling you, each day for the singular joy of being alive.

*  *  *

THE END

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PART THE SECOND

   ...PART THE THIRD