henry

we were in a desperate situation. the floods had come and wiped out everything including our home. all we could salvage was the jeep, the dogs and a few clothes. henry, our giant pit, had adopted an abandoned litter of puppies and we couldn't get him to leave them. up to that point we had been bottle feeding the pups but of course no longer had the means to do so. there was a breeder up the mountain who said she had a lactating bitch and she would keep henry and his pups until the pups were weaned and then we could come back for them all. it seemed like the perfect solution- until we had dropped them off and were driving away. 'what have we done?' we asked ourselves again and again, but it was too late to turn back because the road was almost disappearing behind us under mud and water as we crawled forward. i kept turning around to check on mabel and her worried expression was heartbreaking. she couldn't understand why we had left henry behind. a day and a night passed before we finally found high ground. we emptied the jeep, waited for the waters to recede and headed straight back to pick up henry and his pups (we had agreed we would just figure it all out). when we got to the breeder, she was surprised to see us and said she had no idea where henry and his pups were. i grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and slammed her against the wall. 'tell me where my fucking dog is or i swear to god i'll kill you'. she said she had given henry and his pups to a dog fighting operation and pointed into the woods. i threw her to the ground and followed the path.

by the time i found henry, he was unrecognizable. he was bone thin and covered in mud. he could barely stand and was chained to a post with a heavy logging chain. i found a tool to snap the links apart and scooped him up like a baby. several men came out and threatened me. i looked them dead in the eye and told them, 'this dog is mine'. i knew the pups had died. i cried silently and told henry how sorry i was for leaving him. he wagged weakly and gave me small, forgiving dog kisses. i got him back to the jeep and took him to our new home.