Black Puddles of Mud, Blood, and Tears
The death of my real mother was not a painful experience at all, I was too young to ever remember her. It was the death of my second mother, which was one of the most painful experiences in my life. She had provided me with everything. How could I not let my heart become entwined with hers and return my gratefulness by loving her? One day Heatherly, my care giver, told me to go out and play with the dog. We never fed the dog because we had a hard enough time feeding ourselves, but she stuck around, and so I obeyed thusly. The little female bitch was so loyal and affectionate, she was that second mother to me. Heatherly told me she was a black lab mutt, not a hint of pure breed in her mottled black fur. If I fell down and skinned my leg, she would be right there to lick my wounds clean. In the cold winter nights, she would be right by my side sharing her warmth. I was rejected by all since the day of my birth. Heatherly took me in out of respect to a fellow recluse, my mother, and the only real acceptance that found me was the dog. I suppose she thought of me as one of her pups, that’s why she never left us. She was now my best and only companion. I had tried making friends when I went on trips through the market, but the people never treated me right. I asked Heatherly why this was, and she simply said that’s the way the world worked. How could I understand that, when I saw them being friendly to one another?
I was playing the dog’s favorite game, fetch, when a group of boys came along. I had seen them advancing in the distance, but I had considered that they were headed to the school down the road. I was around their age, maybe a little younger, and little did I realize they were planning on including me in one of their games. The leader of the small band was probably around the age of 13, his reputation was not the best in the village. I was not paying the boys any attention, thinking they were just passing by, I had turned my back to them. I felt a hand grab my shoulder and jerk me backwards, I turned under the grip to face whoever it was. There were 5 of them, each one grinning mischievously at me. I was surprised and just stared back. The one that had grabbed my shoulder spat at my feet and said,” So, is that your dog?”