Rob Buyea - What Comes Next

Sparky was our first family dog, but really he was Mom and Dads dog. They had him well before me, so by the time I was ready to run, good ol Spark was already beginning to slow down. And by the time my sisters joined usLivvy first and then Abbyhe had slowed down considerably.

Sparky was a faithful companion, as loyal a dog as youll ever find, so he hung on for quite a while. I remember how he would struggle up our stairs every night so that he could sleep by Dads bedsideand when I say struggle, I mean struggle. It got to the point where Spark started dribbling pee and dropping turds when he made the climbit was that bad. That was when Dad started carrying him up the two flights.

It wasnt long after that when we had to say goodbye. I was eight and my sisters were four and three when his time finally came to an end. That was a hard daybut not my worst. Mom and Dad were especially sad, but they smiled through their tears as we stood by Sparkys fresh gravesite and took turns recalling favorite memories of our beloved dog.

Ill never forget the day Spark grabbed Theas dirty diaper, Dad mused. Boy, was it a messy one. And ripe. I mustve used thirty wipes trying to clean your butt, he said to me. Sparky snatched that thing when I wasnt looking. Your mother and I tried, but we couldnt stop him. He streaked past us and raced down the hall.

And jumped right in the middle of our bed, Mom finished.

My sisters and I giggled. It didnt matter that wed heard that one a hundred times before. The poopy-diaper-makes-poopy-bed story was a classic in our house.

Or how about the time he got into the closet and scarfed down all the Halloween candy I had hidden, Mom continued.

Dad groaned. Hes lucky it didnt kill him. You can still see the stain on our living room carpet from the chocolate mud puddle that dummyhead threw up. It just poured out of him.

Yucky, Abby said.

Mom and Dad shook their heads and laughed. My sisters didnt know any better, so those funny stories had them asking for another puppy before wed even finished putting Sparky to rest. Silently, I was hoping for the same thing, so I didnt shush them.

It took a whilealmost four years to be exact, and a lot had happened and changed by thenbut eventually we got our wish. Only problem was, I didnt care anymore. After something terrible happens, you stop caring about dogs and everything else.