My Life, in Ruins

My Life, in Ruins -Chapter fifteen-

--CHAPTER--

For the next few hours I went back and forth between my mom’s house and my apartment (god I loved saying that!) until I had all of my boxes and on the final trip I brought Buddy with me. Now came the hard part, the unpacking. I was glad I didn’t run into mom on any of the trips, I don’t think I would have been able to deal with seeing her. While I busied myself with getting my stuff organized; Buddy acquainted himself with the house and then sat on the couch and watched me work. I was bitter that he couldn’t help me, but when I finally had the last box unpacked I felt oddly accomplished. I realized after I put out his dishes for dinner that I had left the last of the dog food at my mom’s house so we would have to go into town to get some.
“Wanna go to the pet store?” I asked him. He started wagging his whole body in excitement. I’m sure he didn’t even know what I asked, just hearing the word ‘go’ got him going.

We arrived at the pet store twenty minutes later and I was surprised to see that they had expanded since the last time I’d been here. Their sign up-front said, ‘Adopt your next best friend.’ Buddy and I went inside and immediately his nose hit the ground. I grabbed a cart and then went into the dog food isle until I found his brand. It was a fifty pound bag but I managed to get it hoisted up and into the cart with no problem. As I passed different toys, bones, and treats I threw them into the cart too. Might as well splurge before my mom cancels my card…when I went up to the register I saw the adoption sign again. As the lady checked out my stuff, I got curious.
“What are those adoption signs for?”
“Oh, we’ve joined forces with a local dog rescue and added a building to our store. We now do rescue and adoption.” She smiled.
“Oh wow, so you have dogs here now?” She nodded and then gave me my total.
I paid her and then went to find the door that led into the adoption area. There was a sign that said, ‘No pets allowed’ so I made Buddy sit by the cart, tying his leash to it, and then threw him one of the bones I had just bought him before going into the adoption area.

The sound of the dogs barking was deathly loud. That was the first thing I noticed, and then next was the smell; cleaning detergents, and dog. The person in-charge of the area greeted me.
“Hello, welcome. How may I help you?”
“I’m just looking.” I told her.
And that’s what I did. I went from cage to cage looking at all the dogs until I got to the last cage. There was the cutest pitbull in there; she was white with a black nose and some red-brindle coloring on her back and on her entire right ear. Her eyes were big and brown. Behind her was another pitbull puppy, but this one was a lot younger. She was white and spotted all over like a Dalmatian and both of her ears were black. I looked over at the lady; these two had been the first pitbulls I’d seen here.
“What’s up with these two?”
“They came in together two months ago; the bigger one is six and a half months old and the smaller one is four; they have the same mother dog and I guess the owner kept those two or something but then they had to leave, went bankrupt, and they left them behind. Luckily the neighbor noticed right away; they’ve been here ever since. People are afraid to adopt them because of their breed; even if the smaller one is mixed with Dalmatian.”
I smiled at them and stuck my fingers through the holes. “Do they like other dogs?”
The lady walked over. “I’m sure they do, they’re very friendly.”
I continued staring at them as they wagged their tails and whined at me. “If I were interested, I would need to take both of them?”
“We only ask because they’re so close. One can’t go somewhere without the other.”
I nodded, “And if I wanted to take them, would they be able to meet my dog?”
She thought about this. “Is it here?”
I nodded, “He’s right outside the door. He’s very friendly, but I don’t want to bring other dogs into a situation that they can’t handle.”
“Alright, we have a play room in the back for new families to interact with their puppy. I’ll bring them back there and you go get him but bring him around the back way so you don’t have to walk him through here.”
I nodded and headed out to get Buddy. I brought our groceries to the car first and then tightened my grip on his leash and brought him around to the back door, knocking twice. The lady I had met inside came to greet me and then walked Buddy and I down a short hall.

“It’s good to see you have experience with the breed.” She told me looking at Buddy. “How old is he?”
“Not even close to two yet.” I told her.
She smiled and then opened the door. I led Buddy inside. At first, the girls didn’t notice him, they were too busy sniffing around, but when they did they turned and ran at him. Buddy’s whole body got stiff as they sniffed him and as soon as they were done he lunged at them to play. I undid his leash and they ran around the room like lunatics, running into my legs and the kennel worker's.
“Are you the only one who works here?” I asked her.
She sighed, “Yes, sadly. The people I had that worked at my place left after I incorporated, but I couldn’t help it, I was running short and they needed more business. It’s been a life-saver.”
“Would you need help?” I asked her.
“Are you looking for a job?”
I nodded, “Yea. I just recently got my own place and if I take those two home I’ll need the income.”
She smiled and held out her hand. “Well then, welcome aboard. You can sign the papers now if you’d like.”
“Get the papers for those two too and we’ll do it all at once.”
So that’s how, when I left the pet store, I ended up with two more dogs and a job.

Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while!! This chapter and the next one are short so I'm uploading both (: