Knowing You're There

Chapter 17

“What are you doing?” 

“Just wait,” he said.  “I’m going to call you back in like, ten minutes okay?” 

He hung up and I crawled to the other side of the room to find my sunglasses.  I found them on the floor by the closet.  One of the lenses was next to it. 

“Great.  These were my most comfortable pair,” I muttered.  Getting to my feet, I walked over to my dresser with my arms out and felt around for my less comfortable, diamond pink ones and put them on.  “Better than nothing, I guess.” 

I then went back to the beanbag and grabbed my laptop that was next to it.  After turning it on, I went and logged back into Blog Me and started a new post, which I titled “When Things Change.”  I wrote:

I just found out that my beautiful guide dog, Star, has developed stomach and liver cancer after being at my side for nine years.  I want to write something encouraging and motivational, but honestly all I can say is that my life sucks right now and I really, really don’t want to go back to using that stupid black and white stick to get around. 

Sticks don’t have eyes.  I could still trip and fall over something.  There is literally nothing good about them.  A stick doesn’t put its head in my lap and share my lunch.  It doesn’t bark or wag its tail when I come in the room.  They’re awful. 

The moment I put up the post, my phone started vibrating again.  I picked it up and answered.  I heard the front door open downstairs.  Dad probably had to go shovel the driveway again. 

“Well, hello there my pretty lady,” Kurt said. 

“Kurt, what are you up to?” 

“Oh, you’ll see.” 

Something sounded different about his voice.  It was like I was hearing him in both ears instead of just one with the phone.  Then there was a knock on my door.  I groaned. 

“Hold on, my parents are bothering me about something.” 

Right when I got up, the door opened.  Before I could scream at the person who I thought was my family member I was embraced.  I felt the cotton shirt and the smell I could never describe filled my nose.  His lips kissed my forehead as he rocked me back and forth in the hug.  I only held onto him tighter. 

“How did I get this lucky?” I asked. 

Kurt chuckled and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.  “I really don’t know, but I ask myself the same question every day.” 

“How…how did you figure this out?  How did your parents agree to let you come over?” 

“Well…as you know they’re both at the coffee shop and the roads are kind of terrible,” he said.  “We may or may not have a snowmobile that I took out of the shed and road over here to come see you.”