- EDEN -
Wolfe and I managed to get to the Victoria-New South Wales border near Albury before needing to refuel, my car having pretty good mileage considering the heavy load it was currently hauling. After stopping and filling up at the petrol station, we opted to stretch our legs and grab some food, sitting down at a park hosting a farmer’s market and eating our sandwiches from the nearby bakery. I’m assuming this must be an especially big event if the number of people is anything to go by. It’s packed, and they seem to have a market stall for everything you can imagine.
Local honey, homemade jams, fresh fruit and vegetables and other farmer’s market staples. Vinyl records, second hand clothing, art, candles and crafts made by the locals.
The stall that captured my attention, however, was one hosted by the Albury Animal Care Centre, who were clearly doing a pet adoption drive today. There were crates everywhere, and a small pen set up where people—mostly kids—were given the opportunity to pet and get to know some of the animals, hopefully with the intention of convincing their parents to let them take them home.
I’ve never had a pet. My mum was always allergic, and I’m more of a dog person than a cat, which is hard when you live in an apartment in the city. I’d considered it a couple times, but in the end it would have just been so awful to keep an active dog cooped up inside without a yard to run around in. Maybe when I get to Byron, I can find myself a new place with a fenced yard and finally get myself a dog. Maybe now’s finally the time.
My heart was breaking just seeing all the puppies and mature dogs in cages. I get that it might be a safety and logistical precaution considering I know all dogs don’t get along with each other, especially rescues which I know all of these dogs up for adoption must be; but no one deserves to be caged up like that.
“How’s Medusa going?” I asked Wolfe as he polished off the last of his sandwich, trying to distract myself from the desire to go over, adopt them all and cram them into my already full car.
Wolfe followed my line of sight to the adoption stall and smiled. I’m convinced he’s already read my mind and knows what I’m currently thinking. “She’s good. Might be slowing down a fraction now she’s like a hundred years old or something, but she’s still my princess, and one of the best parts of all my days.”
Medusa was Dalen’s companion originally. After his death, Wolfe and Luna naturally inherited her, which was the only option really considering how attached they all were to each other through Dalen. In dog years, I don’t think she’d be far off that hundred years old Wolfe mentioned. I don’t know the exact math, but she’s got to be pushing at least fifteen human years by now. She’s a sweetheart, and probably one of the reasons why I’m craving a dog myself. Hanging with her at Luna and Wolfe’s house a few weeks back gave me a taste for the dog mum life, as has my lingering unease about being so alone now I don’t have Trey. It’s been a strange thing adjusting to living on my own. Things stay cleaner, which is an upside; but they’re also incredibly quiet, and I’m not sure I’m really wanting to tackle that silence given everything else going on in my family.
“You could always just go over and have a looksie at who’s there, Edes...” Wolfe said slyly as he crumpled up his sandwich wrapper and threw it basketball style into the bin near our table.
I looked back towards the adoption stall, mulling over my options. I know if I go over, I won’t be able to help myself. I’ll have no choice but to adopt someone, and I think Wolfe knows that. But I haven’t spoken to Nella and Mason about getting a pet and keeping it in their house until I find my own, and they already have a cat named Wisp who may not like someone else encroaching on their territory.
“I doubt Nell and Mase would mind. But worst case scenario, you keep them at our place, Medusa helps socialise them, and I’ll take them onto the job sites with me like I do Medusa while you’re working to train them until you find your own place,” Wolfe said, standing up and coaxing me towards the stall. “Come on. I think this could be the best thing for you right now.”
We walked towards the stall and were greeted by a woman who I assumed was the organiser of this event considering her level of enthusiasm and conviction speaking with everyone, especially me.
“Hello, future pet owner,” she said confidently, predicting that there was no chance of me not taking someone with me to the home I don’t actually have right now. “How can I help you both today?”
I stumbled, second guessing myself and losing my ability to speak apparently, and Wolfe faithfully stepped in for me. “My friend here is going through a bit of a rough time, and we’re currently driving our way north from Melbourne to Bryon to get her a fresh start on life, and she seems to be drawn to the idea of having a puppy of her own. Do you have anyone here that you could introduce her to that might fit the criteria of ‘companion beast to a sad girl starting a-new in her forever place’?”
I rolled my eyes at Wolfe as the lady laughed at him. Apparently she finds his oversharing of my life amusing. “You know, I think I just might have the perfect creature for you. Come with me,” she said, directing me towards the cage right next to the table topped with papers and an eftpos machine where I imagine most of the adoptions were finalised.
Inside the cage was what looked like a young border collie puppy, mostly black but with a white underbelly and tail. He was curled up in the back corner of the cage, seemingly wary of all the action and movement that was going on around him, but his eyes were alert and focussed on everything at once, like he needed to be hyper aware of his surroundings at all times. I can only imagine what happened to this poor baby to cause him to be this worried about what might happen to him, and I knew almost instantly that he was making the drive back to Bryon with me.
“I’ve been fostering this one myself,” the lady said, bending down to unlatch the cage and pull the nervous dog out. “We haven’t given him a name actually, because we couldn’t find one that fit him. He’s an eight month old border collie,” she said, patting him in her arms. He really didn’t look to be that old given he was still so small. Maybe he was crossed with something else. “I believe he was the runt of the litter given he’s a lot smaller than the others were when we rescued them from a farm nearby. The owner had abandoned them when he sold and moved out of the property and the new owners called us to come collect them. We’re not sure how long they were out there on their own, and there was no mother to be found so we assume the owner took her with him.”
If I thought my heart was broken before just looking at them all, it was nothing compared to now, watching this little thing being passed over to me, nervous as all heck. I took him in my arms and held him to my chest, rubbing his back slowly and reassuring him quietly that he was okay, and he slowly began to relax into me, his tail wagging ever so slightly, and a quick lick was bestowed upon my collarbone where his head lay.
I looked back at Wolfe, who already had his phone camera out and was snapping photos of my first moments meeting my son, sealing the deal on my decision to take this precious baby with me. I pulled him away from me to look at his face, and saw a healed scar across his right eye which happened to be a piercing blue where the left was a golden brown.
“We believe he was picked on a little by his siblings before we got there,” she said, rubbing his head near his scarred eye. “He’s a little nervous, but so affectionate and goofy when he feels safe. My dogs have been doing a great job at socialising him and he’s starting to get more confidence to play with them. Needs a lot of love, and someone gentle and patient who will let him come out of his shell in his own time.”
“What do you think, Edes?” Wolfe said, coming over to greet him too. “I personally think Medusa would love a little boy to raise. What do you think, little guy? You want to come meet my princess and go for a swim at the beach?”
“Oh, he just loves the water!” the shelter woman said with a laugh. “We have a small pond on our property and it can sometimes be a hassle getting him out.”
“See,” Wolfe said definitively, taking him out of my arms for a cuddle himself. “Just like Medusa. It’s meant to be. How does he go with other animals? Cats?”
“Well, he absolutely loves my cat. They’re often cuddled up together sleeping on the couch. It’s so cute. Do you have a cat yourself?”
I told her no, but that I was going to be staying briefly with my friends who do. She didn’t seem to believe it would be a problem, but Wolfe again offered to have him stay with him and Luna if it was.
“You’ve got the all clear, by the way,” Wolfe said, telling me that Nella and Mason had already replied to Wolfe’s message in our group chat sending a picture of me with him saying they were so excited to meet him. “We’re going to have to find a name for you though, little buddy. Everyone should have their right name.”
I couldn’t agree more, but I’ve never even thought of baby names that might be a good fit for a human child, let alone a fur child. I suddenly feel pressured to make sure I pick the right name that will be attached to him his whole life, and I really don’t know how people do this with their own kids considering how crucial a name is for one’s identity.
“Well, I guess we have the whole drive up to Bryon to mull over names then,” I said with a smile, reaching to take back my baby from Wolfe before I could rethink yet another impulsive decision.
The lady asked me a few questions about what my daily routine looks like to make sure that he’d fit into my life well, and considering I didn’t really have a routine to speak of given the move, I think she had to find herself content that I would put in the time he needed and support him to adjust to a new environment with the help of those around me. I’m sure Wolfe asking so many dog-related questions really helped, like when he’d last been vaccinated, what type of food he was currently on to not upset his stomach eating something new, and what type of toys keep him stimulated.
I paid the adoption fee and signed the papers, collecting an adoption package of toys, a small bag of food, a bed and a lead for him, which we put on, even though I insisted on keeping him in my arms and not walking on his own until we got to my car. The car was now so crammed with humans, dogs, and my belongings that I’m sure it was really hard for Wolfe to drive comfortably, which he again insisted on doing so I could have some more bonding time with my boy, who was currently perched on my lap, his head hanging out of the window no doubt catching many flies in his mouth as we got started on the next leg of our journey north. Seems he’s a comfortable traveller, which is a very good sign because I’d hate to imagine what this car and all our belongings would smell like if he puked while we were driving.
Just out of town, we started passing road signs that indicated the distance between where we were, and other nearby landmark country towns and parks, one of which was Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains.
“Never really thought I’d get this close to that place again,” Wolfe said, referring back to Dalen’s suicide and cremation, which just so happened to occur in and around Jindabyne.
“I’m sorry, Wolfe. I should have thought ahead of how hard this would be for you.” Admittedly, I didn’t know until yesterday when I heard his voice through the intercom at the old apartment that he would be anywhere near here with me, but I should have realised once we got on the road knowing the route we’d inevitably be driving.
Wolfe took a deep breath and sighed out his sadness, wiping a tear away from his cheek and sniffing ever so quietly, but not quietly enough for my boy to not hear him and then pull his head in from outside, looking up at Wolfe and I both. He lay himself across my lap and settled himself in, then gently took his paw and placed it on Wolfe’s leg.
Wolfe looked down at him and chuckled. “Sympathetic to those grieving the dead, I see,” he said with a generous pat on the boy’s head. “He reminds me a lot of Medusa that night.” I’ve heard how it all went down, and I can’t even fathom how hard that must have been for Medusa and Wolfe both. “Maybe you should call him Hades: God of the Dead?”
I actually kind of love it, even more so considering it would forever be a reminder of this drive with Wolfe, the friendship we’re building together, the one he sadly lost, and no doubt his first doggo mate in another Greek-named furball. “Hades?” I said inquisitively, watching as my boy looked back at me with what seemed like recognition when he heard me testing out his name.
Hades it is.