There were two dogs, each with a loving and caring family around them at home. Two subsequent dwellings were connected by a woods trail and the periodic mountain biking trail. These trails not only allowed for biking and recreational types of travel; they enabled a hidden love between the two dogs. One dog was mine; his name is Fern. Fern often didn't have much to look forward to besides me and my mom coming home at night, and adopting another dog wasn't practical in our house then. He grew lonely and lived on whatever entertainment he got from visiting our neighbor's dog through these trails.
Walking him over and spending time with our neighbors frequently allowed them time together. They became excellent friends, and he loved spending time with his friend. The neighbors often spent time away, often out of state — which made getting the dogs together increasingly more complex as time passed. One way or another, they eventually moved entirely. Fern started to act increasingly lonely and missed his friend dearly. When Fern and the neighbor's dog would see each other, he learned the trails in the forest and eventually went over on his own from time to time.
He continued to traverse the trail periodically when they had already moved. He would often leave when I had looked away and return to where our neighbors and I would sometimes meet, hoping to find his lost love when he arrived. The first time this happened was around midnight when my mom woke me up and asked if I had seen Fern since earlier in the night. After taking him for a jog, I had forgotten to let him back in, and he had disappeared into the woods surrounding our house. We panicked and frantically called for him, praying we would hear him somewhere, but we heard nothing back. We grabbed headlamps and walked the trail to our neighbor's house, only to find him sitting in the driveway — confused, lonely, and sad. His friend was gone.
To this day, he wanders into the woods and visits the neighbor's yard once every three months in hopes that his dear friend will return one day. We do our best to connect the two but often fail because of how far they now live apart. Animals all have emotional connections to one another in some way, whether it is visible to us or not. It's simple to overlook, but for me today I still feel the sadness that my dog had true love — and it evaporated in an instant, out of his control.
I always try to think about what could have been different for the dog. But it was inevitable.
Always try to appreciate what you have been gifted before it's too late.
Walking him over and spending time with our neighbors frequently allowed them time together. They became excellent friends, and he loved spending time with his friend. The neighbors often spent time away, often out of state — which made getting the dogs together increasingly more complex as time passed. One way or another, they eventually moved entirely. Fern started to act increasingly lonely and missed his friend dearly. When Fern and the neighbor's dog would see each other, he learned the trails in the forest and eventually went over on his own from time to time.
He continued to traverse the trail periodically when they had already moved. He would often leave when I had looked away and return to where our neighbors and I would sometimes meet, hoping to find his lost love when he arrived. The first time this happened was around midnight when my mom woke me up and asked if I had seen Fern since earlier in the night. After taking him for a jog, I had forgotten to let him back in, and he had disappeared into the woods surrounding our house. We panicked and frantically called for him, praying we would hear him somewhere, but we heard nothing back. We grabbed headlamps and walked the trail to our neighbor's house, only to find him sitting in the driveway — confused, lonely, and sad. His friend was gone.
To this day, he wanders into the woods and visits the neighbor's yard once every three months in hopes that his dear friend will return one day. We do our best to connect the two but often fail because of how far they now live apart. Animals all have emotional connections to one another in some way, whether it is visible to us or not. It's simple to overlook, but for me today I still feel the sadness that my dog had true love — and it evaporated in an instant, out of his control.
I always try to think about what could have been different for the dog. But it was inevitable.
Always try to appreciate what you have been gifted before it's too late.
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