Shadow

by Aris Austin

  “Oh, so now you like me, huh? Are you going to cooperate today, Shadow?” Kim laughed and turned to Annie. “Of course, on the day I’m not taking him out.”

  Annie held up her hands in feigned offense. “Hey, I spent a lot of time gaining his trust! I think he’s just been really upset about being left here. Anthony told me the guy who dropped him off had him for eleven years, and then just ditched him.”

  “Yeah,” said Kim. “I heard that too. Poor guy. Well, anyway, I’m glad he’s finally up.” She gave Shadow’s head one last pat, then stood and opened the kennel’s gate.

  Annie followed Kim through the open gate, motioning for Shadow to follow. “Come on buddy! Let’s go for a walk!”

  Shadow followed Annie down the hall and through several sets of doors. When they finally went through a door that led outside, a gust of cold air whipped through Shadow’s fur. He stared at the gray clouds overhead, dark against the steam curling up from his nostrils. Shadow had always been amused by the way his breath turned to steam in the cold. He had always tried to bite the steam when he was a puppy, back before he learned it couldn’t be caught.

  After Annie zipped up her coat, they set off toward the trail behind the shelter. Annie let Shadow choose the pace, which made his stiff joints quite grateful. After so much time lying down, walking around felt absolutely wonderful. Walking with Annie was much better than lying in a corner all day, Shadow decided.

  It was an easy trail—the wide, flat kind made for bikes—and nowhere near as challenging as the trails Shadow had once conquered with Brian. Still, he tired quickly. After only a few hundred yards, it was time to turn back. Shadow stopped and stared up at Annie, who immediately understood.

  “Tired, buddy?”

  Shadow turned and led Annie back to the shelter. Once he was in his kennel again, she unclipped the leash from his collar, called him a good boy, scratched his head, and went off to perform her other chores for the day.

  Good boy. The warmth in Shadow’s chest swelled, pushing the cold ache out a little more. He was glad Annie had taken him for a walk. He wished he could have gone farther, but his joints were beyond stiff, and refusing food for so long can certainly detract from a dog’s ability to walk. Short as it was, the walk still made Shadow hungry. He took a few crumbly bites from his bowl, and then settled down on his bed to watch the people in the hallway. All kinds of unfamiliar humans came and went, but it wasn’t until a child and his father stopped by Shadow’s kennel that he realized not everyone was a worker. This family wanted to take him home! Excitement bubbled up in Shadow’s stomach, but thinking of home quickly brought on memories of the family he’d lost. Almost instantly, the excitement fizzled out again.

  The child pointed and tugged on his father’s pants, but Shadow turned away. The wounds left on his heart by one family were still too fresh to start looking for another. Shadow ignored everyone who came by for the rest of the day, but he made sure to eat and drink again once the shelter closed. For Annie, if not for himself.

  As the days went by, Shadow got stronger. The idea of looking for a new family became less painful, and he even ventured to let potential adopters pat his head or give him a few scratches behind the ears. He ate his crumbly food every day, and managed to make friends with the dog from across the hall when they were in the common room together. She had a strange way of biting his ankles when she wanted to play, but never with her full strength. Shadow always humored the smaller dog, but never let his teeth touch her for fear that the difference in their sizes would actually cause her harm.

  Annie’s after-hours visits became a rarity, and Shadow found that he missed their talks. The stronger he got though, the longer their walks—and Annie’s stories—could be. Words poured out of her, though she only seemed willing to tell the best stories when there weren’t other humans around to hear. Since humans had such a pitiful hearing range, that wasn’t much of a problem.

  On one walk, she said that her apartment’s heat had finally been fixed, but only after she’d pestered her landlord for two weeks. She also mentioned that she had a second date with Hunter, and proceeded to talk about him for a very long time. Shadow didn’t care much about Hunter, but Annie’s excitement about the date was contagious. His tail wagged whenever she brought it up.

  “I was a little worried after the first date,” said Annie, “because he picked out a steakhouse, and then he seemed kind of annoyed when he found out I don’t eat meat. But I was like, “sorry dude.” I loved animals way before I met you. I’m not gonna eat one just for your sake. He ended up being flexible about it though, and when we went to a Thai place instead, he was respectful enough to order a meal without any meat. And then he called me for another date last night, so I guess I was all worried over nothing!”

  During another walk, Annie explained how Ollie had once managed to hide for a full two hours to avoid a trip to the vet. By the time she finally found him cowering in a cabinet under the kitchen sink, the vet had closed for the day.

  What a great way to avoid the vet, Shadow thought. He didn’t mind the vet much anymore, but wished he’d thought of that as a puppy.

  On the days after storms, Annie complained about the snow. Shadow respectfully listened, but he couldn’t have disagreed more. In fact, he spent every snowy walk finding the deepest possible powder to sink his paws into.

  On a day when the snow was particularly deep, Shadow got the chance to do one of his favorite things: plowing through snow with his chest. Crouching in the deepest part, he pushed forward until the snow packed together and stopped him from going any farther. He sampled a few bites of snow while he caught his breath, but ultimately decided it wasn’t the right kind for eating. Too heavy. He moved on after another moment, climbing over the packed snow and plowing a brand new path. Icy slush built up in his collar, but he didn’t mind. Playing in the snow was much too fun to worry about a little thing like the cold.

  Shadow gave Annie his open-mouthed smile and barked out an invitation for her to come join him. She stuck to the path though, folding her arms over the leash and shaking her head. Apparently, she felt the need to act disappointed that he’d gotten himself so covered in snow. Her grin gave her away though, and before long, she was laughing.

  When they returned from the walk, Shadow found his kennel full of fresh blankets and harsh cleaner smell. He wrinkled his nose at the scent, but had to admit it was better than a dirty kennel.

  Annie unclipped Shadow’s leash, and then spent several minutes smoothing out the fur on his back. “You’re going to find such a good family, buddy. I just know it.”

  She told him that every day. She always told him he was a good boy, too, and Annie’s praises made Shadow happier than anything else. He adored this human, and it seemed like she adored him back. The warmth in his heart grew a little more, despite the freezing slush trapped beneath his collar. No cold lasted long against the warmth felt by a happy dog. Not even slush. Not even the fading ache in Shadow’s heart.

  Chapter 7

  “ADOPT A SENIOR DOG DAY!”

  A sign in the common room displayed those five words in cheerful, brightly colored letters. Shadow couldn’t read, of course, but Annie had explained the sign to him that morning. He supposed that the term “senior dog” referred to him, though he wasn’t exactly certain what a senior was. Annie had asked him to be on his best behavior, and told him she had a good feeling that he was going home today. Shadow hoped she was right. He’d lost track of how long he’d been at the shelter, but it seemed like forever.

  Annie left him in the common room with three other dogs, Kim, and a round-faced man Shadow recognized but couldn’t name. Kim and the man stood in the adoption office adjacent to the common room, watching the dogs through a window in the wall and making sure to enter the room when any potential adopters came in.

  Of the dogs at the adoption event, only one looked older than Shadow. Arthritis had ravaged her joints, and her face twisted in pain every time she walked. Next
to her, another dog—the smallest dog in the room—seemed almost out of place. The little dog had some gray around her nose, but behaved almost like a puppy. The oldest dog didn’t even bother trying to play with her, but Shadow and a Border Collie gave it their best effort. The Collie lasted much longer than Shadow did.

  The first potential adopter to enter the room was a middle-aged woman, taller than most of the other humans Shadow had met. She asked about each of the dogs, and Shadow carefully listened while Kim read information from an adoption sheet. The oldest dog was a shepherd mix named Riley, and Shadow had been right about her age. She was fourteen, and had apparently been doing very well before the arthritis took over. Now she could only go for short walks, and stairs were close to impossible, so she either needed a home without stairs or a human willing to carry her. She’d been at the shelter for nearly six months. Shadow detected a faintly urgent undertone in Kim’s voice when she read that part, but he wasn’t sure why.

  The little dog was only nine, which offered some explanation for her good health. She was a terrier, her name was Ruby, and she’d only been at the shelter for a week. The Border Collie was a purebred, creatively named Callie. She was ten, and had spent exactly four weeks at the shelter.

  Kim paused when she got to Shadow, glancing up and down the adoption sheet. “This is Shadow…” She turned to the round-faced man. “Hey James, I don’t think we know Shadow’s breed.”

  James laughed. “Call him a shepherd mix. That’s what I always do when I don’t know.”

  “Alright,” Kim said. “Well, Shadow’s twelve and he’s been with us for about six weeks now. He was really upset when he first got here, but he’s really come a long way. I think he’ll improve even more with some extra love.”

  The woman politely spent a few moments with each dog, but it was over as soon as she got to Ruby. Kim led her into the adoption office after only a short time, and the two set to work filling out the necessary forms. Shadow could hear their words through the glass, though he didn’t give the conversation too much thought.

  “What’s your full name?” asked Kim.

  “Linda Ashwood,” said the woman.

  “What type of residence do you live in?”

  “I own a home. We have a yard, with a fence.”

  “Will the dog live inside with you or out in the yard?”

  “Inside, of course.”

  “Good. Do you live with anyone else, and are they aware that you’re here adopting Ruby today?”

  “Just my husband and yes, he knows.”

  “Alright,” Kim said. “I’m going to let you fill out the rest of this form yourself while I call a reference. Could I please have a name and phone number for your reference?”

  Linda Ashwood gave Kim a reference and filled out the form. As soon as the reference check came out clean, Ruby’s adoption fee was paid and she went home.

  People came and went throughout the rest of the day, ushered in by the shelter staff. A few seemed genuinely interested, but most just listened politely before asking if there were any puppies available, or quietly stating that they had come for “a younger, more energetic dog.”

  Despite his insistence, Kim managed to change the mind of one man who wanted a puppy. “Senior dogs tend to already be trained,” she said. “All of these dogs certainly are. And they’re calm. Way past their destructive puppy phases.”

  The man knelt down in the center of the room, but seemed far from convinced. “That would be nice, but I do worry about—oh, hi there!” He laughed as Callie sniffed at the back of his neck. The Collie gave the man a few quick licks, and then rested her chin on his shoulder.

  Kim smiled. “Older dogs still have plenty of love to give, too. That’s Callie. She loves chin scratches.”

  “Is that true, Callie?” the man asked. He rubbed the side of Callie’s chin, and she panted in appreciation. It only took a few more minutes of chin scratching and face licking before Callie had a home, which left only Shadow and Riley.

  Shadow settled down to the floor, patiently waiting for more visitors. Riley didn’t seem to have much interest in playing, but she did hobble over to Shadow’s side. Every time the older dog took a step, she put her paw down again as quickly as possible to ease the pressure in her joints. Shadow recognized the technique, since he’d been experimenting with it himself. It wasn’t as effective as he had hoped, but it seemed to work better for him than it did for Riley.

  Riley slumped down next to Shadow, and each of them took a moment to sniff the other. Shadow could certainly smell Riley’s age. Not that age itself had a smell, but there were clues. A dusty scent that came from spending more time lying down than standing up. A distinct lack of the scents of fear and hostility, signaling the sort of calm confidence only a fourteen-year-old dog could have. Riley’s gentle, quiet presence put Shadow at ease, and he was grateful for the company.

  Aside from Kim and James, Riley was the only company who stuck around very long. Visitors came and went throughout the afternoon, but they were always friendly enough. They’d pat Riley’s head or scratch Shadow’s back, and quite a few of them remarked about how cute it was that the two dogs were lying side by side. Shadow made sure to lick the faces of the humans he liked, which ended up being all of them. They claimed to like him too, but they always left in the end, and none of them seemed interested in taking Shadow or Riley home.

  As the hours crept by, Kim and James devised clever plans to show off the dogs’ good behavior. At one point, Kim even left a couple of treats on the ground. Just as the dogs stood to eat, Kim commanded them to leave the food alone.

  “Leave it… leave it.” To Shadow’s left, Riley whined. His own muscles twitched in anticipation, and he struggled to hold himself back. The treats were so close he could smell them, and treats were meant to be eaten.

  Finally, Kim relented. “Go!” she shouted. The treats were gone in seconds.

  People applauded the trick, but it apparently wasn’t enough. Excuses were offered up, and by late afternoon Shadow had lost track of how many people “were looking for a dog who was a little younger.” Eventually, the adoption event had to end, and Kim and James set to work cleaning up the common room.

  “Well,” said Kim as she unpinned the banner from the wall, “I guess two isn’t too bad. I wish we’d been able to find homes for all four of them though.”

  “I know,” said James. “I know she still has plenty of time, but I’m starting to worry about Riley. She’s already halfway through her year.”

  “She’s so sweet,” said Kim. “I don’t want to see her get put down. I mean I know we have to turn those kennels over eventually, but they should make exceptions for sweet old dogs like Riley.”

  She paused, then added, “Shadow too. He’s come so far. He even lets me walk him now. I don’t know what Annie did, but she breathed life back into that dog. He loves her. I just can’t stand the idea of any of those sweet dogs ending up—”

  James made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a grunt. “Don’t worry about Shadow quite yet. He still has almost eleven months. They’ll both make it. Almost everyone does.

  “And they’re much better off here than the Bluff County Shelter. Dogs only get a few weeks over there. A year is longer than almost any other shelter I’ve heard of. I’m actually surprised Anthony got the board to push it out anywhere close to that far.”

  James thought for a moment, then said, “But don’t get me wrong, I care about them too. I just think they’ll be alright. Don’t worry.

  “Don’t worry,” James said again, this time addressing Shadow and Riley. “You two will both find good homes.”

  He knelt down to pet the dogs, and Shadow’s tail swished excitedly through the air. He decided Kim and James could both be counted as friends, and Riley too. The new friends made him happy, but he still couldn’t manage to shake the disappointment that no one had taken him home. Not for the first time, Shadow wondered if there was something wrong with him. Why else wo
uldn’t anyone want to take him home? Why else had he been left behind in the first place?

  Chapter 8

  Shadow liked getting scratches almost anywhere, but his favorite spot was rather specific: on the side of his neck, ranging from behind his ears to the base of his jaw. Whenever someone scratched Shadow there, his hind leg thumped the floor. Sometimes, his tail even wagged so hard it threatened to knock breakables off of tables, when breakables and tables were around.

  And this man had discovered Shadow’s favorite spot in less than a minute. Impressive, considering that some of the volunteers still hadn’t figured it out in the three months he’d been at the shelter. Shadow immediately decided he liked the man.

  He was a young man, with black glasses and a head of curly black hair. The hairs on his fingers were almost as curly as the hair on his head, but the really important thing about his fingers was how good they were at giving scratches. The man and his fiancée were looking to adopt a dog together, and Kim thought Shadow would be a perfect match. Shadow had come to trust Kim’s judgement on matters like that, since she spent more time with him than anyone besides Annie. She always took excellent care of him on Annie’s days off, one of which was today.

  The man knelt in front of Shadow and turned to Kim. “You know, he actually looks like he’s in pretty good shape for being twelve.”

  His fingers scratched the perfect spot at that moment, and Shadow’s tail thumped out a beat on the floor.

  Kim smiled. “I think he likes you. I bet he’d love to go home with you.”

  To emphasize this point, Shadow launched a series of licks at the man’s face. The man laughed and tried to push Shadow away, but seemed willing to tolerate at least a few licks. Perfect.

  “I like him too,” the man said, wiping off his smeared glasses. “And he has such a pretty coat. Like a penny.