• Dogs.
    Amazing pets, right? You know they'll always be there even when no one else is. So what happens when even they disappear?

    I was on the computer, playing on a site called gaiaonline. I'd discovered it only recently, and I was still learning the ropes and exploring the entire site. I could hear my grandma, or Nana as she preferred to be called, in the living room vaccuming. My parents paid her to clean for us as a way for her to get extra money. Plus, even in her old age she liked hard work. The tv that sat beside our computer was turned on so my Nana was the only sound I could hear beside the television at the moment. Suddenly, the vaccum subsided. She must be done with the living room, I thought, nonchalantly.

    My thoughts changed as my Nana suddenly rushed into the entry way near our front door. The main door was open, leaving only the glass door to keep the summer's heat from creeping into the air conditioned house. "Sophie's having a fit!" she yelled, her voice was laced with fear, "Oh! Morgan call your dad! Hurry!" A fit? I thought, confused, What can she possibly mean by that? In my confusion, I stood from the conputer chair, walking over to the door to get a better look. On the concrete porch lay my golden retriever Sophia. She was shaking violently and foamed was flowing from her mouth. I made the subconcious connection in my mind that my Nana had meant Sophia was having a seizure. It was almost dreamily though, as if I were watching from a distance. It was as if I were someone else who had no affection for the dog who laid in front of me now. I felt no emotion. I was just frozen. I couldn't turn away; yet, I wasn't sad or scared. . . just there, in a world where time had stopped and the only thing that existed was my old golden retriever.

    Only seconds later, but what had seemed like an eternity to me, my dog stopped shaking. She laid still against the cold, unforgiving stone of our front porch, and for a moment I thought she was dead. My breath caught in my throat as I started to feel again. Fear was the first to return, but I remained motionless, watching for the rise and fall of Sophia's chest. My Nana was no longer in the entry way of my house. At some point, she'd gone to call my step dad. I could hear her practically shouting into the phone now. I sighed in relief when I saw Sophia take a breath. Then, more feeling returned, and I suddenly felt as though I couldn't stand. I stumbled into my room, using the walls and furniture to keep myself from falling. I collasped on my bed once I'd reached my destination. My muscles seemed to twitch slightly, and I felt cold. Am I in shock? I wondered, staring up at my white ceiling. I couldn't get the image of Sophia's seizure out of my head. At least she's alive. . . For now. . .