CW: Percy the dog.

“You see your lost dog on a leash, leading a blind person.”
– a quote that inspired this CW piece.

Percy was my childhood dog.
He had shiny black hair, and dark brown eyes.
He was my best friend.
He would greet me when I came home from school,
and we would play hide and seek whenever I was not doing schoolwork.
He liked to sleep outside, by the front door,
making sure no intruder was able to enter our house.

One day, when I was about 8 years old,
Percy did not greet me at the door, when I came back from school.
I thought he started playing early, and all I had to do was find him,
but my Mom said he had ran away.
When she saw my tears rolling down my cheeks,
she said that Percy might return one day.
Just to see me.
Every day, after school, I would rush home, hoping to see him return.
But Percy was never there.
Seasons came and went,
and I lost hope in seeing him again.

When I got a bit older,
I realized that before my furry companion disappeared,
he was getting slower when coming towards me;
he did not want to play as much, either.
I realized that Percy did not run away.
He simply died.
And Mother knew the truth would have crushed me.

Throughout the years, even in my adult life,
I could not bring myself to replace Percy with a new dog.
He was one and only.
I could not betray him.
All my focus was on my private ophthalmology clinic.

One day, when I walked out of my office to call in the next patient,
I saw him.
I saw Percy.
Shiny black hair, dark brown eyes,
calm demeanor, with a pinch of confidence…
It was him.
Percy. On a leash.
Right in front of me.
My Percy.

“Hermes, who are you so happy to see?”
– asked the blind man, who just stepped into my clinic.
Percy was excitingly wagging his tail.
I saw the sparks in his eyes.
“I see you got a dog, Mr. Kaminsky.”
– I made an astute observation.
“Yes, Dr. Alvarez. I listened to you
and got myself a companion and a helper.”
– the patient answered with a smile.

Al Kaminsky has been depressed for a very long time
because of the loss of his vision.
I have never seen him smile before.

I kneeled in front of Percy,
who was now Hermes.
He looked into my eyes
and I smiled.
He placed his head in my lap.
Percy helped a little boy grow up.
Now he was helping another man.
I was proud of him.
He was proud of me.
We used to play hide and seek together,
now we were helping visually impaired people.

Oh, how we evolved.
After the visit,
Percy licked my face.
“He is not normally that friendly with strangers.”
– said Al.
“Well, I am not a stranger.”
– I whispered to myself, as they walked out of my clinic.
Percy turned around at the door
and nodded at me one last time.

Once more, he saved me.
He did return to see me.

Now, I could get Sandy,
and give her all the love I had.
Because Percy had an owner.
A friend of his own.

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