The Bark of Joy

Something's Changing

John was your average dog. Hard working, caring, determined, and geez was he loyal.

He had always lived a modest life. Nothing special. He didn't have a lot of money or fancy things, but he had always managed to get by with what he did have. Sure, he wasn't rich and famous like Jake Gyllenpaaw, but he was fairly happy with his life. Until one day he wasn't.

John was 38 years old. In usual old man fashion, as John got older, and as time went on, he became less happy with the way things in his life were working.

However, this unhappiness was jumpstarted, surprisingly, once his daughter was born. Most parents would say the day their child was born was the happiest day of their life, but for John, it was the worst. Sure he had been excited when his wife had mentioned her pregnancy, but he also got strange looks. "A pit bull breeding with a poodle? That was unheard of! Did he really want to pass his aggression on to his offspring? Do we really need more pit bulls in the world anyway? All they do is cause trouble." You get the idea. Basically, people who heard of his wife's pregnancy didn't like the idea of having more pit bulls in the world, and in the typical style of those ignorant to others feelings, people began to talk. They began to say things. Hurtful things.

Now of course John swore he wasn't going to let the words of others bring him down, but you know how that goes. No matter how hard you drive to stay confident, once you hear the same thing over time, you begin to believe it. "What if she does end up aggressive? It'll be all my fault. Maybe I should have listened to what they said. No one needs more pit bulls. All they do is cause trouble."

He fought and fought his thoughts, until one day he lashed out at his wife. He knew she didn't deserve to be the recipient of his insecurities, but he couldn't help it. Once one keeps aggression pent up for so long, it's bound to come out at some point or another.

"Darling, what should we name her? I was thinking Roseanna would be a lovely name!" "Whatever you want, dear." "Well, love. You are her father. Maybe you should try helping me pick a name for a change? You never seem to like the ones I pick anyway." "I SAID I DON'T KNOW. NAME HER WHATEVER YOU WANT. IT'S NOT LIKE I WAS THE ONE WHO WANTED TO KEEP HER."

Why did I say that to her... why did i lash out... this was never her fault. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...

Though he had always wanted to apologize for how he had reacted, he never got the chance. For his dear wife, Ella, had an early delivery. The baby was premature, and she died in labor. Since then, he had vowed to protect his beautiful daughter, Roseanna, every day for the rest of his life.

So, he woke up every day. He took care of her. He kept going. Even though he kept his emotions hidden, he knew he couldn't give up on his precious Roseanna. After all, she was all he had left of Ella.

~ Time Skip : 8 Years Later (Present Day) ~

"Hey Dad!"
"Hi Roseanna."
"Hi!"
"Hi."
"Hi!!"
"Hi...?"
"Anyway don't forget to pick me up from ballet today!"
"I won't my rose."
"Okay!"
"Have a good day at school darling."
"Thanks dad!"
"You're welcome, Roseanna."
"Okay bye!"
"Bye."
"Bye!!"
"Bye."
"BYE!"
"Goodbye Roseanna."
"Bye Dad."
"Rose, darling, please get on the bus before you're late."
"Oh yeah! Okay! Bye dad!"
"Bye."
"Bye!"

Finally, Roseanna made her way toward her school bus. She turned around one last time, and waved goodbye to her father. He waved back. Hopefully she would have a good day. Hopefully the bullies wouldn't say anything. Maybe they would leave her alone today. Maybe.

But maybe was all he could hope for.

A/N
I hope you enjoyed chapter one! This is my first Wattpad story, and though it is completely satire, and will most likely be the worst thing you've ever read, I hope to actually make a decent story lol. If you have any tips please let me know so I can pretend I know what I'm doing. 😎

I'll try to update weekly, but I apologize in advance if I forget to update sometimes 💀

(Also please vote. I would appreciate it so much)

Mmmmm anyway yeah. 👍🏻

Word Count: 766 Words