Clouds

Chapter 1 ~ First Day

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April 14, 2002. One of the best days of my life. I was with my grandma, and my sister, on a brown couch that had plain brown pillows on it. Me and my sister, Lauren, had no idea that this was the day we would get our best friend. His name was Shumai! He was getting brought home by both my parents. Shumai was a Shar Pei.

Shar Pei dogs are usually very wrinkly and very cute!

As my parents started walking through the door, without even saying anything everybody already knew what was going on. We got a puppy! I was so excited and confused when both my parents opened the door, because I had no idea we would be getting a puppy.

When my parents came into the room I was sitting talking to my Grandma, and they had an exuberant expression on their face, and I was the same. I couldn't stop petting his soft fur and cute face for a while.

All day Shumai wagged his tail. But, when we let Shumai outside to our backyard, Shumai could not stop running for hours.

It became dark, and he was still running. That's when we had to stop him and bring him inside. He was exhausted, but at the same time, super cute! I couldn't leave his side for a while, because I already loved him so much.

The next day I spent with him, and we were playing in the backyard. I was trying to teach him tricks. But he was still a puppy, so there was not much I could do, besides pet him. All night I felt super bad because he had to go in a cage with a blanket. I did not understand why dogs had to go in such a little cage. I mean ya, it keeps them from making a mess every where. But, I just can not help putting my fingers through the black tiny bars and trying to pet him some more. I was actually so small that I crawled in that little cage some nights, and I would just relax in there. If I tried to do that now, it would not work out because that was 13 years ago.

I woke up everyday excited for the next few days. I just hated how quickly puppies changed into dogs. I was hoping that didn't happen with Shumai. But I realized that no matter what type of dog you have, it happens to every dog. Even when Shumai started getting a little bigger and fatter, he was still the cutest dog I have ever seen.

Later on, I was asking my mom where she got him, and she said a dog show in New York! I was completely shocked because I did not think Shumai was a show dog. After all the running he did a few days ago, Shumai seemed nothing like a show dog! But, his whole family were show dogs. I thought that was actually pretty cool, and I really wish I could have saw him, when he was performing. All I have left is a picture of him on a leopard printed chair sitting very straight and focused. I'm pretty sure he did win some awards too! I loved watching all those dog shows on TV, so to think my dog was one of them was kind of crazy.

I woke up for the 2nd or 3rd month since I got him, racing downstairs going to Shumai to pet him. I loved Shumai so much. We even made Christmas cards with him. Each Christmas Card had Shumai in the middle and me and my sister in big dresses next to him, sitting by a fireplace. I just loved sitting next to Shumai throughout all those photos. But, Shumai would never look at the camera most of the time. We also would have to take multiple shots, until me and my sisters face started to hurt from smiling so much. Not only did Shumai look away for some of the pictures, but my moms camera would mess up every now and then, by having the flash on, and pushing the wrong button, or even having the camera die. So this all took about 1 hour. But when it was over, I was so happy to take off the dress I was wearing and bow, and just sit down and relax.

A few months later, during the summer time, I would find Shumai tanning himself on a chair. I would sit next to him on a chair and just stare at the clouds. It was very relaxing and enjoyable.

In Summer, around on my birthday I had a princess themed birthday party and Shumai would sit on this Ariel chair and I would sit in the Aurora chair. We had a giant princess poster behind us. I had so much fun that night, as Snow White made a rainbow with a pot of gold balloon. But all I could remember is how cute Shumai was on that chair. From that day forward he would always relax on chairs, or sleep on them. Especially when it was hot out.

We started to allow Shumai to go on my moms bed, and he would cuddle up into a little ball, or lie flat down on his side. He looked so comfortable.

Do you ever feel like you can talk to
your dog, but you actually can't? Me and my dog were so close it was almost like we could communicate. Whenever I was sad, Shumai was sad. Shumai would have his head down and have water on each side of his eye. Whenever I was happy, Shumai would be smiling and he would be wagging his tail. Whenever I was tired, Shumai would sleep right next to me. It's like we had special senses that knew what we were thinking. But, if Shumai did not understand something I said, he would tilt his head to the side and make the cutest face I had ever seen. Me and Shumai were so close that I actually used to act like a dog. I crawled on the floor on my hands and knees and I used to say "woof!" Shumai would be right next to me and we would look out the window at people walking down the street, and we would play a game with a tennis ball. It was fun, but Shumai actually started acting like a human after a while. Shumai would only eat on a plate, and he would not eat dog food unless it was super fancy, or a nice brand. He was starting to be treated like a king.