Dog Boy

36

In the past, ice skating had annoyed me for one small reason; if you didn't get the skates tightened just right on your feet, the top of the skate boots would shift back and forth, rubbing against your ankles and forming welts. Today however, despite some difficulty at first with trying to get my foot-paws into the boot, my fur gave a nice cushion to protect my ankles from developing those painful sores.

After I finished putting my skates on, I turned to Jackie to help put hers on. She smiled, her golden fur reflecting the lights illuminating the skating rink.

It was Valentine's Day. I'd wanted to take Jackie on a real date, out in public - and she'd agreed, though with some trepidation. It had been several weeks of school now, and we were starting to get used to the idea of being around a lot of people.

When we moved out onto the ice, I quickly realized how long it had been since I'd gone skating. Jackie and I laughed a bit as we worked to gain our footing, but having grown up in the frigid landscape that was the great lakes region, we got the hang of it quickly.

The second thing I realized, was that being out in public had a very noticeable difference from being at school. At school, the primary demographic that had contracted canis - teens who had gotten the cancer treatment as toddlers - were more common, and thus non-canis people were more familiar with us. They had gotten acclimated to it.

Here however, I knew that we were an oddity, especially when most canis people didn't go out in public when they didn't need to. Even though it was Valentine's Day, and a lot of people our age were here, it seemed there was still a feeling that they didn't expect to see us out in the open.

I pushed those concerns aside, and turned to Jackie as we held hands, gliding along the ice. I focused on the comforting, now so familiar feeling of our paw pads pressing against together. In spite of this crucible of trials we and so many other people were going through, we had found comfort with each other.

In the cold winter evening, decorative strings of lights were draped over the skating ring, and made it feel a little cozy. Even though it was obvious from the passing glances that people here found us strange, there were still the sounds of people talking and laughing. It felt alive, and it felt invigorating to be out in the world again, after hiding from it for weeks.

When going around a curve in the rink, I spun around trying to look cool, and nearly biffed it on the ice. Jackie caught me thankfully, and we laughed. She pulled my tighter against her, and we pressed our noses together, making a little kiss.

I loved her so much. I loved that she loved me, not despite of how I looked, but because of it. I was growing to love that adorable puppy dog look she had in turn. She was so cute with that slightly sheepish, yet eager look in her eyes. We had slowed to a stop now, and I kissed her again, wagging my tail happily.

I had dated before this, but I'd never had a real Valentine's Day date. I felt a bit sappy and silly, but being a silly golden retriever boy was who I was. I was going to be happy, and it didn't matter how I looked. No, it did matter a little. I was happy as a canis person. It just felt... right. Without this body, I wouldn't have the cozy feeling of cuddling with Jackie, our fur pressing against each other. I wouldn't be able to smell her familiar grapefruit scented shampoo without my snout. And of course, I couldn't imagine not having my tail anymore.

It had been such a short time, just coming up on a month and a half, since this had all started, but I was growing increasingly confident this was how I wanted my life to be. I knew that the world wouldn't understand it, and my family probably wouldn't either - but Jackie and I understood, and that was enough.

As we skated, the future settled on my mind. Thoughts of college. Thoughts of career stuff... it was all very stressful. Most stressful perhaps though, was thinking of Jackie. We had talked a bit about life after high school. I didn't see any future where we went to different schools. That was unthinkable.