Vigilante PAW

Chapter Nineteen: Fading Time

"Happy birthday to you!" A group of people finished singing as their attention focused on a young girl with wild, untamed curly red hair.

"Go ahead and make a wish!" A frail hand rested on her shoulder, "We're all not getting any younger!"

The little girl thought for a moment before blowing out the candles on the cake in front of her. With that, she was officially, officially eleven years old. Adults and children alike cheered for her as she excitedly pumped her fists into the air.

"Guess you're well on your way to becoming a teenager..." A voice spoke from behind her, the frail hand that was placed on her shoulder lightly gripping it, "You'll get to join me in that age group."

Turning around, the birthday girl giggled as she knew good and well that the person in front of her wasn't anywhere near her age group. Harsh, but true. Sitting in a wheelchair was her paternal grandfather, who only offered her a kind smile. The man wore a bright red scarf around his neck, his other hand gently fiddling around with it as he spoke.

"What are you talking about, Grandpa?" She asked, an amused smile on her face, "You're not a teenager."

Her grandfather smiled, "What are you talking about? I'm thirteen!"

The newly aged girl smiled back at the elderly man. She would never grow tired of his playful jokes and comments pertaining to how old he really was. Her grandfather, fresh into his eighties as he'd hate to admit, was the man who taught her everything she knew when it came to being a veterinarian. After all, taking care of animals was a family business. A business that she couldn't wait to get into.

"Whatever..." The redheaded girl rolled her eyes as she grabbed her grandfather's wheelchair and proceeded to roll him down a small pathway, "So, why did you want to take me this way?"

She was currently rolling her grandfather down a pathway toward a little pond that had always been there in her backyard. The elderly man remained tight-lipped as they went down the path. As they finally made it to the pond, her grandfather began to speak.

"...I remember this place..." He smiled, "It's where my father, your great-grandfather, finally recognized me as a fully trained vet to be."

"Really?" The birthday girl's eyes widened, "I always thought that this was a stinky old pond that mom and dad were too lazy to get rid of..."

"Well, Elizabeth, I decided that this would be the place that I would recognize you, but if you really don't like this pond, I could just get one of my other granddaughters..." The elderly man looked away.

"No, no! Please recognize me, I'm begging you!!" Liz got on her knees, her head bowing down as her forehead rested on her grandfather's knees, "Don't leave me!"

Her grandfather laughed loudly at her antics, "Well, if you insist..."

Liz, whose head was still down, felt something strange land on the back of her head. She quickly grabbed what had landed on the back of her head, lifting her head up to see what it was.

In her arms was the same red scarf her grandfather had been wearing.

The confused redhead looked up at the man, realizing that his neck was now exposed for the first time in her life. It seemed as though her grandfather never went anywhere without wearing that scarf. That was, until now.

"Grandpa, your neck!" She exclaimed, "It's naked!!"

The elderly man laughed once more, "I should've expected that..."

"Why'd you give me your favorite scarf?" Liz asked confusedly, looking down at the bright red cloth in her hands.

"That's because it was your great-grandfather's before it was mine."