Garnet

Chapter 4 - The Shelter

Jane Canilup sat at her desk, moving her hand through her bushy, black hair. She was reading a book, but her mind was elsewhere. Just last week her mother had called her and told Jane that her father had died of a stroke. The words shocked her. How could this have happened? Her dad, her mentor, her best friend, was gone. Forever. A month ago, she had been hiking through the forest in Harrisville State Park. A year ago, he was crying tears of joy on her shoulder at her college graduation. But now, he would never see anything from her again. He would never know what Jane was going to do next.  That scared her.  A tear fell onto Jane's book and she wiped away a second that was about to fall.

The bell rang, notifying Jane that someone had entered the animal shelter where she worked. She closed the book, wiped her eyes again, and looked up at the door. A man and his young daughter had entered. The little girl held tightly to her father's hand, telling a story about a dog she had met at her friend's house and how she wanted the same exact type.

"Hello, sir, how may I help you?" Jane asked the man as he approached her desk.

"Hi, well, my little girl here has been hounding us for a dog for months now, so we finally gave in and decided that if she did her chores for a whole month, then she would be allowed to get a dog," the man said.

The girl flashed a bright smile at Jane and exclaimed, "And guess what? I did all of them!"

"Yes you did!" the man said, looking down at his daughter and mimicking her bright smile.

"Wow, great job!" Jane said, mustering up some false happiness. "So, do you know what kind of dog you're looking for?"

"Her friend has a husky, so Monica really wants one, too."

"Well, lucky for you, Monica, because we have two huskies here at the shelter; a boy and a girl." Jane walked from behind her desk and led the father and daughter to the part of the shelter where the huskies were.  Monica's father was talking to Monica about the dogs, but Jane wasn't paying attention. She wasn't focused on this adoption, or any other aspect of her job.  She was worried about what her life would be like without her dad.  Everything hit her at the very moment; all of the emotion that was building up inside of her like a dam holding back the pressure of an ocean finally was released.  The dam had broke.

A heavy stream of tears fell from Jane's eyes.  The thought of never seeing her father again was too much.  How was she going to live like this?  She felt alone.  He was her best friend, and now he was gone.  "I have to go," Jane uttered.  "I'm really sorry." 

She sped back to her desk, grabbed her coat that was hanging on the back of the chair and her book, and walked out of the door, leaving Monica and her dad in the store.  The chilly air made goosebumps rise on her dark skin and she shuddered.  Her tears were still falling, as intensely as before, yet the thoughts had subsided.  It was just a small breakdown, that was all.  Was it normal for grieving people to experience them? Jane had no idea.  She just kept walking.  It seemed as if she had been doing that a lot lately.