Grace and Phoebe! Book 3: Love is in the Air

Leaving Phoebe

       Cooper sat back in his comfortable seat and adjusted the recliner to just the way he liked it.  A giant hologram TV screen appeared.  Cooper sighed with contentment.

       "It's ok Tolf," Cooper said as he slid on a spa robe and changed the channel to Cincinnati High Bone Ball.  

       Tolf frowned and they sat in silence for a while.  Tolf didn't even bother to adjust his seat, turn on his own personal TV and watch Survivor, put on a spa robe, or get a snack.  He was too upset, and he resented the monorail, just as much as he resented Phoebe now.  He was only on the monorail because it was the only way to leave the Purse Palace.

       A touchscreen navigation terminal rose from the floor of the monorail in front of Cooper.  "Where are we going?" he asked, his muffled voice barely audible because his mouth was overflowing with trail mix.  "Because if you want my opinion, there is someplace WAY better than the wild where you can stay at without having to pay rent.

       "Where!?" Tolf asked, desperately.  

       "Cincinnati,"  Cooper replied.  Tolf frowned.  How could he stay somewhere in Cincinnati without having to pay rent or buy a house?  "Cincinnati is not given enough credit than it deserves,"  Cooper said.  "You see, my parents abandoned me when I was just a pup.  I was in the wild just like you used to be.  I didn't give up on life, even though I knew I wouldn't make it because I was too young to find food, find water, and protect myself.  I didn't have also didn't have ANY sense of direction.  I just wandered, living off of roadkill and plants that I wasn't completely sure weren't poisonous.  But, eventually, I made it to Cincinnati.  I was able to find food and shelter much easier then, which means a lot because I was just a couple months old, or what you might understand better, a couple moons old.  I would wander the alleyways, and eat whatever humans didn't want.  You know, they waste a lot of perfectly edible stuff like banana peels and rotten bacon.  Just because it is rotten doesn't mean you can't eat it, am I right?" he joked.  "Anyways, I know that it kinda sucked, but it was the life I had, and I wasn't willing to give it up for the world."

       "Wow, you were very optimistic," Tolf mused.  "If my parents abandoned me that young, I would just give up and die alone in the middle of nowhere."

       "But, I didn't give up.  You see where that got me today?  Now I am a strong, independent grown dog who doesn't live in alleys, but lives in a palace!  Don't give up on life if it gets too hard because if you persevere through your problems, your life gets a lot better.  You see, don't give up just because you can't live in a palace anymore.  Don't even give up if you have to live in the wild again.  Keep going Tolf, it will get better, not worse."  Cooper explained.

       In no time Cooper and Tolf reached Cincinnati.  Cooper helped Tolf off the monorail and even walked with him to show him a place to stay.  

       "This was my favorite alleyway, please take care of it for me,"  Cooper said.  "This alley borders a restaurant, so there are ALWAYS tasty leftovers in the dumpster, and, you see that hole by the chain-link fence?  I dug that when I lived here because there is no other way for anyone else to get in because the hole was exactly my size.  Also, on the other side of the fence, there's an abandoned dumpster that used to be used for recycling.  It's empty except for an old pillow I left there when I lived there myself, it's a great place to sleep because the dumpster can open and close.  It's no palace, but it's shelter from the rain.  I was a great place I grew up in." Cooper's eyes brightened.  "And now it's yours."