Lilly

What Happens Now?

"Then, after some years, Lilly managed to die old, long live the service dog...we will miss you...always keeping to my heart," the boy, whispered to himself reading the journal. 

He sat on a bed in a bedroom filled with old wallpaper and a grandma perfume scent. The boy, seeming to be in his 13's, closed the journal hearing the knock on the door as an old lady came in, "Hey, were you reading the journal again?"

The boy shook his head, "N-No, why would I?"

The old lady came in shaking her head and snickered, sitting next to him on the edge of the bed, "I remember when your mom first showed me her extra work...after that fire cleared, the backpack and the items inside were under some heavy, layered, metal casing so it could be scanned, nothing inside got burned or heated up. Even though the heated, outside layer metal was close to getting the backpack cooked to the crisp at the inside layer metal, but the journal stayed safe and so did the album. It's okay to read it, because it is yours after all; your mother and I talked and we think it was time for you to start your own stories to tell."

She grabbed the journal from the other side of the boy, and skimmed it, flipping the pages one by one, carefully, "There is enough for you to write your own stories, your mother has finished her task, now it is your time to start to write your own. Now, come on, you need to be there at nine, your 'partner' is waiting for you."

The got up hugging her and rushed out the door with his bike and a basket on the back of his bike, waving goodbye as the mother and grandmother were at the door that morning. The mother sipped her coffee as the grandmother spoke up, "What is there a chance...that he might get 'her' again?"

"For who he is," the mother spoke up, "It is no dout, his old friend would be there."

"Abigail," the grandma spoke up, "Do you really think that he is 'him'?"

"No dout...look at his attitude...if not, look at the inside of his right hand," Abigail said, sipping on her coffee once more, closing the door.

The boy biked to a pet shop in town then parked it on a bike rack, heading to the entrance and knocked at the door. The man there opened up and spoke, "Hey, bud! Come on in! Your mom already signed the papers, just need your initial to finish it off; wanna go see your new pet?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Falus!" the boy said excited as he rushed to the back kennels.

He checks up on a very small pup on the bottom kennel as it sneezed and sat up as the boy looked around before whispering, "Calli?"

The pup just merely barked, the boy just smiled, "It has been a long time girl, I'm here to take you back home...what do you say?"

The pup went up to the kennel cage and put her head to it, the boy placed his right, palm scarred birthmark, hand on the head of the pup with the metal bars being the wall. The man called up, "Buck! Come on, sign these papers before I open up shop!"

Buck piped up, "Yes sir!"

He signs the papers at the front desk and came back to the kennel putting the collar on her; he walked out to his bike and petaled as the dog followed, Buck spoke up smiling, "Hey, wanna go to the old lake?!"

The pup barked happily as they rushed to the lake at the end of the river as they ran around the dirt side, playing with a stick fetch and tag; they then swam in the lake or a while. After what seemed like an hour, they laid under a tree as his pup rested her head on his lap, napping. He then reaches inside his hoodie pocket and pulled out the journal and pen, as he looked at her, smiling then back at the journal.

"September 23, 2024: Today, is a new day, and a new year for me to hold onto, for it is me Buck, Buck  Windslow, have returned to grow old and rest in peace as a new man stepping foot back on this earth...Calli has returned as well...and I can only wait for what the future remedies to us  of our past that we can fix, what fun and new years lie ahead of us...what does the future hold? We will find out soon enough, as I want to die old with Calli by my side...and being a teenager, I still have a lot to learn about this new world...and so does she...I hope we can learn together as we are reunited once more...."