Concerto: A Collection Of Short Stories

From Mishaps, to Perfection:

Darryl had his head outside the window of our car, and was grinning from ear to ear, as the sharp breeze blew against his face. I had decided to bring my loyal canine friend along, on the trip, because I decided that it would be quite fun to have his goofy presence. People wouldn't expect a Rottweiler, especially one so large and imposing, to have his playful, loving nature, but that was just how things were. Dana turned around to face him, and patted him on the head, receiving a few playful licks, as repayment. Did I mention? There was a second reason I had brought him along. I had decided that I was going to propose to Dana, on this trip, and had trained Darryl, for the past month, to bring the ring in a special box, when I called for it. I had trained him to restrain himself, to trot over, and to, under no circumstances, gallop, as was his general fashion. I was quite proud of having trained him, as he was a handful to contain. After an 8-hour long journey, filled with picturesque scenery, and music, we reached our destination: A resort, on the beaches of Goa, with about 20 villas, in total. We had managed to get the villa that was situated right next to the beach, for ease of access to the pearl-white sands. For dinner, that night, I suggested ordering food from the resort's dining area, to the villa, but Dana said that she wanted to go to a restaurant, and take a look at the lifestyles of the people of Goa. This effectively put a stopper in my plans, for that day (no self-respecting restaurant would allow a dog in).

The next day was quite sunny, and we decided to spend most of our day on the beach. We swam for 2 hours, and then lay down to tan, and either read, or listen to music, or, in our case, to play with our dog. Dogs were luckily allowed on the beaches, on the condition that the owners did not permit them the do their business anywhere near the sand. There was a separate area, in the resort, reserved just for pet owners to take their pets for walks on. We played fetch, and generally managed to, all three of us, exhaust ourselves. We staggered back to the villa, and collapsed onto the bed. The dog even managed to find a way to snuggle in, between us, which we were too tired to object to. By the time I woke up, it was 7:00 p.m., and we had slept for 2 and a half hours. Rejuvenated, we washed up, and went to dinner. I decided that I had another 6 days to tell her, and so took my time doing it. Darryl stayed peacefully inside the bedroom, while we were out.

Tuesday had arrived. Getting a good night's sleep, after the previous day's activities, I was ready to finally say the words. As we sat out on the porch, and whistled a tune that Darryl had come to know was the call-sign. Dana turned to look at me quizzically, so as to ask what I was whistling, and her eyes were met with the sight of me kneeling, in front of her, and my dog siting next to me, patiently. I began to speak, oblivious of the events beginning to occur, around me. At first, her eyes widened and teared up, but suddenly, she yelled "Darryl!" "Oh, was that part overkill? I had a feeling that getting my dog to bring the ring would be overk-" "No! Not that!", she exclaimed. She began to run at something behind me, and upon turning, MY eyes were met with the sight of a black tail, disappearing into the crowds, on the beach. I stared, in disbelief, then roared that I would find the dog and cut his food supplies for a week, and gave chase to them. We searched for three hours, moving from person from person, asking if they had seen a black dog, with orange dots for eyebrows, scampering up the beach that they were on, to which most either had fake memories of seeing a dog, had just seen another dog, or plain didn't know what in the blazes we were on about. The search went on, and I was experiencing two different emotions, of which the first said: "I have to find that poor dog! My beautiful Darryl! He was, no, IS like a brother to me!". The second thought running through my brain was something on these lines: "That blighter! I told him to rein in his emotions, but he had to find something to chase after, didn't he? He just couldn't listen to me for once!" We kept searching, and soon, by 6:30, we knew that it was going to be too dark to search for him, and so, we returned to the villa, with sinking hearts, but not before watching the sunset, and letting its light shine upon us, as she whispered to me that yes, she would love to spend the rest of her living days by my side. This made the moment quite bittersweet, what with her accepting, and my best-friend being missing. We trudged back, and she comforted me with a hug. "We'll find him, I promise, Adam" I was inconsolable, and she helped me the best she could. I began to realise that, in his own way, he had made the scene of her accepting my proposal all the more beautiful, with the crimson star setting on the horizon, which made me feel guilty for cursing him.

So, after all this suffering, you can imagine our amazement at the sight which awaited us: Lying on our front porch, snoring peacefully, was none other than the fiend with the flaming chest, the one I had shed many a tear for, not seconds before. Darryl.

Word Count: 991
Wrote this for an assignment