My Life As A Calder

Chapter 4

I landed home from California, feeling upset about Amy's funeral but in a cheerful mood knowing she was in a better place and wasn't hurting anymore. When I arrived home and turned on my phone, I saw I had 38 missed calls from unknown overseas numbers. I listened to a few voice messages before realising my number had been leaked. I cursed to myself quietly before grabbing my car keys.

I went to the Telstra dealer and bought not only a new sim card but a new phone too. I already had a black iPhone 6 but decided I wanted a while one instead. I set up my phone before heading home and downloaded apps and stuff to it too.

When I arrived home, I discovered there was a dog tied up out the front of my door. There was no one around and it wasn't as if someone just tied it up for a second because I have a fence around my house. I walked up to the dog, already knowing it was a golden retriever and patted it, before opting to take it inside with Bruno and Snow. Bruno instantly loved him. They became best friend I think. Snow stayed away from him at the start, but later grew to liking him. I knew I couldn't just keep him like that so I chose to take him to the vet.

They scanned him over for a micro chip but found none. They gave him a check up and that's when I knew why his old owners had left him at my place. He needed a hip replacement and medication for a small heart condition. The vet estimated approximately $4000-$5000 for his treatment. They offered to keep him and euthanise him as they knew he had been left at my door but I refused. I couldn't just let this poor innocent dog be put down. That's when I decided to take him in as my own.

I signed some paperwork and booked a date for his hip replacement and also bought his first months dosage of medication, costing $300. I also had to pay $150 for his check up and I also got him microchipped and desexed, adding up to a total of $950 for that appointment. The money side of this didn't bother me, not to brag. Let's just say, it didn't financially bother me. I took him to the dog wash in the way home and got him a wash, anti flee spray, nail clipping and groom.

When we arrived home, he instantly settled in. I posted a status on Facebook, asking for names to call him and decided on Buddy. I introduced him to everyone on Facebook and gave him some dinner while I ate some Mc Donald's I had picked up.

After I had eaten dinner, I took Snow for a walk. I always took her for a walk in the afternoon. Once I was home, I took Bruno and Buddy across the road to the beach and let them off the leash, trusting Buddy to stay with and come back with Bruno, which he did. They both run up and down the shore, picking up sticks and thankfully staying out of the water. I walked up the beach for about a kilometre and then decided to walk back home. Bruno and Buddy ran ahead, respecting all the other people there. I was impressed with Buddy's training and how friendly he was. I completely understood why someone would give him up though. If I wasn't fortunate enough to have an amazing job then I couldn't pay for it either.

At home, Bruno fell in his bed beside the couch. I let Buddy choose where he slept for the night as he didn't have a bed yet. I decided to also go to bed, taking Snow upstairs with me. Snow was sort of my pamper pooch that I took out. I normally dressed her up and put her hair in a little ribbon. I made sure she was always clean and fluffy and painted her nails each week. She was the spoilt dog, meaning she slept on my bed with me.

I fell asleep with snow cuddled up beside my head, feeling like I had done my good deed for the day. I felt Amy looking over me and fell asleep with a small smile on my face.