101 Reasons Why

Speckles

        Like many, I owned a puppy as a little girl. My dalmatian went by the name of Speckles, and I had taken her under my wing when she was just two weeks old. The day I went to the pet shop there had been what seemed like thousands of puppies wanting me to take them home, but she was the only one that I even had a thought about calling my own. Her fur was as white as snow, which made me think of how pure she must be in her heart and soul. An innocent little pup. The pet shop owners had told me that she was a dalmatian when I brought her to the checkout counter. They even showed me the pedigree papers to prove it. They insisted she would get her spots in a year or so. But I didn’t want the puppy for her breed. I wanted her for the fact that I felt we were bound together by some outside force. I knew it the moment I laid my eyes on her. I named her Speckles that day to remind her that her incoming spots,  even though, truthfully, I never really wanted them to show- without them, she was unique. I loved her so much. We went everywhere and accomplished everything together. But, years flew by and her spots never came to be.

        Whenever we walked in the park, the other dogs always ran away. It was as if she had a strong odor that repelled everyone in her path. I was no help either; my social skills were almost nonexistent. No interaction ever occurred, and both of us would sulk by the park bench, staring at all the happy pet owners frolicking in the distance. The whole reason I received the dog was to make friends, but the opposite was what actually happened. 

        One time, my family and I entered her in a dog show. When we approached the sign-in table, the judges pointed and mocked her. The laughing and chanting was etched into my brain when their snooty voices claimed that she was no pedigree. The fact that we had all her papers in line didn’t change their opinion of her. They even forbid her to go near the other dogs. They claimed she was a disgrace, and that the sight of her would ruin the others’ performances. She was an outcast, whose only companion was me. But, I knew how my darling felt. Both of us seemed like we did not belong in this world, and I was reminded of this by my mother’s words of despair and disappointment every day. I was never a proper lady according to her. The fact that I wouldn't wear frilly, girly dresses every day annoyed her. The fact that I enjoyed jumping in puddles and dancing in the rain vexed her. The fact that I would only spend time in my room with my pup and no one else made me seem like a loser in her eyes. I knew she wanted to disown me, but she never would because that would taint the image of the perfect family we had to project, it would shatter the mold that I was supposed to fit into perfectly... But the sad part was, I never could.