“Those are liquid-brown eyes I could fall into, my son,” she said. “I’m certain it won’t be long until you choose your human.” Me, choosing someone myself? That would be a fine thing. I’d be lucky to get any home of my own at this rate. “You’re doing nothing wrong,” soothed Mamma. “You’re a special pug who’ll make a special pet. You’re just waiting for The One.”
“But how will I know what The One looks like?” I persisted.
Mamma licked my ears as she thought for a moment. I guessed she was glad I was still here as she pondered her answer. “They’ll smell the best,” she whispered. “But remember, when you’ve finally found them, what you need to do?”
“Discover my Puggy Purpose, Mamma,” I parroted. Just as she made us say every night before we went to sleep.
Discovering our Puggy Purpose is something every pug is taught as soon as we open our eyes. If we know what our purpose as a pet is, we’ll have a doggy home forever. Mamma made us say this before we fell asleep every night so we’d remember long into our new life when we left her.
“Good boy,” she grunted, nuzzling my ear. “Now, all you have to do is learn patience. And don’t forget to feel pride. You may get stick along the way by bigger, faster dogs, or by humans who don’t understand pugs, but always know that us pugs are unique. You’re really very special.”
*
After two more rejections, I began to lose what Mamma said I should never lose.
Hope.
She may have believed I was special, but would anyone else?
Then one afternoon, I was roused from my sleep for more visitors. On autopilot, I sleepily opened my eyes to switch on my gooey gaze. But this time, when I looked, an unexpected look was reflected back at me. This girl adult had big, brown eyes, rather like my own. And they locked onto mine as if... as if... she wanted me to fall for her…
She smelled differently too. Not like artificial scent or sugary impatient baby hands. There was a fresh clean scent but also something else – and it took a while to put my paw on it. Then, aha…!
She smelled of sweet kindness.
This lovely human stood next to a man who looked equally happy. He even scratched the exact sweet spot on my ear. How did he know where it was?
“He’s lovely, Anushka,” he was saying.
She made a noise in agreement.
“I’m Anushka, and this is my boyfriend,” she said to me softly. “A Man Called James.” Anushka joined in by scratching my other ear. I closed my eyes briefly in appreciation. Her touch felt just like Mamma’s. A Man Called James’s touch wasn’t half bad either. “He’s adorable,” Anushka said.
“He’s the smallest one, and the last left,” Mamma’s human said. Fearing it would put them off, I concentrated my gaze on the man with as much goo as I could manage.
Don’t put her off! I thought, as I glanced at Anushka, whose eyes were beginning to water. I could definitely see myself choosing her as my human.
She asked to pick me up and held me with such gentleness, I knew my nose hadn’t failed me. She was kind and sensitive. I wanted to jump up and down, but managed to stay calm.
“James,” she said. “Just look at him.”
“I’m lovely! I wanted to bark, but held it in. The last potential owners hadn’t appreciated barking. They feared it would worry their cat. Surely, that can only be a good thing, no? That’s definitely one of my pug purposes. To bother as many cats as possible.
Just as I started to muse how lovely chasing a cat might be, I was lifted from the cage into something quite magical. A warm hug in the arms of this lovely human. You may not believe in love at first sight, but Puppy Love at First Sight does exist, I assure you.
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