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Ilya loves being part of Shane’s routines. He loves sleeping on the couch in the afternoon sun, he loves waking up with Shane in the middle of the night to stare at the street lights. Ilya loves Shane so much that he hates when Ms. Sheila forces him outside for their evening walk.
Ilya spends their walks trying to get back home as quickly as possible. He knows the route that they go and inevitably every time they get back to their street he starts pulling on his leash to get them home faster. Ilya hates to be without Shane. He knows that they get special treats once Ilya gets home from his walk.
Today, which must be the weekend because Ms Sheila didn’t leave for work, something is different. She’s weepy, even though she’s not actively crying, Ilya can smell it from his spot cuddling with Shane. Ilya isn’t sure what’s happening but he is trying to be cute with Shane because he knows that makes Ms Sheila happy.
“Come on, Ilya, we are going to go to the dog park!” Ms Sheila says in a tone that sounds like she’s trying not to cry. Ilya raises his head from where it rests on Shane’s back. He doesn’t want to leave him, not even for a dog park visit. But Ms Sheila is so sad.
Ilya makes sure to move his favourite stuffed owl close to Shane so he doesn’t get lonely when he’s gone. Shane barely moves from his curled up position on the couch when Ilya leaves him, just curls tight around the stuffed owl. Ilya follows Ms Sheila to the front door where she hooks up his harness.
“Ok, sit nice for me, Ilya. One photo.” She sniffles through her words. The two of them leave the house for the short car ride to the dog park but Ilya is already counting down the minutes until they get back home.
Ilya typically loves the dog park. It’s his time to be around other dogs and play with them to his heart’s content, knowing that Shane will nap with him after. But right now he doesn’t feel like leaving Ms Sheila alone. She started crying on the drive here, which had never happened before. As soon as they had entered the fenced in area she had unhooked his leash but he had stayed beside her, even though a few furry friends of his had tried to get him in on their game of chase.
Ilya stays alert as they stand at the edge of the park, watching the other dogs run and frolic in the warmth of the May afternoon. He presses in close to Ms Sheila’s leg when she starts petting the top of his head, rubbing his ears in the way that he likes.
While Ilya is watching the rest of the park a group of two people start to approach. Instantly, Ilya moves in front of Ms Sheila, just in case. It’s clearly a mom and her daughter, they look similar with their blonde hair and blue eyes. Ilya doesn’t growl when they approach Ms Sheila but it's a close thing.
Then Ms Sheila reaches out to hug the older of the two with one arm, keeping hold of Ilya’s collar with the other. Ilya doesn’t take it personally. He finds it comforting when Ms Sheila holds onto him cause then he knows for sure she isn’t forgetting about him.
“Hi Julia, so nice to meet you!” Sheila hugs the woman and then fistbumps the younger girl. “Fern, nice to see you too.” Ilya relaxes slightly, if she knows these women then nothing bad is going to happen. But he remains on guard, he can never be relaxed when Ms Sheila is around so many strangers.
“Hi!” Fern, the younger girl has one of those long stick ball throwers that Ilya had seen other dog parents have. He always wanted to play with one of those. “Can I play with Ilya?”
“Of course honey,” Sheila lets go of Ilya’s collar. “He loves running around. He’s very friendly.”
Ilya doesn’t move, even when Fern offers her hand for a sniff. He smells her hand to be polite, but he’s busy with his person. Sheila pushes him forward to go and play. He doesn’t want to go with this girl who smells of cheetos. He reluctantly follows Fern when Ms Sheila nudges him again.
Ilya fetches the ball one, two, three times before it actually becomes fun. He tries to catch the ball before it hits the ground but Fern can throw the ball farther than he thinks. Ms Sheila and Julia are chatting in the same spot. Ms Sheila is still crying though. Even though Ilya wants to go and comfort her, he is trying to be good and do as she asked. But Ilya wants to go back to Shane, get ready for a nice evening of cuddling.
Then in the middle of Fern throwing the ball again, Ms Sheila starts walking towards the exit of the dog park. She’s not even holding onto Ilya’s leash anymore, Julia has it in her hands. Ilya can smell her tears from here.
Ilya forgets about the ball and ignores Fern’s cry when he barrels past her. Ms Sheila is leaving him. She forgot about him. He’s moving as fast as he can past the other dogs and other humans, he can’t be left behind again. He’s supposed to go back to Shane. Shane doesn’t like his routines messed up. They are supposed to have supper together and then sit with Ms Sheila during an episode of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Shane loves messy reality TV almost as much as Ms Sheila.
Before he can reach Ms Sheila, Ilya runs into a child who accidentally walks into his path. Ilya cowers away, he feels so sorry but the child’s dog is not willing to let Ilya apologize. Before the husky can get too close, Julia is there pulling at Ilya’s collar and apologizing to both the child and the parent.
“So sorry, we just got him. He’s not used to us yet.” Julia tells the adult.
And that’s how Ilya finds out that he’s been left behind again.
Ilya can smell the family bond between Julia and Fern. They both smell like cheetos even though they don’t eat them. He can smell them in this house and as far as he can tell there has never been another dog in this house.
The first day that Ilya is in his new home, he feels so confused. His new dog bed, slightly too small for him, still smells of plastic. When he tries to join Fern and Julia on the couch he is redirected to his bed. He is told that he is not allowed on the furniture in no uncertain terms. Even when they go to bed, he is told that he is supposed to stay in the living room.
How is he supposed to protect Fern from the dark when he isn’t allowed in her room? The loneliness of the night presses in close and Ilya misses Shane and his owl. Ilya’s back is cold without Shane curled up behind him.
Ilya spends some of his time walking around the house, sniffing out all the corners. When he isn’t doing that he spends his time curled up on his dog bed missing Shane. Julia tries to tempt him with his favourite treats and food but Ilya doesn’t feel like eating. He wonders if Shane thinks he abandoned him. He hopes that Shane knows it wasn’t Ilya’s decision. He wants to be mad at Ms Sheila but he can’t with how much he misses her.
The second day that Ilya is in the new house, Fern leaves for school but Julia stays with him all day. She talks at him when she isn't on the phone for work, telling him about the sports that Fern plays and how they love to watch Dancing with the Stars. Ilya doesn’t care. Later, when Ilya is watching the dance show from his dog bed he can’t help but think that Shane would love this show too.
Fern likes to lay with him on the floor when she returns from school, her body much bigger than Shane’s but it makes Ilya feel less alone. Her body heat warms him down to his bones. Julia doesn’t like it though, as she walks into the living room with a pinched brow at the sight of them together on the floor.
The third day Ilya finds out they keep their shoes all over the place. He tries to help bring all the shoes to the front door, but as soon as he picks up one small pink running shoe in his mouth, Julia yells at him to leave it alone. Ilya cowers at that, hiding underneath the coffee table until Fern comes home from school.
On the fourth day, Ilya makes his dislike for being taken out for walks known. He would much rather be let out to the backyard to do his business. He hates being stopped on the sidewalk by strangers asking who the dog is. In Ms Sheila’s neighbourhood, all of the people know him. The lovely woman next door, Mrs. Schaefer, even bakes him dog treats.
In the afternoon, when Julia tries to attach his harness, he dodges and weaves away from her hands. He can tell she’s close to frustration so he goes to sit at the back door as if he hadn’t been purposefully obnoxious.
“Fine! Go outside then. The neighbours are going to think I’m a horrible dog owner if I don’t take you for walks but see if I care!” Julia says when she finally lets him out to the backyard. Ilya likes the backyard because it reminds him of his forest. The overgrown weeds and grass are similar to his first home, but this is much more solitary.
Ilya lives for when Fern comes home from school each day, she loves to tell him about their math classes and what she reads during the day. Before dinner time, she even reads a chapter or two of her current book to him. Shane would love that too.
On the fifth day, Julia is worried. Ilya is barely eating and she’s trying to force him to eat anything. She’s holding a handful of kibbles to his mouth and Ilya just can’t make himself eat.
“Please Ilya. I’m worried about you. Fern is worried about you,” She pulls a packet of Ilya’s favourite treats from the pantry. Ilya’s mouth doesn’t even water at the smell. He just wants Shane back. “Sheila is also worried about you.”
Ilya is familiar with emotional manipulation. His brothers were master manipulators. Julia’s statements reek of it. Ilya can’t ignore the statement though. He would hate to disappoint Ms Sheila if she’s worried about him. He reluctantly eats five kibbles, enough to satisfy Julia, but not quite enough to heal the pain in his heart.
Day six starts much the same. Ilya is listless. Fern is at school and Julia is on the phone. Ilya tries to tune out Julia’s calls. She’s been trying to sell life insurance for the past week, which is incredibly boring to listen to and does not seem to be very successful. But this call sounds much different right away.
“I’m sorry Sheila. I thought this would work out well. Fern loves him but he’s the most depressed dog I have ever met. I can’t have that energy in my home. It’s impossible to get any work done when the dog is depressed.”
She pauses and Ilya can almost hear the tinny voice of Ms Sheila from the phone. He can’t help the excited tail wags that wiggle out.
“Whenever it works for you. I’m home all day, preferably before the weekend. I don’t think he will last much longer without food.” Julia says and waits for a few moments before responding. “Fern will be fine. Maybe we will start with a goldfish instead.”
Ilya’s heart soars. Maybe Ms Sheila will come over for a visit? He would be willing to eat something if she came over. Ilya wants to go sit with Julia until she tells him what is happening but she already yelled at him for getting dog hair on her office carpet. So he knows better now. Ms Sheila loved having him and Shane curled up on her office floor and never complained about all the combined hair the two animals shed.
Ilya is laying beside his dog bed when the doorbell rings. He’s already learned his lesson about barking at the intrusion. Julia does not appreciate noise, so he stays where he is and makes no sound.
His ears perk up when he hears Ms Sheila at the door. She’s here for their visit! He’s going to eat so much food while she’s here. Maybe she will even share some Shane stories.
Ilya trots quietly to the front door, not wanting to do anything to anger Julia. He wants to shove his face by her hip and see for sure if Ms Sheila is here but he doesn’t want to be shoved away.
“There’s my baby!” Ms Sheila kneels down and opens her arms wide, Ilya is scared that this is a trap. If he goes to her for a hug, is Julia going to be mad?
Ilya walks slowly, watching Julia’s face for any furrowed brows or pinched lips. He is ready to pull back at a moment's notice in case she looks mad. As soon as Ms Sheila’s arms wrap around him, he melts. This is what he was missing the whole week, a nice hug and physical affection. Fern tried her best but Julia did not. He remains in her hold for a few more moments before he tries to pull back, not because he wants to but because he can feel the irritated energy coming from Julia.
“Sorry to rush this but I have to get back to work.” Julia says with a dramatic look at her watch.
No, Ilya thinks, I barely got to see Ms. Sheila, she can’t go already. Ilya plants his butt right next to his favourite human and ignores Julia with his whole heart. Ilya sniffs at Ms Sheila’s shirt, trying to get as much Shane smell as he can before she leaves.
“Oh my god, you dramatic dog,” Julia says from behind him. The clatter of his leash interests him enough that Ilya pulls his nose out from Ms Sheila’s shirt. Julia hands the leash over to Ms Sheila. “Thanks for picking him up so quickly.”
Ms Sheila clips his leash to collar and Ilya thinks he might break his tail from wagging so hard. He’s not exactly sure what’s happening but he thinks it might be good. She’s gonna take him on a walk?
“Are there any toys or anything that he got attached to? I would hate for him to miss any of his toys.” She rubs at Ilya’s ear in that amazing way that she does.
“Only got him a dog bed that he didn’t even like all that much.” Julia says with a scoff. Ilya watches disbelief come over Ms Sheila’s face.
“All right. Well, we will get out of your hair. Thank you for calling me. Let’s go Ilya.” Ms Sheila leads him towards the car. Maybe they are going to the dog park? Ilya follows her with his tongue hanging out. He’s never going to let her leave him now. He will be stuck to her side like glue.
After Ilya is seated in the front and Ms Sheila slides into the driver’s seat, she wraps her arms around his body again. Ilya revels in her hold and tries to lick at her face. She laughs at his antics.
“I am so sorry baby. I didn’t know it was going to be that bad. I promise you will never leave ever again. I sorted out the paper work and you are mine now. I know you are a dog but sometimes I think you can understand what I am saying.” She looks directly into his eyes and Ilya wishes he could respond back to her but instead he tries to lick her face again.
She starts the car and Ilya is vibrating with happiness.
“I know someone is going to be very excited to see you.” She says as she pulls into the driveway.
Ilya is a polite dog so he doesn’t pull her to the door, but they walk much faster than normal.
The time it takes for Ms Sheila to unlock the door is way too long, she drops the key twice. Then finally once the door swings open, Ilya can see his best friend standing in the hallway. He lets out one excited yip that he can’t control. Ms Sheila lets go of his leash and it drags behind him as Ilya runs towards Shane. They meet in the middle, Shane not even trying to pretend to be aloof.
Shane winds his tail around Ilya’s front leg and Ilya shoves his snout into Shane’s back. He smells the same. Shane gives one tentative lick to Ilya’s face before grooming him in earnest. Ilya let it happen. This is the happiest he has been in his entire life. Ms Sheila is taking video on her phone as Shane licks away at Ilya’s face.
Shane nudges Ilya towards the living room and hops up onto the couch. He curls around Ilya’s owl, waiting for Ilya to join their cuddle. When Ilya’s head rests on Shane’s back, he feels content for the first time in days.
As he breathes in Shane’s smell, Ilya can’t wait to follow Shane’s routines for the rest of his life.