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The Longest Minute
Over the Rainbow
A minute.
Sixty seconds to say goodbye.
That’s all the time that I had left with him as the needle slid into his leg.
I stared into his drooping eyes, looked at the blood-tainted saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth. They said that this was the best thing that we could do for him, a last kind act for a best friend…but if that were the case, then why did my heart feel so heavy?
I wanted to stroke him, to tell him that everything was going to be all right, but I could not lie to him. He deserved better than that, better than to die in the back of my dad’s truck. Life isn’t fair, though.
I forced myself to think about the good times. Just a few months prior, we had been running around in the back yard, playing as though the lymphoma diagnosis had meant nothing. He acted as young as he ever had, and I would have sworn to you that he wasn’t sick. I would have told you that the lump in his cheek had just been a cyst from another thorn that he had stupidly eaten.
But time passed. He didn’t stay that way forever. Before my very eyes, he rapidly devolved into the skeleton form that now lay before me. He went from running to walking, from walking to crawling. Eventually, he stopped trying at all. So long as he was at my feet, he was content. We were content.
It tore my heart to not be at his side now, but there was no room. There was only room for me to watch on as the concoction that would take his life rushed into his veins, causing his body to twitch and convulse as he took his final breaths.
All too late, I looked away.
My dad wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into an embrace. I cried into his chest, shaking and trembling as terribly as my dog had as the life had left him.
I wanted to fall. I wanted to pass out. I wanted to yell at everyone there, tell them that it was all a big mistake and that we shouldn’t be doing this.
He was my dog, the one I had raised since a puppy. He was mine to protect no matter what. He was my fur baby. He was my world.
But it was too late.
In under a minute, the longest minute of my life, it was all over.
I braved a glanced over at him. He appeared to be sleeping. The bloody drool still dripped from his mouth onto the towel stretched out beneath him on the floor of my dad’s truck. I pulled myself away from my dad and walked up to the truck, past the vet tech and to my eternally sleeping baby. I took the corner of the towel and wiped the bloody drool away from my dog’s mouth.
“Goodbye,” I whispered, trying not to choke on my words. “I’ll miss you.”
About the Creator
Stephanie Hoogstad
With a BA in English and MSc in Creative Writing, writing is my life. I have edited and ghost written for years with some published stories and poems of my own.
Learn more about me: thewritersscrapbin.com
Support my writing: Patreon
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Comments (26)
Congratulations on your top story.
Oh my that was gut-wrenching! Top Story Emeritus Award as every line was saturated with emotion. Thing is...I've read an account from a vet who does this when their owners CHOOSE to leave the room because it's too heartbreaking for them. The doctor would plead against it, because the confusion and loss on that animal's face is the stuff of nightmares. Pets keep looking for their owners as they're in a strange place and they wonder why they've been left. The most compassionate thing to do, after they've been dedicated to us their whole lives, is to be there for them in their final moments to give them some peace. Fantastic writing Stephanie! ...And if anyone is up for a 'blubberfest' watch the movie "A Dog's Purpose." I promise it has a happy ending 😊
Congratulations on top story!!
This was a very emotional journey for me. I had to put my 13 year old golden down over a year ago and it still effects me deeply. Congrats on your well deserved Top Story.
That was a tear jerker, he was so lucky to have a human that loved him so much 🥲💞 Off to hold my dog now, congrats on Top Story!
تنظيف المنزل يتطلب خطوات معينة لضمان الحصول على نتائج جيدة ومرضية إليك دليل عملي لتنظيف المنزل التخطيط والتجهيز قبل بدء عملية التنظيف، قم بوضع خطة تفصيلية تشمل الغرف والمناطق التي تحتاج إلى التنظيف جهّز كافة الأدوات والمواد التنظيفية اللازمة، مثل المماسح، والمكانس، والمناشف، ومنظفات الأرضيات والأسطح تنظيف الغرف والمناطق العامة ابدأ بتنظيف الغرف الرئيسية مثل غرف المعيشة والنوم، وجعل السرير مرتبًا ونظيفًا استخدم ممسحة رطبة لتنظيف الأرضيات والأسطح، ونظف الغبار من الأثاث باستخدام منديل نظيف أو فرشاة شركة تنظيف منازل https://www.south-deira.com
I have yet to lose a pet but the older mine gets, the more the thought of losing him pops into my mind. Congrats on Top Story.
Congratulations 🎉🎉 for top story that hits me closely I feel it
Congratulations on your top story.
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Back to say Congratualtions
This one hits too close for me. My father's second wife was a vet tech. Way too many sad puppy stories to resonate, but your writing is impactful, real, and touching! Congratulations on Top Story.
Heartbreaking! I just went though this with my pup last year and I'm just recently coming out of the haze from losing her! Beautifully tragic minute in time captured here Stephanie!
I’m sorry to have had to skin the story! I have euthanized SO MANY pets!! 💔💔Nice entry for the challenge.
Ah, kind of had to skim this slightly for my own sanity. Good job.
Damnit! I'm in the middle of teaching and you broke my heart! :(
Oh, my heart. That was devastating. Congrats on the TS
Shit... I lost my dog (a beagle so your picture broke me) in September 2020. It was very unexpected and hit me like a truck, he was only ten and I had expected another 4 years with him. But these things happen and part of being a good steward for our animals is knowing on their behalf when it's time to say goodbye. The moment I finish typing this, I'm going to go hide in the office quiet room and cry for a little while. This story was simply heartbreaking. Every emotion you expressed, every possible thing you said, was the exact mirror of my own experiences. I had gotten Luke when he was a puppy, when I was 12 and it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do to say that goodbye. It was that last line, "I'll miss you" that really brought on the tears. After putting Luke down, my family all poured out a toast for him. "He was a good boy."
I knew this one was going to hurt when I saw the title and the picture. I've lived through that minute far too many times. It never get easier. A heartbreaking, well written story, Stephanie!
Ah, Stephanie. I think every pet owner can relate to this. A sad tale but beautifully told.
It's heavy with love that has nowhere to go 😞
Many hugs
Hey Stephanie, I saw the dog cover pic, the word "goodbye" in the beginning and the content warning. Jason below mentioned loss of pet which confirmed my suspicions. I'm so sorry I wouldn't be able to read this. But I scrolled down slowly for this to get registered as a read. I hope you don't mind 🥺
Oh gosh. This was heartbreaking. I have three dogs so this really resonated with me. Such great writing.
The loss of a pet is hard to put into words, their love is unmeasurable and always there. You did a beautiful tribute