Petunia Mae
Legacy Name: Petunia Mae

It had been a week since Petunia Mae discovered where she was, what her fate had been, and why she was here. She wasn’t back to normal yet, but she was able to easily converse with the other dogs that she had encountered, learning all about them and what they were like, often times finding herself spending hours discussing the multitude of similarities that they all shared. And even though she still wasn’t fully recovered, everything else seemed to be, until one of her newly acquired friends, Daisy, had one day rushed into nowhere, one second racing along with everyone else, and the next gone, like the glimmer of light Petunia thought she saw when she disappeared as well.

Looking for answers, Petunia Mae quickly ran to the first dog she met here, Jewel, who, as she found out soon after the first day they met, stayed in the same monetary place for the most part, under the shade of an enormously grown oak tree which scattered its acorns farther than Petunia thought possible if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. When she got there Jewel was already waiting for her, standing and waiting for the questions about to come.

“What just happened to Daisy!” Petunia shouted, not sure how she should feel. “Did she just die again?! Why did she just disappear like that?”

Jewel smiled at Petunia, it was actually the first time they talked since their first encounter. “In a sense, I suppose you could say she died again, but I wouldn’t call it that. She’s just arrived in the place she’s truly wanted to go since she got here.” There was a pause as Jewel expected Petunia to ask more questions, but as it remained silent she continued, “This place is called ‘Dog’ Heaven for a reason, it isn’t Heaven, but more like an in between. A place that I assume exists for all animals.

“Basically, this is the place where we wait for our owners to die. In here we have an indefinite paradise as best as we can have it. It’s why we also seemingly came out of nowhere for you, because I’m assuming your original paradise, or Heaven, was filled with beauty rather than company. That is, until you got lonely, and realized that you would rather have other fellow dogs to play with. It’s how most of us end up here, anyway from an hour to a year after our death, depending on how much you like solitary. And –“

“Owner?” Petunia interrupted. “What exactly is that?”

Jewel sighed, starting again. “An owner is just that, someone owned you while you were alive. Dogs have different purposes to their owners, with the most common being to just be a friend. And, from my experience here, I’ve found that those who have forgotten all of this have either forgotten it because their life was so horrible that the memory would haunt them to a point where paradise was non-existent, or because their life was so… loved that they couldn’t know paradise without their owners, who are not allowed to come here. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what category you fall under, but whichever it is, I’m sure you’ll find a loving owner when the time is right. I’ve seen many dogs come here, abandoned, some without a home to begin with, and all of them have found a way to get out, showing themselves to a person who could use another dog or two in their heaven.”

“So then, “Petunia Mae started, “Why are you still here? You said it yourself; you can hitch a ride or something to get out of here and into true happiness. Why haven’t you?”

“How do you even know how long I’ve been here? I could’ve only gotten here moment before you did.” Jewel snarled defensively.

“I can see it in you.” Petunia replied. “Your eyes, your words, your posture, your everything. You’ve been here longer than any dog here, and depending on owners that could be over 100, maybe even 200 years!”

Jewel looked at Petunia, wanting her to leave, but wanting to explain to her the story that she bore, a story that no one had ever asked about. After a while she gave in to her second want, correcting, “367 years to be exact. 367 years just watching as dogs came and went, not a single one staying to be my friend, not a single one whose owners included someone like me in their own heaven. My original owner had died shortly after I myself died, but when he came and I saw his face light up, he looked right past me, to a dog that I’d never seen before, to a dog that he’d spent all of his childhood growing up with and all of his adulthood praying to see again. I was apparently his replacement, but I of course could never replace another being in his heart, and he was never able to add another one into it.

“So I was lost here and in a way I wanted to be, but by the time I realized how much I possibly wanted to leave it was too late and I was just too elder-like to show enough emotion to explain this to anyone. I honestly still don’t know if I can regret anything because I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing that I’ve become like this guide for other dogs, but I do know that I miss being loved by a human.”

Petunia could see Jewel drop her head as she told her story and, when she was done, Petunia nuzzled her head against Jewel’s body, lifting her head up. “I’m sure we have a lot more to talk about, but you have to promise me that when my owner comes to take me away to our heaven you will come with me.”

“But you don’t even know if your owner wants me. If they even want you!” Jewel protested.

Petunia looked into her eyes though. She was protesting out of the fear of rejection. Out of fear that she could lose even more, so Petunia Mae just stared into her eyes, and calmly repeated, “Promise me.”

With that command Jewel had nothing to do but nod. She had never made a plan for the future after what she went through, but Petunia had something about her, something that affected those around her as well. Despite not knowing the future, Jewel and Petunia ended up spending time together, with an eventual promise being that they would stick together no matter what, although Petunia knew in her heart that she had an owner who loved her enough to bring along another dog.

So together they played, laughed, ate, waited, and hoped. Hoped that the future was greater than either one of them could’ve imagined. Deep down knowing that the future had something great planned for them because no matter how lost or how forgotten someone is, the love they may have once shared is always there, somewhere, whether either one knows it or not.

--Anon