It Just happened

It happened all so quickly. My dog was gone, just like that. Why? Why would something like this happen to my little dog. He didn’t do anything wrong, just being a dog. Playing catch and then this.  Of course you have no idea what I am talking about, so I will bring it back to when this horrid day happened. It was a Friday night, family game night, as always. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Carol, Uncle Gary, mom, dad, Courtney, Joey and I all surround “The Game of Life” board game. We do this almost every friday night, it is our family tradition.
My best friend waddles in. No, it is not a fat person, it is my dog Cooper. He is 12 years old and just a little on the chubby side but that is not his fault. He was diagnosed with cancer just a few months ago and always feels the need to eat whatever he sees. The doctor said he only has about a year or so left before his time could come. That just about killed me. I felt distressed whenever I thought about it. I can’t get that day out of my head. That dreadful day I just stared at the floor, water glistened over my eyes when I looked at him, knowing every day that goes by gets worse and worse and closer to the day we have to say goodbye. But he always looks up at me with those brown beady eyes, wagging his tail without a care in the world.
He comes over and slowly lays down next to me.. Rolls over on his back, paws spread, mouth open, waiting for that belly rub. He is so spoiled.
“ Cooper, you such a good boy” I say.
“ Jessica, it’s your turn” my mother hollers  at me.
I love my mom, don’t get me wrong, but she is so weird. People say we look like sisters, but I don’t see it. We both have long brown hair, hazel eyes, cheek bones that like to stick out when we smile and really freakishly long legs. I just think it’s a little strange being compared to my mother instead of my sister.
As the game is ending, you can see in everybody’s eyes that they are dead tired. So am I. Around 12 or so, both my grandparents, aunt and uncle head home and the rest of us drag ourselves up the stairs as we all moap into our beds and crash.
The next morning, I was woken up by my little brother.
“ Jessica, WAKE UP, it’s snowing, I want to go outside and sled, please get up, I WANT TO GO NOWWWWW”
“Geez, why am I always the one dragged into doing these things” I thought to myself.
I eventually rolled out of bed, threw on some boots and a coat and went outside. We live in a court so there isn’t much traffic. When we were all little, we would go to the middle of the court and slide down the snow that the plow guys would build up for us. Well they did it once again and that’s what we decided to do.
Of course I brought Cooper outside because he is in LOVE with the snow. He doesn’t hop around like he used to, he just likes to lay in it.
As I am walking to the snow pile, I look over at my neighbors house. I really do not like them. My mom told me they used to live in a really nice house and had to move because the couple got a divorce. They still seem pretty snobby to me as they all drive around in brand new cars and have tons of parties all the time.
As I’m walking, I hear people yelling in the garage, but I can’t see who it is. It sounded really serious and I couldn’t just stare the whole time so I tried to ignore it.
Usually Cooper has on his shock collar when he goes outside but since he is old, I know he won’t run away and I didn’t want to shock him if he tried to.
Joey was throwing snow balls toward Cooper and he would try to catch them. Cooper caught almost every single one until they disappeared. Joey was on top of the snow hill but it was kind of icy. I look over and my neighbor started their car and was skidding backwards super fast to leave. Well as my brother threw this snowball, he slipped and fell backward as the snow ball went into the street instead of at Cooper in the yard. He went pounding for it with snow flying behind him. and whoever was driving the car wasn’t paying attention and it was all in slow motion from there.
“Cooper nooooooo” I wail at the top of my lungs as he whips his head to look right at me, but it was too late to do anything. Her front end smacks into the side of Cooper and he is lying like a pancake on the icy ground, helpless. I sprint to him as my brother rolls around to get up and follows right behind me. I skid down to my knees and look at Cooper. His head is covered with deep dark blood and his back legs look destroyed. I look into his eyes. Weak. I know he tries to put on a brave face but this time, I don’t think that face was going to last. He wagged his tail just a little and then collapsed. I was speechless. I look over at my brother who is already in tears.
“Joey, go get mom”.
He hesitates, staring at Cooper and then sprints away.
There was no expression on my face. My mouth was dry and the air was still. I was feeling too much at once. I am sitting in the middle of the road, losing feeling in my hands,, holding my bestfriend I just lost in a matter of 5 minutes. Anger, frustration, sadness, horror, confusion all running through me at once.
It happened all so quickly. My dog was gone, just like that. Why? Why would something like this happen to my little dog. He didn’t do anything wrong, just being a dog. Playing catch and then this.
It has been 6 months and I think about him everyday. I got to keep a pawprint and his collar he used to wear. That day runs through my head constantly. I don’t blame my brother, he wasn’t paying attention. I obviously blame my idiot neighbors. They took my best friends life away like that. What happened to her you ask? She got in major trouble with the cops. She deserves it. I just wish I had my best friend for a little while longer.