My children had been pestering my husband and me for a dog for years. We’d decided to wait until they were old enough to help care for it, so now, at eight and five, we figured they were just about ready. My husband had recently lost his job and we were really struggling to make ends meet, let alone give the kids an occasional treat, so I figured a dog would be nice for them.
We went down to the pet store and the kids instantly fell in love with two adorable Labrador puppies. They were only eight weeks old and so playful and full of life. We couldn’t get over how identical they were, even the pet shop staff agreed that they were difficult to tell apart, both in looks and temperament. The puppies were $600; way out of our price range. We tried to coax the kids away from the “pouncing twins” as my five-year-old called them, and show them some other puppies more in our price range.
As I begrudgingly attempted to pull them away, I heard my name called out in surprise. I turned around to see Rebecca Macey, the most beautiful girl from my high school. “Little Miss Perfect” we used to call her — gorgeous, smart, popular. I hadn’t seen her in years and was hoping her perfect figure would be showing a little wear and tear (mine certainly was). But no, Rebecca looked just as perfect as she always had. I’d always envied her and I felt a familiar stab of fresh jealousy as I noticed her posh clothes and pristine children (I’ve never managed to work out how those mothers keep their kids clean while shopping; mine always end up filthy and crumpled).
We chatted for a bit and I listened enviously as she told me all about her fabulous husband and his well-paid job. It seemed like nothing had changed; she was still Little Miss Perfect living a perfect life. Some people seem to have everything while I’ve always had to struggle. Rebecca’s daughter brought over one of the pouncing twins. “Isn’t he just the most perfect little puppy?” asked Rebecca. “We’ve had our eye on this one all week and have come back to collect him today.”
“That’s funny”, I heard myself saying, “We’re getting his brother.” My kids yelped in delight and ran off to collect the other puppy from his cage. I’d always had a competitive streak but I was surprised at my impulsive decision. How could I justify spending $600 on a puppy when John was out of work?
I’d begun selling Tupperware as a means of getting a bit of extra cash and now I’d gone and splurged on the puppy I felt the pressure to work even harder to make up for my over-spending. Off to another Tupperware party one day, I jumped in the car and reversed out of the driveway only to feel a horrifying bump. I jumped out and found our beautiful little puppy curled up in pain, he must have followed me out the door. I couldn’t believe what I’d done! I picked up Buddy and held him on my lap as I rushed to the vet. When I got there the vet said I was too late, Buddy was too badly hurt and would have to be put down.
As I left the vet and headed off to my party I was sobbing as I drove. I was so sad for the poor little puppy, so sad for my children and so sad for myself — these things always seem to happen to me. As I pulled up outside my party appointment I took a few minutes to pull myself together and tidy up my face. This was a new customer I hadn’t yet met and I was resenting having to put on a brave face. As I re-applied my make-up I looked across the road and could not believe what I saw — the other puppy, Buddy’s brother, was playing in the front yard with Perfect Rebecca’s immaculate children!
I could not believe it. All this bad luck and then here was the answer to all my problems playing innocently in the yard just metres from me. I took a deep breath and waited. I called and cancelled my appointment and waited some more. I kept telling myself that everything would be fine. Rebecca was rich, she could get another puppy. This was it for us. How could I not do it? How could I go home and face my devastated children? I kept waiting. Finally the perfect children headed inside to their perfect house, I snuck over the fence feeling terrified I’d be caught. It was too easy — the puppy was just as friendly as our Buddy and came bounding over to me. As I picked him up and ran over to the car he was so busy licking my face that he didn’t even notice we were leaving his house.
I took “Buddy The Second” home and put him in our backyard. My kids came home from school and didn’t notice anything different. They were at the time, and continue to be, delighted by the wonderful, bustling ball of puppy that isn’t Buddy.
I feel terrible for what I did, but every day I watch my children getting so much delight from our puppy that I can almost convince myself that I did the right thing. Almost.
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