Man's Best Friend (Still some grammar issues)

She awoke with a severe need to drink. It had been far too long since she had eaten, but she knew she needed water as soon as she could get to it. However, there was the obstacle of her angry, abusive parents. She took a quick peek out the door. Her father, an angry, often drunk man named Ronald Glass, was drinking already. It was only the afternoon, but he had downed several bottles. Broken shards lay at his feet, where, unfortunately, her water bowl lay. However, someone had filled it up recently, at least. The girl without a name crept out of the bedroom as quietly as she could. As a Maltese dog of two years old, she should have weighed between six and twelve pounds, but she was weighed only four. She managed to make her way up to the water bowl, and get some water into her system, but then he noticed her.
“Fucking dog,”, he muttered, and kicked her. It didn’t hurt as bad as his attacks usually did, but he was pretty out of it. She did not wait to see if it would get worse. Instead she made her way through a broken screen door, into the world beyond. Perhaps there would be nice people out there today. Perhaps, she thought hungrily, they might even give her food. She licked her lips, then she trotted forward, wincing from old cuts and bruises, a result of days far worse than this.
It was bright outside. It took a minute to adjust from the darkness of her corner. When she did, however, the first thing she noticed was the sunshine. It was warm and comforting. She heard a voice, a happy, innocent voice. It was the voice of a human child, too young to be cruel. Her hopes began to lift, and she went towards the sidewalk where the sound emanated from. She was right, she discovered. It was a little boy, no more than five. He was studying his toy truck with fastidious intent. She walked up to him, and licked his hand. He jumped for a second, and then a huge cheerful grin broke out on his face.
out
“You have a boo-boo,” he said. “I get help. The boy got up, then, and began yelling.
“Mommy, Daddy!,” he shouted. “The doggy is hurt. The doggy is hurt!” Quickly enough, two people, a man and a woman, both of whom looked like the boy, appeared. A light sweat had broken out on both of them, and they looked a little upset.
“Timmy,” the man said, and though he did not sound happy, he did sound concerned for the dog, and that was enough to make her feel at ease. Not all humans were abusive, she knew that. It was just hard sometimes to remember that.
“Timmy,” the woman added. “We were worried sick. You ran away from us.” Timmy smiled at them, then point to the bleeding dog.
“I made a new friend,” he said. “She’s got a boo-boo.” His parents turned their attention to her, then.
“Are you okay, sweetie?,” the mother said, kindness and love apparent in her tone. Her tail began to wag, and she happily went over to Timmy’s parents.
“Gary,” she heard the mother whisper. “I think this poor thing is being abused.” Gary looked grave for a moment, then pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, as if making a decision.
“We’ll take her home today,” he said. “And we’ll call Animal Welfare as soon as we get home. This poor thing is clearly in danger here. If her owner want to press charges, then so be it.” And with that, Gary scooped her up, and the Thompson family her home for the night.
As it turned out, the Thompson family was correct. Neighbors confirmed seeing the dog, who Timmy had named Sunshine, being punched, kicked, and otherwise abused, There was also the matter of her weight. Clearly, the Glasses were abusing her. And so, through a combination of luck, and being well liked in the township, Timmy Thompson didn’t have to say goodbye to his new best friend. Sunshine was thrilled. One might not expect dogs to realize when they’re being saved, but they knew, and Sunshine was a bright girl besides. She spend the whole weekend by Timmy’s side, never leaving him, and that is one reason of many that Gary and Lisa decided to let Sunshine sleep in Timmy’s room at night. Later that night, as she was drifting off towards sleep, Sunshine had one thought; that she was the luckiest girl in the world.
Sunshine woke up a few minutes early, as she had for the last few weeks. Settling in had been easier than she thought it’d be, but it was everything she’d imagined, and more. She made her way up to Timmy, and licked his face, waking him up. One hand quickly went to her ears, scratching behind them. It felt amazing.
“Sunshine!,” he exclaimed. After a few minutes of scratching, he gave her a big hug. She kissed his face once more.
“I love you,” he said. She couldn’t speak his language, but she loved him, too. She did, however, put a paw across his chest. It was a gesture, her way of saying she would always be there for him, even if he didn’t understand it. She, thought, however, that despite Timmy only being five years old, she thought she saw understanding in those bright blue eyes. Certainly she saw love and acceptance. That was more than she ever thought she’d get, more than enough. She licked his hand, then, and Timmy got up, ready to face this new day.
The alarm clock went off. Timmy slapped at it haphazardly. Sunshine licked his face, as she always did. Young Timmy Thompson was now thirteen now, an entire eight years had passed. Sunshine herself was about ten years ago. She had not slowed down a bit, however, always keeping up with Timmy and his adventures. She accompanied him to the park, where she met some of her best friends, to the track at school where he ran, even to get groceries; the grocery store own loved Sunshine and allowed people to have small dogs in their carts. Everyone loved Sunshine, and Sunshine loved everyone. But her heart would always belong to Timmy, her savior.
“Goodbye, girl,” Timmy said, as he left for school. “I’ll see you soon. Sunshine hated this part of the day the most, but she knew school was important, though she didn’t know exactly why he couldn’t learn from home, like Candy’s girl, Jessica. It was nice, however, to spend time with Lisa. Timmy had already fed her, as he did since he was able to years ago, but it was Lisa now, looking down at Sunshine lovingly, gave her a head rub. It felt wonderful. No one spoke. No one needed to. Sunshine and Lisa relaxed, a girl’s day off.
“Happy Birthday, Timmy!,” they shouted. Sunshine danced around excitedly. She couldn’t believe how big Timmy had gotten. At sixteen, he was already well over six feet tall. The neighbors always made fun of him when he walked her, albeit in a joking way. The contrast between himself and Sunshine was just too funny. Sunshine was getting up there in years, perhaps, but still had a good amount of years left in her. She could feel it. Her bones were not yet so old that she could not run. Maybe she couldn’t run for as long, or as fast, but she was still plenty active.
“I love you, Timmy,” Elle, Timmy’s girlfriend said, planting a kiss on his left cheek. Sunshine liked Elle a lot. In fact, she loved her. Other girlfriends had come and gone, but Elle was special. In Sunshine’s mind, the three of them were like a story Timmy had once read to her called The Three Musketeers. She supposed they needed a fourth member, technically. Sunshine had considered this, and had come to the conclusion that the fourth member would be Timmy and Elle’s own baby. Timmy blew out the candles, accidentally spilling some cake on the floor, distracting Sunshine from her daydream. For one brief second, her only thought was how great that cake looked. Then she gobbled it up. It was carrot, her favorite. Everybody laughed, and they even gave her a little piece. After cake and presents, Sunshine spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch in Elle’s lap.
“Traitor,” Timmy said, laughing, as he reached out to pet her. Elle laughed. Sunshine was happy.
After that day, things seemed normal enough. Then one day, Elle stopped coming over. Sunshine really missed her. She remembered the day clearly. Timmy had come home from school crying. Sunshine tried to comfort him, but all he said was something about a suicide. Sunshine had no idea what a suicide was, but, for a moment, she wondered if it had anything to do with that time she had seen those cuts on Elle’s wrists. She was bleeding, and crying, and when she turned around and noticed Sunshine, she had looked Elle’s wounds. Elle had smiled and promised she wouldn’t do it again. Sunshine thought it was weird, but since then, nothing strange had happened. Why couldn’t Elle just come over?, she wondered. In any case, her boy needed her, and so she was there, as she had always been there. As she would always be there for the rest of her life.
A few days later, Timmy told Sunshine they were going to Elle’s funeral. Sunshine didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded serious. Timmy was wearing a black suit, and his parents were dressed all in black, too. Sunshine’s presence, Timmy explained, was requested by Elle’s parents. When they finally arrived there, everyone else was wearing black, as well. Sunshine kept looking for Elle, but didn’t see her there. After a while, however, a bunch of people brought in a big wooden box that smelled familiar, but also strange, like chemicals. Sunshine sniffed intently. They set the box down, and people began to gather around it. Someone opened the lid, revealing Elle. Sunshine’s tail starting wagging, and she ran off to greet her. She wanted her to wake up so they could take a walk in the park. She licked her face a few times. It was cold. Then she stopped. The odd smells. The coldness. She wasn’t asleep, Sunshine realized with mixed horror and sadness. She was dead. Sunshine put a paw on Elle’s chest, remembering that Elle always told her she had a piece of her heart. Sunshine sat there for what seemed like hours, and mourned her friend.
Elle’s death was hard on Sunshine, but it was somehow even harder on Timmy. The next year was a hard one, but together, they got through it. The years passed, and Timmy got into college. Sunshine knew from talking with the other dogs that college meant he would be away from the house, but it was also good for him. While she didn’t understand fully, and was going to miss him, she knew she would see him again. He had always come back from school before. This time would be no different.
It turns out Sunshine was right. Timmy called all the time, and insisted his parents put her on the phone. While it may have seemed ridiculous to some, Timmy loved and missed her. Besides, though he would never admit this to anyone, he knew Sunshine was old. Sunshine knew it, too. In fact, she suspected she didn’t have much longer left to live. Even in spite of this, she was optimistic. She was going to hold out long enough to see her boy one last time. She was going to cuddle in his arms before saying goodbye one final time. While she was a little sad about this, she was also happy. The Thompsons had saved her from an early grave. She had always been certain of that. Her life had been a good one. She was ready.
Timmy was worried about Sunshine, and so came up early to visit the family.
“We’ll spend the whole weekend together, girl,” he said, stroking her head lovingly. “Just you and me.” And he was true to his word. They spent the whole weekend watching bad movies and snuggling, going on long walks around the block. He even gave her a bath! She felt so loved.
On Sunday night, Sunshine Thompson, beloved family member, died in her sleep, in Timmy’s arms. Timmy woke up that morning, and cried for a long time. To this day, Timmy cares for animals, and volunteers at the animal shelter. He has several dogs of his own, and even a wife and two sons. And if you ever catch him swimming, you’ll see a beautiful, realistic portrait of Sunshine on his chest, close to his heart. Not even death could break their bond.