those eyes

i’m a sucker.

bored to tears at the freelance gig (more on that later…maybe), i decided to go for a lunchtime jaunt and get some fresh air away from the staleness in cubeland. my new gig has me set up in the general river north area, so biking here leads me down grand, westward. right past the anti-cruelty society.

passing it everyday by bike is pretty innocuous. too busy zig-zagging cars pulling out of parking garages and other normal nuisances, i can’t even get a glimpse of the doggies in the window. and it’s probably a good thing.

but feeling a bit unsettled and slightly masochistic today, my walk landed me right at the anti-cruelty doorstep. i’ve been here many times before. i know the drill. smile at the volunteers who are always so pleasant. sign the login sheet. take a deep breath. visit the doggies. (i don’t mean to discriminate, but i was a dog person first.)

why the deep breath before entering? because it breaks my heart to see all those little furry faces behind bars, so to speak. they just want to be loved. they bark so you come see them, talk to them in funny voices, and stick your nose between the bars. and sure, the sign says don’t stick your fingers in the cages, but i’m not 4. i want to touch these mutts. i want them to know that if i had a giant field and never-ending funds, i’d adopt them all in one swoop. and they could run free and play and romp, and i’d probably roll around with them and giggle incessantly. and my beloved shaun would have playmates out the wazzoo and all would be right in the world.

shaken from my reverie, i know i can’t take these pooches home. not even one. and it pains me. and one little man in particular had shaun’s eyes. he was a light brindle mutt with goofy lopsided ears and beautiful deep brown shaun eyes. i was crushed as he put his paws underneath the cage, begging to play. he’d be a suitable step brother for my baby at home.

but again, i can’t even toy with the notion of another furbaby. the apartment we live in won’t allow it. so instead, i wiped away welling tears and got the hell outta there.

like i said, i’m a sucker.

02 November 2007