Shasta comes to live with us

Shaq gets a Best Fur-friend (Draft 2)

Readers note: I am now 4 and we are living in Sioux City, Iowa. Ray works for Gateway Computers.

I have many 2 legged friends, and a few 4 legged Fur-Friends. But I have never had a Best Fur-Friend (BFF). I would love to have a BFF to share my life with.

Today Ray comes home from work and like most days we go for a car ride. We usually don’t drive very far, but boy do I enjoy riding in the car. Ray rolls down the windows so I can stick my head out and feel the air on my face. As my ears flap in the breeze I close my eyes and make like I am flying. I love riding in cars.

After a few minutes we arrive at a house, usually we go to the park. I have never been here before. Hmmm I wonder what is going on. As we pull into the driveway I can see a very excited dog in the backyard.

I am a little bit curious. I get out of the car and go to the backyard where there is a very excited Chocolate Lab. At first I sniff her through the fence and she sniffs back. Then she goes tearing off around the yard and comes back to the fence and looks at me. The whole time her tail is wagging.

Being the gentleman that I am, I introduce myself. She tells me her name is Shasta and that this is her house. I ask her if she would like to play. She jumps up and down and is so excited. I take that for a yes.

Ray opens the gate and lets me in. Shasta and I sniff each other more and then she does a head fake to try to get me to make the first move. I know that move; after all I am named after a basketball player, so it does not shake me. I stand very still with my tail straight up. Then I drop down on all four paws getting as low as I can go. She stands very still now. I spring up and jump to one side and she jumps with me. Then all of a sudden Shasta turns and starts running. The game is on!

I start chasing Shasta around the yard and tackle her. We wrestle, then all of a sudden I pop up and run and she is chasing me. We are having a great time running all over the place playing tag. It is so much fun.

Ray is over talking to some people who I had never met. So I come over and say hello. They are very nice and are happy to see me. They throw a ball. Shasta and I race full speed to see who gets to it first. Being the gentleman I let her win some of the time. When I would win she would try to take the ball from me. She is very sneaky; I know I’m going to have to keep an eye on this one.

This goes on for quite some time. Finally Shasta and I are tuckered out and head to the water bowl. The two of us drink at the same time, draining the bowl.

As we are lying together in the grass she tells that she thinks her family is moving because boxes are being packed. I told her that I had moved several times. She says that there have been lots of family meetings where her name has come up, but she is not sure what they were saying.

After a while Ray calls me over and puts my leash on and says goodbye to the people he had been chatting with. He mentions something about seeing them on Friday, but I can’t make it out.

As we pull out of the driveway I stick my head out the window and shout out to Shasta that it was fun playing with her and that I hope we can play again. She shouts back that she had a great time and hopes we can play again too. I like her, she is neat.

Friday:

Ray comes home late from work; I know it is late because it’s starting to get dark outside. At first I think nothing of it, there are days where he works late and this must be one of those days. But then as I watch him get out of the car he has Shasta with him.

Oh, I am so excited. As soon as they get in the house I mob them. I am so happy to see Shasta again. Ray quickly puts us outside and we run and play together. Gosh she is fast, but I know the short cuts around the yard, like jumping up the retaining wall instead of running all the way around.

She is so excited. As we run around the yard she tells me that a big van came to their house today and took away almost all of their furniture. I tell her that is what you do when you move.

She says that when Ray came that her family all gathered around her and were crying and saying how much they loved her. I told her that when Ray would leave he often would tell me how much he loved me. Though he never cried while saying how much he loved me.

After a while Ray calls us over. We both come running full speed; Ray knows to stand with his legs apart as I like to run between them so that is what I do. It is a lot of fun. I am tall and have to duck my head to make it. Shasta just ran right up to Ray and jumped up on him. He caught her in his arms. Wow! I had never seen him do that before. I wonder if he would catch me if I tried it.

Ray sits us down and tells us that Shasta is going to be living with us from now on. Shasta asks me what is going on. I tell her that she is now going to be a part of our family. She seems sad. I tell her it will be ok, that Ray is a great person to hang out with and that we will have lots of fun together.

I am happy and sad at the same time. I am so happy that Shasta is going to be living with us, but I am also sad that her family can’t take her with them.

To help her out, I take her on a tour of the house. I show her where the Kitchen is, where the water dish is. I notice that Ray has put out a new food and water dish for Shasta. We go over to the bedrooms and then we go to the basement.

Shasta has never been on stairs before. I go bounding down them quickly. Shasta just stops at the top and looks at me. I tell her it is ok, she says she is not sure what to do. Ray comes over and helps her by coaxing her to walk a few steps with a treat. She creeps down the stairs on her belly. It is funny to watch, and then I remember my first experience with stairs. Finally she is in the basement. I show her the large play room and where the bathroom is and where the downstairs water bowls are located. Going out of the basement was much easier. She bounded up the stairs, doing sort of a bunny hop. Ray then got her to go down the stairs again. This time she walked instead of crawling. The next time she ran down them like I do. She is a fast learner.

Ray and I had discussed having another family member. I could not ask for a better match.

Yippee I have a Best Fur-Friend.

Bedtime:

That night as we are getting ready for bed Shasta asks where she should sleep. I tell her well on the bed of course, where else would you sleep? She said that she had never slept on the human’s bed before. I told her it was the best. So we both jumped up and lay out. Shasta went for the pillow right away. I told her that was where Ray slept and that she should move. But she didn’t.

When Ray came in he asked her to move, she didn’t. He tried picking her up and she became a ton of bricks almost an immovable object. After much struggling Ray got her moved over and settled in.

Shasta still wanted that spot on the bed so she just lay right on top of Ray. It was funny to watch. Ray would push her off and she would crawl back on top of him. Finally they reached an agreement. Ray had lost. Shasta lay with her body half way across Ray’s chest.

As we went to bed that night I thought of how much fun Shasta and I were going to have together. It sure is nice to have a Best Fur-Friend.

Ray here:

As Shaq was just saying we reached an arrangement on sleeping situation. What he does not say is what happened the next morning.

I was lying in bed when all of a sudden I felt a tongue in my mouth. So I slowly opened my eyes and there looking at me was this cute little chocolate face. Next thing I knew I was getting a tongue bath, no need for a shower this morning.

After that I learned how to sleep with my mouth closed. Heck, I didn’t even know I slept with it open before.

I am so tired Draft 1

Readers Note: Shaq is 16 in this story, living in Austin.

The End is Near

I am very tired these days. I often need help getting up and getting my legs under me, but once up I can shuffle around. Ray is never more than a couple feet from me. There are ramps so I can get down the stairs into the yard.

It takes a long time for me to lie down as it is painful on my joints. I circle and circle until I finally sort of fall over. Often Ray comes over and picks me up and lays me down. He makes sure I am comfortable and often comes over to help me roll over. I tell him I can do it myself, but he insists.

As I lay here I think back on the amazing life I have led over the last 16 years. I have traveled all over the United States with Ray. I have flown on commercial planes and on private jets. Together Ray and I have driven all over the United States together as well. I have stayed in some amazing hotels like the St. Regis in Aspen and the Helmsley in New York City. I sailed on a boat out in the ocean. I got to see my namesake Shaq play basketball.

I have met some of the most wonderful people on my adventures. Many only have one family; I have been blessed to have several families. There is of course Ray, but I also have my Texas Family, my Montana Family and my Florida Family.

As I lay my head to rest, I dream of puppies and puppy breath.

As I close my eyes to sleep I dream of all who love me and all I will meet.

As I go to bed tonight I think of all and all the delights.

I am so tired





The End is here

Hi, this is Ray. Shaq can’t write. Today is his day.

I am lying with him. Cuddling him in my arms like I did when he was a little puppy. I never want this moment to end.

I whisper in his ear.

I love you so much; soon you will be reunited with Shasta, Zoe and Nanda.

You will swim forever in warm ponds and roll in green grass.

I love you so much, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I love you so much, we will be reunited.

I love you, I love you, I love you

Goodbye dear friend

**Tears**

The End