Two years ago,
I was leaving home for the first time. Alone. My parents only had enough money to put me in a bus with my luggage - a box and a travel bag which contained some things I needed for my new place and groceries that I wouldn't have to get. I always made sure to sit near the window of any bus I entered. It gave me a different kind of high. The mix of green, animal and the cold breeze. If all of that could be brought together in a tablet, teenagers will probably spend all their savings and allowances on it. The fact that I was leaving behind my parents and my 3 brothers, who probably won't miss me that much didn't bother me. Nothing bothered me, I guess. I was only concerned about the new people I would meet in college. High school was horrible and I was really grateful it ended almost as soon as it started. Two hours after the bus had left, I felt sleepy. We still had like 4 hours on the road so I decided to take a nap. The next time I was awake, we were already in Las Vegas. The casino city and unfortunately where I would be spending the next four years studying veterinary medicine in the University of Nevada. Not that I didn't like my course of study. I totally did, I just didn't like the fact that I was going to be in a place where one of my father's relatives owned. I felt like I was running from family and running back to family.
I was quick enough to identify my luggage and then hailed down a taxi who helped me get my stuff in, then drive me to my place. My place was insignificant. Just like the other students who lived off campus. Well, except for the ones who had rich parents and could afford to live alone. I was lucky to get a bungalow all to myself because my dad's cousin knew someone who owned the place and rented it out to me for free. Something about him returning a favor he did for him in the past.
I managed to drag my travel bag into the house and then proceeded to take a look around the house. It had four rooms- the master bedroom had a door which led to another room and then two others which were like opposite but kind of apart. I nodded my head, seeing this as an opportunity to get some extra cash, that certainly didn't come from my allowance and my salary, while I was here. After all, they never said anything about not having a roommate or more. If I made a little research, I should be able to set a suitable price. Things were starting to look green in my head and for the first time since that day, I smiled.
"Let's get settled in." Just as I was about dragging my travel bag to the master bedroom, I heard a thump at the door.
"Probably just the wind."
I chose to ignore it but it became a scratch and a whimper. The whimper was more than enough for me to hurry to the door, but I was cautious, just in case someone was trying to be sneaky. It never hurt to be security conscious. I opened the door slowly and right there, on the porch looking all worn out and tired, lay a pregnant golden retriever. I gave her a quick look and saw no name tag on it. Still contemplating on how to help her out and avoid staining the clean tiles, lightning struck and she quickly ran inside, leaving me to close the door behind her and throwing all my contemplation into the trash. I stared at her for a while, trying to figure out what to do with her. She didn't look aggressive and was just panting, a sign of exhaustion, given the fact that she was homeless and heavily pregnant. She may have been aware of my inability to decide quickly and just came and licked my hand, then lay down beside me, still panting but telling me that she would wait till I was done thinking. Leaving me with no other choice, I patted her on the head and concluded that she may not be a bad idea. But I didn't have any food in the house yet, plus I just got in and the weather outside had suddenly gotten so bad. Then I remembered that my mum had parked me some groceries. Amongst them was milk and frozen meat! How lucky was I? I proceeded to unpacking my bags, more like throwing everything out until I found my target, and then when I finally found it, I managed to defrost and cook the meat. While I waited for the meat to get done, I decided to give the dog a bath. It took time for the heater to start working but when it finally kicked in, the bath was amazing. Oh, yes! The owner told me that he had asked my neighbor to take care of the electricity and cleaning of the house, so the house was really clean except that they probably forgot to turn the heater on. After the bath, I could clearly see how beautiful she looked and also how heavy she was, which made me wonder who would have left her out in this weather. The retriever continued to wag her tail as we went around the house looking for newspapers, she could lay down on for the night. Just when I was about to go to the room, the timer rang and the dog yipped. I got it down and served her a reasonable portion.
"That should do you for now. We'll probably have to get you checked when I get back tomorrow. Let's know how far along you are." I told her as I wiped my hands clean. Honestly, I was tired and I couldn't blame the weather. It was so cool and demanding. So as soon as I went into the bedroom, I just sank right into the bed.