5
The Stars
By Robert “Cotton” Strong ’23 - Writing Contest Winner The little white dog was born into a farm. The farmer living here didn’t need a whole litter of puppies, and so he gave most of them away. All the puppies went off with someone, and the little white dog ended up with a young man named Robert. Upon letting the dog roam freely, Robert quickly saw that the little dog enjoyed nothing more than running around in little circles, and so he started calling the little white dog Dizzy. Dizzy and Robert both loved going outside and exploring new things, so they quickly became great friends. Robert and Dizzy went along in life like this for many years, as partners in exploration, relaxation, and became beyond great friends. Soon, however, they were no longer alone in their adventures, as Robert met a woman who enjoyed many of the same things. This woman soon also became one of Dizzy’s great friends. The woman was followed by a boy. The boy was new to Dizzy, because he was about her size for quite some time. Though the boy couldn’t go outside and explore along with Dizzy for quite some time, Dizzy enjoyed having someone at her eye level for once, and so she and the boy soon became very close as well. Once the boy was able to move around like Robert and the woman, he could then go explore with Robert and Dizzy, and Dizzy enjoyed this very much. Not soon after this phenomenal development, again someone came into Dizzy’s life at her eye level, this time a girl. Suddenly, Dizzy was part of a complete family. After many years of exploring and playing, Dizzy was content. The boy and the girl could both go explore with Dizzy, and she was living her best life. In time, however, Dizzy started to notice she couldn’t see or hear the places she loved to explore as well. She also suddenly couldn’t keep up with Robert, the woman, the boy, or the girl when they went out of the house. This was okay, because the family could simply slow down for Dizzy or help her when she got confused. But in time, more changes came, and Dizzy could no longer explore freely. She could barely see or hear anything anymore. Her freedom was gone, but the family helped her the best they could. Eventually, Dizzy needed help getting up to get moving at all. Dizzy could still be content, because Robert kept her as comfortable as he possibly could. One night, Dizzy was with Robert and the woman. She was in Robert’s lap, at peace, drifting off into sleep. She could not be more content, though she could not see almost anything any more, she knew Robert and the woman were looking out into the sky at the stars, they had done it many times before. Dizzy had been living a confusing life for a while, but at this moment she had enough familiarity with her surroundings to be certain that she was in a good place. Then she went to sleep.
