Monterey

Being homeless is a rough life. Being a homeless dog can be even rougher. Buddy is one of those dogs. He is a seven-year-old golden lab that happened to be in Monterey when his owner died. Nobody bothered to take care of the dog. So, he has been wondering the streets of the Cannery Row area in Monterey ever since.

Buddy has gotten used to the street life and begging for scraps from the local restaurants. Most of the workers are nice and will save some of the left-over scraps for Buddy after the customers leave. One thing Buddy does miss, though, is the human companionship. That is something being alone on the streets will never be able to replace. Buddy really missed the human companion on the cold rainy nights. The body heat was extremely comforting.

Over the past few months, living on the street has taught Buddy some lessons that he never thought he would have to use. But the streets are a different type of school where you do not necessarily learn how to be obedient, you only learn how to stay alive. And because of that, your enemy was the other dog. Fighting for the same thing that you wanted. But then again, that enemy could easily become the one you count on when you are outnumbered in a fight. Nevertheless, you learn which dogs to trust and which ones to just leave alone.

Today, Buddy is hanging out at one of his favorite restaurants –Bubba Gump’s. The staff there are always friendly, and Buddy loved their food. Since it was the middle of the day, Buddy had decided to hang out in the shade next to Doc Wenzel's Old Time Portraits. Buddy would get a lot of attention from the families that would come out with their photos. Especially if the family had kids. Buddy would sometimes think of what it would be like to be with one of those families.

As Buddy was lying on the ground, soaking in the cool shade, he heard a voice that sounded familiar. That was peculiar since Buddy had not been around anyone he has known since his owner died. Buddy listened again to see if he recognized the voice. But this time he did not hear anything. He laid his head down on the cement again and closed his eyes. About five seconds later, he heard the voice again. This time, Buddy got up to see if he recognized anyone in the crowd.

The voice came from a female person and sounded only about twenty yards away. Buddy had only known one female and that was the fiancé of his previous owner. If that were truly her, he knew he would have a chance to have that human companionship once again.

Buddy left his spot in the shade and walked into the courtyard. He looked and looked but did not see anyone he recognized.

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