They explained why they were waiting... for their humans who loved
them.
And God let him go back to earth and find out.
And waited for the day
to be born.
But finally got
dragged out, by his hind feet.
And opened his mouth and guided him to a warm nipple with milk.
Because one of his big fat brothers pushed him
aside.
So he could drink. "Ahhh, that's better, " he thought,
Next to his warm hairy mother. "I remember
this, "he mused...
"Too bad I'll have to grow up to be hit,
left out in the
cold and rain, and used for dog-bait fighting,
And die as an unclaimed rescue
dog.
I remember what it's like, being a dog," he thought sadly.
That night, he crawled up to his mother and tried to nurse,
But he kept
getting pushed off to the side.
When they were full,
The big brothers
and sisters got their bottoms cleaned
And he finally latched on to a
nipple,
But the human hands weren't there to hold him up,
And there wasn't any
milk in any of the nipples, anyway.
He was weak and so tiny.
It was even
hard to stay upright,
And he fell over on his back and couldn't right himself.
So, he began to cry, and suddenly the human hands were there,
Holding
him up and putting a rubber thing in his mouth.
It didn't taste or feel
like mother,
But it was warm and made the ache in his tummy go away.
He was having trouble breathing as his lungs weren't fully developed
because he had waited too long to join the others in the womb,
As he
took one last romp at the Rainbow Bridge.
He could feel the heartbeat of the human, who
had laid him on her chest
And covered him with a soft cloth,
Keeping
him warm, and soothing his boney body
With gentle circling touches.
He kept thinking of his new friends
Who had been so nice to him at the
bridge
And asked God if he could go back.
God said, "Yes, but not just
yet.
You wanted to experience Love."
So for several hours (seemed like days,)
But it was dark and he
couldn't tell what time it was),
The human supplemented his feeding and let him
experience
The warmth of his mother's body and tongue,
And the pile of
warm soft littermates. He got weaker,
And the human held him more often, leaving the
littermates to sleep
In a pile while he got caressed, kissed, and got to
listen to the heartbeat
Which was so very strong and loving.
Finally God came back and asked,
"Are you ready to come back to the Rainbow Bridge?"
"Yes, he responded," with a little sorrow,
Because the human didn't
want to let him go and was crying.
He pushed the air out of his lungs
And floated back to the Rainbow Bridge
And looked back at the human,
Who was still crying and
Holding the
limp body that he had borrowed for his trip.
Thank you, God," he said. "Love is beautiful,
And I will wait near
the Bridge
And let the human know,
When she arrives, that I loved her, too."
by Joy LaCaille