My Two Writing Teachers colleagues and I are hosting the 16th Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge, in which teachers from around the world participate by posting a story per day.
This year, the SOLSC gives me a chance to record memories of our little dog, Indie, who died in January. I want to write these down while they are still fresh, so that my family and I can read them later and remember not only Indie, but little slices of life across the years.
We knew it would be Indie’slast hike. It was March of 2021. He was thirteen years old, his legs were getting a bit stiff, he was a little shaky and had lost his hearing by then. But he still flew through fields, and leapt off the steps of the deck to chase squirrels.
In the spring, when the chairlifts were closed, but there was still snow on the ground, Bolton Valley had the best sunsets. We bundled up like usual, with backpacks and headlamps.
The kids sprinted ahead. Indie ran back and forth between us. It’s amazing to me that he still did four times the amount of hiking. Racing ahead, coming back and circling us, leading us along.
At the peak, we had snacks and hot cocoa, and watched the sun go down. Indie began to shiver. We wrapped him up in my down puffy layer, made a sleeping bag for him out of it, and held him tight. He smiled with his little pink tongue showing. The sky turned to gold, then fire, then violet. The first stars appeared and the moon rose behind us.
We donned headlamps and skipped down the mountain, taking turns holding our dog. And by the time we reached the car, dusk had fallen, and the sky was dark. But the moon shown brightly.