Curled up at the end of the bed, the woman was quietly weeping.  Her beagle stuck its nose into the bit of space between her arm and cheek and began to lick her face.  This made her cry even harder.

“Why is it so hard?” she cried.  “Why can’t I find a relationship that lasts.”  She grabbed a kleenex and stroked her dog’s head.  “I swore I wouldn’t let this happen again. and here I am, crying over another break up.”

All alone in her dingy little apartment, she forced herself to get up and poured herself a cup of tea. “I hate this apartment!”  Tears began to stream again. “I hate my life.”  Shoulders slumping, she made her way back to the couch.  Absentmindedly she grabbed the remote and began to run through the channels.

“Three hundred channels and nothing to watch.” she growled as she tossed the remote across the room. Thinking it was a game, the pup ran across the room and joyfully picked up the remote and tail wagging, ran back to her and dropped it at her feet. She giggled in spite of herself.  “Oh for Pete’s sake” she said to herself. “I am not playing!” she told her dog.

She didn’t want the damn dog, or so she had told her friends.  She was fine by herself, or so she had told her friends.  Of course, she hadn’t left her apartment in months…small detail.  Now the little beastie was stealing her heart.

Meanwhile, the beagle had run across the room and stood at the door where the leash was hanging ready to go.  “Oh no, not again!”  Now that it was pouring rain, the last thing she wanted to do was to take a walk with poop bag in hand.  “Shit!” she said, laughing again at the irony.

She grabbed her keys, her umbrella, the poop bag and the leash.  Her beagle didn’t need any encouragement.  She leapt and twirled at the door.  She laughed, in spite of herself.  She did love the little dog, rainy day poop call or not.

The door man tipped his hat to her as she turned toward the park.  She pulled her slicker around her tighter and held the umbrella against the wind.  The air was crisp and fresh and putting one foot ahead of the other, she picked up her pace and followed her eager companion.

As she looked at the passers by, it occured to her that everyone of them probably had some issue bothering them.  Hmmmm.  Some were unemployed, some were in the middle of a divorce or fighting an illness.  Some have a child serving in the military.  Some have lost a loved one to illness.

Lost in thought, she didn’t realize the beagle had stopped to sniff a bush.  Something had attracted her attention and there was no moving her.  “Come on.” she tugged insistently. No luck.  No amount of tugging made a difference. She gave up and allowed the little dog to have its way.

Standing there in the rain, poop bag in hand she had a sudden insight.

Watching her little dog fixated on some mysterious scent, she thought about her own fixation.  What was it about that former boyfriend that kept her attention?  Why was there nothing she could do to “tug” her attention to something else?

Eventually, the little dog took its last sniff and tail wagging enthusiastically began tugging at the leash herself, ready to move forward.  Grateful for her dog and feeling refreshed as they walked, she decided to think of all the things she was grateful for until she got back home.

When the two companions got home an hour later, she was amazed at how much better she felt.  She loved her little dog and realized her friends had been right.  It was time to move forward.  A grin crossed her face.  “I can do this.”  She thought to herself.

Preparing a cup of tea and snuggling under the blanket with her pup, she felt better than she had in a long time.  Looking into the deep brown eyes that looked at her with such love and acceptance, she smiled and kissed the top of her head.

“Thank you.” she whispered.