Old friends found again part 1

As a kid I had always been close to our families dogs and felt a special kinship with them. I can’t remember a time growing up when we didn’t have at least one dog. I spent more time in the back yard playing with the dogs than I ever did with my friends. My mom would watch me from the kitchen window and shake her head worried that I would have problems growing up and never fit in.

Once I entered school, I made friends quickly, and found that one of the boys in my class, named Sam, lived just a few streets over from me. We quickly became the best of friends and spent a lot of time together when we weren’t in school. I still spent a lot of time with my dogs, but I guess it didn’t seem quite as obsessive to my parents as they never brought it up, and seemed happy with my performance in school.

One halloween, my mom asked me what I wanted to be, and I told her that I had seen a great dog costume in the mall, and though it would be perfect. She agreed and we made a special trip to get it. It was a full body German Shepard with a mask that covered my entire head. It looked great on me. I thought if I walked on all fours i looked just like a real dog.

I made plans with Sam to go out trick or treating without our parents, and he purchased a collar and leash set so that he could pose as my owner as we went around and collected candy. It was weird feeling the pull of the leash at first, but as we made our way through the neighborhood I quickly got used to it and enjoyed it.

After what seemed like hours, we had amassed quite a load of candy, but Sam wasn’t ready to go home just yet. He led me to the local park, which was empty and dead quite this time of night. He convinced me to run around on all fours and treated me just like I was a real dog. I wondered if he had somehow found out my secret desires to be just like them.

I’m not sure how long we played, but it was the most fun I had ever had. When I finally got home, my parents scolded me for being so late and sent me straight to bed. I stripped off my costume and fell asleep quickly without bothering to change into my pajamas. I had dreams about running in the field, chasing sticks, and doing tricks all night. It was the best sleep I’d had in years.

Sam and I did joint costumes almost every year after that (he got sick one year) but we were never able to be dog and owner.
Sam movies away between elementary and middle school, and I really missed him, and withdrew into my self. I refused to talk to most of the other kids I went to school with, and spent most of my time out walking and playing with our dogs. They were my best friends. My parents started to worry about me again, but as long as I kept my grades up they were happy. I made a few friends through middle and high school, but never one as good as Sam.

Once I graduated high school, I went to our local state college, and moved into a room on campus. One day as I was returning back to my room after class, I was day dreaming about being a dog and running free, and accidentally bumped into someone on the quad. When he turned around to see who had bumped into him, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Sam! I hadn’t seen him for over 6 years. He still looked even better than I remembered him, and I felt a strong stirring when I looked at his eyes.

Sam was living in a small apartment by himself just of campus, and he invited me over for dinner so we could catch up. I of course took him up on the offer. His apartment was a small 2 bedroom place that he had rented with another student who had been a partier and dropped out after a few weeks. He asked if I wanted to move in with him, as his roommate had paid the rent through the rest of the school year. I quickly agreed, and before long we had all of my stuff moved into the second bedroom. We got along just like old times, and both had great grades. Once the semester was over, he invited me to come to his place for semester brake.

I hadn’t been to his place since he moved years ago, and was impressed to see it was a large house on a huge plot of land. His nearest neighbors were almost half a mile down the road. His back yard bordered a stream that was crystal clear, and formed a picturesque nature scene. He also had a nice swimming pool, but it was empty and covered due to the cold temperatures. As we toured the house, I realized it was a little too quiet. I asked him where his parents were, and he said they had won a trip to Europe, and we would have the house to ourselves for the next couple of weeks. I knew right then that this wasn’t going to be just a typical friends vacation.