I started school at the fresh age of five, a tantrum ensued when mom left me behind, an eternity passes as the day finally ends, the bus drops me off past my house ‘round the bend, mom was there with a smile to take me back home, and when we got home what was waiting for me? A black and tan puppy so far as I could see, we were instantly bonded, as we rolled in the grass, from that day on forward and the days that would pass, me and Boots were best friends and we would never part, where I would go, he would go, through the woods we would dart.
Kids, dogs and bikes into the woods we would go, we three friends and our dogs, who learned “sit", “stay" and “no", we were never apart. He even slept in my bed, what fun we would have, we only came home to be fed, time passes so quickly, we're now older, with jobs, when I quit work and went home at the end of the day, Boots was waiting for me and ready to play, time passed as it does, we’re both getting older, it soon will be fall, the air is much colder. Boots is eighteen now, arthritic and slower, I’m older now too but I’m right in my prime, I can run super-fast and stop on a dime, I remember the day I walked to work in the rain, my sister had called and said Boots was in pain, I heard Boots in the background, he was crying so loud, I stayed right there working, staring up at a cloud, an hour had passed when I got the call I would dread, she was at the dog hospital and my best friend was dead. I had to leave work because I couldn’t stop crying, I knew Boots was in pain, I never thought he was dying. The greatest years of my life were carefree and footloose, they were spent with my best friend and his name was Boots. I’m a grandfather now and I’m hitting the hay, I still think of Boots, at the end of each day.