Happiness

Kirk Coningham

Jake was a happy dog. Not in a tongue lolling, stupid way, but in that bright-eyed alert way of the best of dogs. His yard was his world; his place of peace, play and contentment. When his master left he lived in the vast and safe certainty that he would return and bring with him the love and food and water that kept his dog heart skipping along at a friendly pace.

It was true that he wanted for nothing. His was the dog's life of which people dreamed. His yard was big enough to run around at full pace, head stretched forward, paws kicking up dust as he flew along the fence line. When the moon was right he'd let himself go mad, doubling his pace and sometimes even running several paces up the fence, but never over, never out of his world.

When they had company he enjoyed entertaining his master and his friends with the few simple tricks they had worked out together. He could see the love his master had for him as soon as he came home from out there.

Of course, like all lucky dogs, he did get to go to the out there frequently. Although the yard was big, his master would often take him for long walks in the out there. On some rare occasions he would even let him off his lead in a large paddock where Jake would run around in mad circles, jaws open and spittle flying, frolicking in the newness and openness of the out there.

But when his master called, Jake always came back at a run with his tail waging. He was happy to feel the security of the light chain as it slipped gently over his head. When he was heeling at his master's side he was home again, happy but not in that bursty sort of way he felt when he was off the lead.

There was a soft spot in the garden earth near the back fence. Jake liked to dig in it and roll around in the powdery sun-heated dirt like a puppy. He was digging up some fresh soil when he found an interesting thing; the bottom of the fence. He understood, of course, that the fence had a top, but he'd never thought about the bottom.

Jake dug a little more, then a little more, and suddenly he could see the out there quite clearly. He pushed his nose under the fence, wriggled back again, dug a little more, and tried again.

Now he was in the out there and alone. He had that bursty feeling again.

He was also more than a little scared. He quickly turned his tail on the out there and scrambled back under the fence. Easy. He did it again, out and back. Out there and back. He did it many times through the afternoon before his master returned. Then he did a strange thing. Jake kicked garden waste into the hole under the fence. It was the first time he had ever hidden anything from his master.

The next day was strange also. When his master first left him as a puppy he had howled in torment. Later he learned that his master would always return but he still hated that time in the morning when the car would start and he would disappear, leaving him alone. Jake new in his guts that dogs were not meant to be alone.

Today though he was looking forward to his master's departure; another first.

As soon as the car was gone Jake reopened his door to the out there and stepped boldly and excitedly into it. This time he strayed much further. He explored the tract of land behind his world, sniffing at new and interesting scents, snapping at grasshoppers and even half-heartedly chasing a rabbit for a while.

That was how he found the treasure. The farmer had buried the carcass of a dead cow several weeks earlier, but recent rains had uncovered a section. Jake dug frantically at it, not able to contain his excitement or believe his luck. Finally he revealed enough of the carcass to rip away a femur. It was the biggest bone he had ever seen. He loved it on sight. Jake rolled around for a while in the bit of carcass that he had uncovered, coating his body in that beautiful sweat smell of rotting flesh.

Almost too late he noticed the sun had moved. He had to hurry home before his master arrived. Jake struggled to pick up his fantastic prize, but the bone was too large. He grabbed it in his strong jaws and dragged it a few meters. Little by little he managed to haul his treasure back to his fence.

But Jake could not get the bone under the fence. He heard the car and, after kicking some dirt on his fantastic find, quickly squeezed through, camouflaged his door and greeted his master with a mixture of his normal joy at seeing him, resentment and being taken from his bone and guilt about the resentment.

"Lord, Jake, what have you been up to? You stink." Jake cast a suspicious glance at his door and, just tantalizingly beyond that, his prize. He was confused. If his master didn't want him around, he'd rather be out there with his bone.

Worse was to follow. His master then got out the hose and that stinking dog soap and started to wash him. He hated being washed at the best of times, particularly with that stinking stuff, but now master was ruining one of the best days of his life. He resented his master and thought more and more about the out there.

The next day he found the farmer had drenched the carcass in something and burned it. What a terrible waste. Lucky he had managed to liberate that one spectacular bone before this site of worship was desecrated. Jake chewed happily on his bone for most of the day, but when evening came he was anxious to see his master again. He was hungry.

His greeting that night was back to normal. He was so happy to see his master and his master was happy that he was happy. Later in the evening he was almost in a contented sleep when he thought about his bone just outside the fence. He'd just check on it quickly, maybe have one more lick, before going to sleep.

He was so preoccupied he didn't even smell the humans. They shone a bright light into his eyes, momentarily blinding him as he came under the fence. His world was gray and confused. His master was in the out there with another man, he could smell the other man was the farmer. They were talking about him and the farmer was angry.

"Sorry mate, it won't happen again. I'll see about getting a cement footing tomorrow and until it's done I'll tie him to the porch. He won't get out again."

Jake gave his bone one last lick and squeezed himself back under the fence. He watched as one of the men, his master, placed a large rock in the middle of his door.

The next day he was tied up. He thought he would go mad. Workmen came and dug under the fence making a lot of noise and using stuff that smelled poisonous.

When he was finally freed from his rope prison Jake ran to the place where his door had been. He dug, but each time he dug he was stopped by the hard white rock that the men had put there. He dug across the length of the fence until his paws bled, but it was no use, he could not find his way back to the out there.

He wished he had never been to the out there.

He wished he had never seen that bone.

He was never a truly happy dog again.