A Miserable Thing That Happened to You - Essay Example

Life of every person is full of surprises, and, unfortunately, not all of them are as pleasant as one wants them to be. Perhaps, there is no person in the world who may say with certainty that his / her life has never been dampened with at least one event that made him / her feel unhappy. In fact, life is impossible without such events, which, to some extent, temper people and make them stronger. I wish I was an exception from this rule but I am not. I have been lucky not to lose my relatives and family members and I hope all of them will live for many more years. However, I have been through the death of my friend, and this event has left an indelible imprint on my life. Just like life is impossible without miserable events, it is also impossible without a friend. Friends may be of different types. However, in general, a best friend is a person one can share everything with, not only joys but sorrows. For me personally, it was not a human being; it was my dog Cleo, my beautiful Caucasian Shepherd girl. She was with me since I was five years old. She died two years ago and left me alone with my grief. As the majority of children, as a kid, I also wanted to have a pet, and, as the majority of parents, my parents did not want to adopt one. When we moved to a bigger house, they changed their mind and gave me a puppy as a present for my birthday. My happiness had no limits for I really liked my new pet. Since the first day I saw her, we have become true friends, not just a dog and her master. When my parents brought Cleo to our house, she was only several months old and even could not run properly; she rather jumped from her hind feet to fore feet. I could spend hours watching her run about the yards and nose everything she met on her way. My father and I trained her, and with some time passing, Cleo turned into a dog of good breeding that knew what was good or bad to do. She was an honor to me for everyone who met her was amazed with her manners and, of course, with the way she looked. Cleo was the first to meet me when I came home. She always saw when I was in bad mood and tried to cheer me up in a way only a devoted and loving pet could do. Very often, I talked to her as if she was a human being, and I saw in her eyes she perfectly understood me. Of course, I had friends as a child, and I have friends now. But in case with Cleo, I was always sure she would never betray me just like people tend to do to each other. One of the cruelest rules of nature is this one: a dog’s life is much shorter than a human’s life. I understood that one day I would lose my dog but I was not ready it would be earlier than I expected. I was not ready to suffer the pain of loss: my dog died not because she was old or ill. She died because of an irresponsible, ugly, terrible deed of a person I will never meet. Cleo was hit by a car in front of my very eyes, and she died in my arms. It was summer, and I left my home for three weeks to visit my relatives who live in another state. I should mention that I am quite a stay-at-home person, and three weeks were a really long time for me not to be at home. I wanted to meet my relative as I had not seen them for about a year and missed them a lot. To know that everything was good at home, I called my mom several times a week, and one day she told me Cleo missed me so much that she waited for me every evening at the porch expecting for me to come home. That fact upset me a lot and I understood how much I missed my family, my home, and my dog. When I came home, I decided to take a walk from the bus station. I was really excited because I was going to meet my family and my dog. At the same time, I was a bit anxious. I felt something was wrong; my sixth sense told me something bad could happen. With such mixed feeling and even more mixed thoughts, I was walking home. It was a Sunday evening, and the streets were practically empty: I noticed only several cars moving by, and children playing in the yards of their houses. It was quite a peaceful picture but still I was uneasy. When I almost approached my house, I noticed my dog sitting and waiting for me there. She noticed me as well and could not help but ran to meet me. There was a junction between us, and she only had to cross the road so that I could hug her. But it never happened. Out of nowhere, there appeared a car just when Cleo stepped onto the road. Even though the car was going at a furious speed, I managed to discern the driver. It was a common middle aged man but there was something scary in the way he behaved. He gripped hand on the wheel and stared ahead but seemed not to see anything; his face was red and swollen. It hit me: he was drunk. It was too late, though. As Cleo was in the middle of the road and had nowhere to hide, the car hit her. I saw it, I could hear the whack but I was too far. For a moment, I stood there and could not understand what had happened. I could not believe he hit my dog. I came around, dropped my bag and ran to her. I saw fear and pain in her eyes when I held her in my arms. I took my cell phone to call my dad so that he came and helped me. I do not remember what I was saying exactly but our conversation lasted only several seconds. When I dropped my phone, I saw Cleo died. It was an awful, terrible scene, and I will never forget the emptiness of the street at that very moment. I felt my heart was empty as well, and for the first time since I was a child, I cried. At that very moment, my dad came. He understood what had happened; he sat next to me without saying a word and hugged me. I do not remember how and when we got home as I was really shocked. Cleo’s lead had lain on my desk for several months before I could let it go and threw it away. I remembered the color of the car and its make but I did not see the license plate so I could not find the driver. I understand there is nothing I can do but even today I just want to meet him and look in his eyes. Nothing can bring my dog back, and nothing can lessen my pain. I know it is bad but I disdain the person who took my Cleo from me. I hope sincerely that no one else died beneath the wheels of his car and no one suffers as much as I do. Read More