Dahlia’s arrival on the Rainbow Bridge (fictional post)

April 4th was six years since Dahlia arrived in my life. She left me August 29 of last year, but her presence lives on, in my heart. To help get through the emotions of the day, I did what I do whenever my heart is broken I wrote……..

I could hear my mom crying and telling me how much she loved me and thanking me for choosing her to be my momma…….I didn’t know why she was crying, I was so happy, I was at peace. My soul left my body and I was free of pain. I could run, I was young again, and I could dance once more!

I arrived at a beautiful place, full of flowers, green grass, a river, rainbows and so many other animals. My feline brother Angel approached me, “what’s up?” he asked as gave a nod of his head.

“Where am I?” I asked, “I have never seen such beauty in my life.”

“You’re at the bridge,” Angel told me. “This is where we get to stay while we wait for momma to join us when she’s older and leaves her physical form.”

“What about Flipflop and Sixx? Will they join us too?”

“Yes, they will, long before momma does, and she’ll have other siblings for us no doubt, in the future, that’ll join us too. Come on, I’ll show you around and introduce you to Dupont, our big brother. You’re going to love him!”

I followed Angel, who seemed to enjoy pretending he was a jungle cat in the long grass, I had to stop a few times and roll……..I love to roll and never in my life had I felt such soft grass.

We came to a dog, about my size, but much furrier, he looked a lot like my younger brother, Flipflop, with his tri-coloured fur. “You must be Dahlia,” he said, before Angel could introduce us. “I’m Dupont, I know momma used to tell you stories about me, and I know all about you, as I watch over momma and I have seen your time with her.”

“Why is she so sad?” I asked my big brother, “doesn’t she know how happy and free I am?”

Dupont gave a sigh, “yes, she knows. But she loves us, so it makes her sad that we’re not living with her anymore. She knows she’ll see us again, one day, but we are her heart. And when we leave, we take the part of her heart that was us, and that hurts.”

Dupont put his paw around my neck, “do not worry, she will be ok, she will miss us and talk to us every day, but she will get stronger and learn to live with the part of her heart that is missing. Now come on, little sister, there are so many friends I want you to meet.”

I followed Dupont to the river, where there were some lab mixes laying on a blanket, conversing about their brother, Prince, who had recently joined them. “Lab pups,” Dupont announced, “my sister has arrived, this is Dahlia. Dahlia this is Chloe and Hope.”

As the girls and I were making one another’s acquaintance, a beautiful King Shepherd walked over to Dupont. “Jasmine,” he exclaimed, “I was waiting for you!! I wanted you to meet my sister, Dahlia, she’s just arrived!”

“Oh Dahlia,” Jasmine sniffed my nose, “It’s so good to meet you! I just know we’ll be the best of friends.” Jasmine then lowered her voice and said, “Chloe is awesome, but Hope is a bit…….well she’s Hope. But she’s our sister so we put up with her. You must meet my brother Prince, he’s just transitioned a few weeks ago and I’m sure you two will have a lot to discuss. He’s running around right now, enjoying his pain-free form, we’ll catch him later.”

“Ok,” I said and then sheepishly asked, “is there music here, by any chance? I love to dance; it was one of my favourite things.”

Hope jumped up and exclaimed, “YES, we have music, your momma and I would bust a move back in the day, I love to dance!”

Out of no-where, music started playing, it was wonderful, I quickly broke into my best moves, momma would call my dance moves “the Dahlia”. I don’t mean to brag or anything but I’m a pretty good dancer. Hope started moving to the beat with me and I knew in that moment, Jasmine was wrong, this lab pup was a-ok and I was going to love being her friend.

The music kept playing and Hope shared with me how my mom would twirl her, and they would dance as partners. I told her that, because of me having bad back legs, my momma couldn’t twirl me, but we would dance together, and momma would chant “do the Dahlia” to me as we boogied.

“Oh Dahlia,” Hope said excitedly, “you are the best friend I have been looking for! NO one else will dance with me!”

“Hope,” I told her with a lick to her cheek, “I can tell we will be best friends for eternity.” And then my nose caught a whiff of a new dog who joined us. “Whoa! Who is that?”

“Oh,” Hope answered me. “That is Prince, he is my brother. He was a foster like you, but my mom and dad decided to adopt him too.”

I straightened my poster to present myself to Prince, I love meeting new boys!! Prince approached me, I wagged my tail and lifted my two front paws, “Hi,” I said excitedly, “I’m Dahlia, Dupont’s sister, I just got here. I hear from Jasmine, you just arrived yourself. It’s so nice to meet you.” And then I twirled in circles for Prince to see how beautiful I am.

Prince didn’t seem impressed with me, but I didn’t care. I know how beautiful I am and there are plenty of other dogs to show off to.

“Don’t mind him,” Hope told me, “unless you’re a tennis ball, he won’t notice you!”

I looked at my new surroundings, and my new pack. All these dogs and cats my momma had shared stories about. Dupont and Jasmine, sitting side by side, Chloe hanging with this human man, who I found out was her grandpa. Prince chasing balls that magically appeared from no where, and Hope, my new best friend, talking to me about all the fun we will have.

I took one last look down at Earth to see my mom and Flipflop, they are both so sad. I will visit them, I tell myself, momma may not know I’m there, but I will keep an eye on them with Dupont.

I wish momma could see us, how happy and free we all are. I wish her heart wouldn’t hurt so much, but I know she will miss us forever until the day, she sees us all again.