A story from Bolero~S about My Simple Story posted 07/10/2010 Greetings to readers and Mr. Grogan. The stories here are more interesting than mine but nevertheless, this story I'm going to share means a lot to me. He was only a pup when my parents brought him home. He has drooping ears but those ears soon became erect when he grew older. Rocky's his name. The book came out after I lost Rocky and I couldn't help but compare Marley with Rockey while I was reading it. Much to my surprise, he shared many similar traits with Marley. He ate anything from stones to faeces. He even drank the sewage water!!! Rocky was living with his momma and siblings at a construction site located just beside a park. They would sometimes come rushing out eagerly at the joggers or cars. I've got an old grandma dog at home but it wasn't enough. My parents decided to catch one and bring it home. They stood outside of the fenced construction site while making squeaky noises at them, just to lure a pup out. Luckily, momma was not there and a dopey-looking, adrenalin-pumped pup came dashing out towards my parents, while his siblings cowered and whimpered, as if they were warning him not to go. My parents prepared a gunny sack and when the time was right, they tossed the sack over Rocky who managed to break in time before crashing at their legs. My parents bagged him and quickly drove away. At home, he was no more like the pup my parents got him from the construction site. His tail was between his legs and his head dropped so low to the ground while eyeing at my parents warily. He was not weaned from his mother's milk and I fed him with milk using a baby bottle. It was his first day home. At night, with his siblings and momma gone, he whined and yelped for hours, driving the whole neighbourhood within ten square miles crazy. My dad was a violent man and he got up and whipped Rocky until he kept quiet. I didn't dare to stop my dad or else I'll get whipped too. Despite the harsh and brutal beatings he took, his loyalty to my dad was unwavering. Wherever my dad went, he followed while waiting to be pat. Soon, he gained confidence and became the alpha dog. He strained on his leash like Marley with his tongue hanging out and eyes bulging, dragging me behind. In fact, I had to wear skateboarding gloves while holing on to his metal leash. He chugged on happily and leapt at any stray dogs or cats, almost tearing my arms out of its sockets. He's super friendly with strangers and other dogs. Like Marley, he kept jumping up to kiss the guests at home. I had no idea how to break him of that habit, so I had him locked up in a very large "cage", made by tying both ends of thick wire mesh to the wall at a corner behind my house. Luckily, he didn't have Marley's phobia of thunderstorms, so the cage was pretty much in good condition. Once, I played soccer with him using an upturned plastic bowl. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what the yellow and red cards mean and he kept crashing into me to get the "ball". He would chase it all over the house and crash into a pillar. After that he just shook himself and walked away nonchalantly, having no more interest in chasing the dome-shaped thing. My dad who is suffering from hypertension used to go cycling with Rocky running faithfully beside him. Surprisingly, he ignored strangers and stray dogs and cats for the first time as he ran pass them. Due to the daily long runs, his nails became short. It saved me the time to trim them. Rocky had a very good memory. My dad made a lot of turns in many streets and cycled eight kilometres away from my house. Rocky decided to take a shortcut so he could run side by side with him. However, there's a very large drain ahead and I was glad he didn't attempt to clear it. He got left behind while my dad continued. When my dad got home, he was surprised to see Rocky sitting at the gate waiting for him. One day, my dad muzzled him and let him roam outside the house to relieve himself while my dad readied his bike to get some medicines from the hospital. My dad didn't notice that Rocky followed him all the way to the hospital. When my dad got there, the security guard stopped my dad and asked him about Rocky. My dad denied ownership and went in. After he came out, the dog was gone. When he reached home, Rocky wasn't there as always if he couldn't catch up with my dad. From that day onwards, I never see him again. Every night, when I go to bed, I can hear him barking happily at a distance as he races back to his cosy home. But again, he didn't appear at the gate... for a long long time... This story happened a very long time ago. By now, he must be gone from the face of the earth... I love you, Rocky. You're the best "soccer" player, ever... Read More Stories > Begin Sharing Your Story >