Identity by Alexandria Chavarriaga

Pets can always make you feel better, no matter what mood you are in or what type of day you have had.  For anyone that has a genuine love for animals you can relate to your best friend.  Whether it’s a bird, cat, dog, snake, rabbit, pig, any animal they are there when you need them the most.  They may not respond to your as a human would, but they do respond.  Pets are intelligent, and they sense how we are feeling.  They are in tune with our emotions.  They are extremely loyal, and I give them the utmost degree of respect.

            Take for instance, my parakeet Napolean once I walk thru the door, he opens his cage and fliesto my shoulder and sings to me.  He has no idea what kind of day I had but, rests assure, he puts a big smile on my face.  I can feel his silky, smooth and fluffy feathers against my cheek while he sings and presses against me.  His gorgeous emerald green with strong bright yellow as the sun feathered body accented with fresh water blue.  In the fairy tale, I am the queen and Napolean is singing me the melodies.  He looks at me with his sparkling black onyx eyes with adoration and I, in return, look at him in the same adoration.  I love him and I know he loves me.

            Now, my English bulldog Augi on the other hand, is a piece of work.  As soon as I walk thru the door, he charges towards me like the running of the bulls in Pamplona with his strong muscular well proportioned body, almost knocking me over.  I can see his little tail wagging back and forth asking me to embrace him, I do.  He wants to be petted, his belly rubbed and most important, he wants his cookie treats.  I am exhausted.  All I want to do is to lay down on the sofa, and here comes Augi with his wet, slobbered blue octopus toy, he plops himself right on me, I can hardly breathe.  All I can hear is the squeaking of the octopus toy and Augi looking at me with his silly face, making me laugh and telling me in his eyes his missed me all day.  I have also missed you my dear.  As I lay there and run my fingers through his beautiful white marshmallow coat, I can feel his heartbeat.  He loves me and I, in return, love him immensely. 

            Usually in the morning, I do not like to get up but I do to take Augi out and I go back to sleep. If my alarm rings and I don’t get up, Augi begins to bark to wake me up.  I ignore him and get deeper under my covers.  He begins to pull my covers.  He knows the precise time when I need to be up.  Even my sweet Napolean will over to my bed and find his way under the covers to wake me.  He either nibbles on my ear or sings me a tune.  I begin to laugh and of course get up, I start my day thanking God to be so lucky to have these beautiful creatures he has made for me.

            They may not be able to hold a conversation with me, but they are aware of what goes on in my everyday life.  I don’t know what I would do without them.  Don’t get me wrong, they are both mischievous.  Take, for instance, the week of my recycling is being collected.  Well, why is it, the day before when I get home, I find all the plastic containers chewed up in pieces all over the floor and an arrangement of strings of newspaper hanging from the window.  They are aware that what they have done is wrong because they are nowhere to be found.  I scream their names “Napolean” “Augi”!  They are still hiding out.  I say out loud, “Well, since I have to clean up this mess all by myself, I will be eating all the cookie treats”.  Here comes Augi running from left field and Napolean flying right behind him.  They begin to help me clean up.  Augi putting the plastic containers back in the recycling bin and Napolean removing the strings of newspaper from the window.  I’m a little angry that I have to clean up but I’m also laughing on the inside because they are hurrying to clean up trying to get their cookie treats.

            I am on my way outside to the patio and I notice I’m being followed.  I keep walking and before I open the door, I hear a bark and a chirp.  I turn around and ask them “You two really think you deserve a cookie treat?” Augi puts his head down, and Napolean hides behind his ear.  I start to laugh, because they are aware of what they did was wrong.  I pull the treats out of my pocket and I hear Augi’s barking and Napolean’s chirping of happiness, a beautiful harmony.  They put a smile on my face.  They are my companions and I adore the both equally.

From the Animal Article:

            We can get through life without a few things, but we cannot get through life without our pets.  If these beautiful animals were not here, we would be the most miserable people on the planet, that is the truth.

As an animal lover, I agree completely because they bring joy to my everyday life.