A Father, A Son, And A Cloudy Dog

A sad little boy was sitting by the tree loosing his best friend was hard on the six year old and his small heart was heavy, he just knew that Slide had always been in his life and now that he wasn't it didn't seem right. Slide was the mountain curs name that acted more as a protector than a friend to the little boy but the boy never noticed that, Slide was old even when the little boy was born but he stayed with the baby and sort of adopted his maters baby as its own. The little boy now had big tears coming out of his eyes as he remembered how the dog did protect him once when he was running through the wood near thier home when a bob cat was about to have the boy as its lunch, the old dog showed the more powerful cat no mercy as it bit down on it's throat and didn't let go until the cat was dead. Slide was nearly impaled after the attack and had to have the Vetnarian keep him at his own home until he was healed, but that's when they discovered the cancer that untimatly took the brave dogs life. When the dog got too far down his master had him put down as so it wouldn't suffer any longer, they brought him home wrapped him in the skin of the cat, laid him in a wooden box they had made and buried him under the tree where the dog loved to lay and rest. The young boys father had walked up from the behind him and didn't say anything for a while because he knew how he felt he loved the old dog too, he had him as a puppy, through college, when he was dating his wife, the birth of his son, he loved the old dog but he knew he had to say something to his son, "Mitchie, come on it's been four months now you have to start playing like you used to." The broken hearted little boy just looked to his father and said, "Slide is gone and I miss him." The father nearly cried hearing his sons heartbreak being brought to words, "Well Mitch, I think that God wanted a good dog and he searched all through earth to find just the right one, and when he found that he was a good dog and that he had cancer he brought him on home to be his dog." The boy had to think on that for a while but he liked the sound of it, "You really think so?" His father knew he struck a cord with his son, "I sure do." The sun raised his head to the sky and just then he saw something unbelieveable a cloud formation that looked like a dogs head and paw it was pointing away from them but it was unmistakable, "Daddy look" and he pointed to the sky. His father looked in the same direction and couldn't believe his eyes, sure enough it looked like a dogs head, "Well I'll be." The little boy was so happy that he hugged his father and went on his way he was just fine, however the father sat there for a minute and watched the clouds and said, "Slide old buddy, I miss you a lot be at peace old friend." The father got up from under the tree walked over to the boy who was playing happily and said, "Hey do you think it's too soon to see if old man's Sanders dog had them mountain cur pups yet?" The little boy smied, "Let's go!"