Oscar and Me
This was our tree…
When I found Oscar, he was just a puppy - left for dead, weak and scrawny, barely alive. One day, when my dad was on a bender, I wandered down here, and I saw him - hiding amidst the tangled roots and wild flowers. I sat down under the wide-spreading branches and waited for him to gather the courage to come to me. It took a few days, but finally he warmed up when I brought him some leftover chicken and brown bread I stole from the house. I didn’t dare bring him back home, but everyday I snuck out and we sat under that tree together.
A couple months later, my dad drew a knife on me and my mom. He told us to leave and never come back. This wasn’t the first time, but somehow it seemed like the last. My old man stumbled toward us, tripping over his feet from the help of Jack Daniels. Before I could think, my mom quickly packed a bag and disappeared out the back door, leaving me, alone in the house with him. I gathered what I could, and snuck out my bedroom window, just as I heard my dad cock his shotgun. I ran to my tree and found Oscar, waiting for me.
We walked for a long time, away from the town I could never call home. The sky grew darker as the miles went on. The further we travelled from town, the more at home I felt. I turned around and saw the sun set upon the skyline of the place I used to live. Then and there I made a vow that I would never go back.
Years later, with Oscar by my side, we drove up to our tree, it was taller, and the bark had wrinkled from time passed. Oscar had developed cancer in his lungs, and wasn’t going to live for much longer. I wanted to bring him to our favourite spot one last time to be at peace. I sat down with him under the biggest branch and talked to him; telling him what a good dog he was and how he was the greatest friend I could have ever asked for. I hope he understood the words and how much I meant them - somehow, I think he did.
Oscar gazed up at me, a look of tranquility in his eyes, put his head on my lap and drifted away.
Afton Berg / 2021