Orange, red and yellow flames flicker around me; smoke fills the room and pours into my lungs and becomes unbearable. I cry out uncontrollably in order to warn others and save myself, but it becomes difficult to tolerate. So I lunge out the window with my last bit of energy and collapse onto the cold, soft green grass and lie down helplessly from exhaustion. But revealing more of what happened would be jumping ahead in the story and I would like to walk you through it.

Previous to the North Shore Animal League I lived in the multifarious state of Louisiana with my brother and Mom. We stayed in a barren yard by the state park which is beneficial, because that is where my brother and I spent most of our free time playing tag and hide and go seek. When we awoke one morning it was exceedingly humid and sunny. It was so excruciating my brother and I leaped into a nearby lake to cool off. Afterwards we dried off frantically, shaking left and right, and I made my way to the Café Marigny on Frenchman St. where they always show their generosity by giving me and my family free food. We appreciated this deed a great deal because we had no money or means of getting food. After we ate, it began to rain. In order to recede from the rain and stay dry, we ran the distance back to the tent we found lying around in the yard that we live in. In the morning, my brother and I woke up early and went to go and play outside in the park. We played hide and go seek and, traditionally, yours truly volunteered to be the first to hide. Knowing how superior my brother was at this game I tried hard to think of places where he wouldn’t find me. As soon as he turned around, he gave out shrieks which made me aware of how much time was left for me to find a hiding place. While quickly run out of his radius I accidentally tripped into a pile of dark brown, cool mud and got it all over me. I swiftly got back on all fours and ran outside the park because I knew he would never find me or even look there. I started to slow down because of the arid air outside and ran out of breath. Then sped up because he was getting closer and I sensed movement behind me and felt the urge not to turn around. Slowly pausing in place from exhaustion I dropped to the floor and tucked my head into my arms. While in my “hiding place” a protracted shrug was felt on my shoulder, but angrily stayed there because I was found and acted as if I was invisible by not moving a muscle. But to my demise, I was discovered. While slowly looking up with hesitation to my surprise, it wasn’t my brother it was a young boy who is twice my height and size. He looked on as if I was a stray attempting to brush off the mud that covered me. He noticed that I was too exhausted to run away, so he picked me up and carried me away from the lot. I worryingly looked back and anticipated the once despised idea of coming into contact with my brother because we were playing hide and seek and I didn’t want to be found, but the game is long over and right about now I wanted to be found. The unknown boy consistently looks down at me and murmured noises I was unable to comprehend. When strength is finally gained and energy is replenished I attempt to break free of his grasp but when I am able to escape we are in the confines of his room. I am powerless and unable to leave so he quickly grabs me and lowers me carefully into the tub. He removes the shower head from its holder and rinses the dirt and grime from my body. He dries me off and he feeds me and I begin to trust him and appreciate his hospitality. It has been about 3 days and he continues to considerably take care of me and when we hear foot steps coming from the steps outside of his room he’s instructed me to rush under the bed and not make a sound. The next day, when he went to the store I looked on sadly as he left the room and accidentally tripped over the smoke alarm plugged in the wall and cracked it in half. Surprisingly, no alarm sounded when it broke and he quickly picked up the two jagged egged pieces that were on the ground and nonchalantly placed it in the garbage by the door. I sat down for about an hour. But then suddenly the door opened I rushed to greet him but to my surprise it wasn’t him! My heart began to frantically race as I realized it was his father his eyes grew larger and his face blanched because of the fact that he hated dogs. When the boy finally got back, his dad assertively pushed me out of the room and I went downstairs as I heard the strident screams peering through the walls and the cracks in the door. I heard my stomach growl, so I went into the kitchen and saw food that was on the counter. While being urged on by my stomach’s growling, I jumped up to the counter and pulled over the Tupperware full of pasta. The towel on the hook towered over and fell onto the burner on the stove which lit the towel ablaze and frightened me. I rushed into the living room and orange, red and yellow flames begin to flicker around me, smoke fills the room and pours into my lungs. The smoke becomes so unbearable I start to bark uncontrollably in order to warn others and save myself. However, it becomes difficult to tolerate so I lunge out the window with my last bit of energy and collapse onto the cold, soft green grass and lie down helplessly from exhaustion. All I can remember is waking up feeling strain against my chest and coughing without restriction.

When I woke up fully I felt better than I had. I awoke in a nearby shelter in Louisiana that I had been placed in by the fire department. As time passed I was able to do my favorite thing which is to run around and play, but the limit I felt on my chest and in my breathing came back to haunt me whenever I did this and caused me to wheeze and cough uncontrollably. All of a sudden this condition began to worsen and it became inevitable that I would have to undergo a life saving surgery on the collapsed lobe of my lung and the shelter where I was, was solvent in my medical needs so the employees arranged for me to be sent to the North Shore Animal League of New York. I was disappointed that I was leaving yet thrilled that I would be able to acquire sufficient medical care. The employees of the NSAL did try to comfort me in man ways but it didn’t help to the full degree. After the surgery my condition began to improve, I am able to run around a few minutes out of each day but the fact that I can’t run and play fetch longer greatly saddens me. The League has put me on antibiotics in order to lessen the influence of my respiratory infection on the energy I have and the fluency of my breathing. They also hit gently on my chest in order to help me cough up mucus trapped in my lungs. Despite the chronic pneumonia that occurs I try to shrug it off and continue to live my life to the best of my ability. As I grew closer to the NSAL began to refer to me as Bradley and I grew to like it, they were very caring and gentle. Now they have put me in the hands of a great family. They are just as warm as the people from the NSAL and they direct an inhaler with a cone over my nose to help regulate my breathing which couldn’t make me happier because I am able to run, play, and be as energetic as my conditions allow me.

In my future I would like to continue living with the family I am with now. Though as nervous as I might be, I would like to undergo a surgery that would cure me of the sharp, blistering pain that I go through everyday and be able to live a normal life without pain or suffering. Walter Anderson once said “Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.” This is how I am able to go on and live my life and be the loving warm dog that everyone that I have met knows me to be, I am Bradley.
-Lanier Mason

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