The rest of the room picked up on the subtle differences between them and none of them were broken enough to think a dead dog could be with them again.

 

Kirby was the one who finally broke the silence.

“Who . . . are you?” He asked, watching the dog closely.

 

“I'm Slyth. I'm new here, actually.”

 

Kirby looked from Slyth to Ralph then turned back to Slyth. Before he could say anything else Slyth spoke again.

 

“Come on now, are you gonna keep asking me questions or are you gonna give the poor girl some space?” He stepped closer to them.

A couple dogs did take a few hesitant steps back then. Most of them didn't budge. It was like they thought he was going to attack Dusty if they gave him a chance. Ralph and Kirby were among them.

 

“What was it you said about a broken heart?” Ralph asked after noticing the look Dusty was giving Slyth. He was the first dog that she actually appeared to see. The blank expression on her face was gone.

 

Slyth noticed this too but he ignored it for the moment.

“I didn't know him, but I heard about what happened here.” He began, taking a few steps closer and sitting down. “Your Dusty here must have been in love with Kodi. She can't let go of him because she's too heartbroken to say goodbye. I think she would rather pass on to be with him than do that.” He said the last part slowly, looking closely at Dusty while he did.

 

“If you didn't know him, then you have no idea how much you look like him, do you?” It was Kirby who spoke this time. “If you know what's wrong with her, do you know how we can help her?”

 

Slyth had in fact not been aware at all how much he looked like Kodi. But he only shrugged his shoulders at this bit of information.

“Do I? I'm sorry we never got the chance to meet. What happened to him was awful.” He bowed his head. “I'm sorry to tell you more bad news but, there's nothing you can do for Dusty. Her heart and mind are in pieces right now. It's up to her to decide if she can move on or not.”

He looked back up at them all, knowing it was not the words they wanted to hear. “She might pull through, or she might not. I will say though, for the third time, give her some space!”

 

The dogs surrounding Dusty finally backed up. They must have accepted that he wasn't a threat to her or any of them and reasoned that his advice was sound.

Though they backed up and gave her more room, Kirby and Ralph stayed beside her. Pleased with himself, Slyth stood back up. He was unsure whether to go try and speak to Dusty or leave at this point.

She still hadn't taken her eyes off him so he decided to go say something to her. If he really did look like Kodi, it stood to reason that his words might get through to her.

As he approached her, her tail actually began to wag back and forth, thumping weakly against the floor.

Kirby and Ralph stared at him, but they took a few steps back from her all the same.

 

She didn't stand up when he reached her, only gaped up at him. She didn't look like she had the strength for it. Tears ebbed on the corners of her eyes. Looking at them, he could tell they used to be beautiful eyes, but so much sadness and pain had stolen much from them. She had the tired look of someone who had lost a lot of weight in a very short period of time. Her fur coat looked like it was thinning as well.

Slyth licked his lips, trying to say something to her. What do you say to someone who was so sad though?

 

“Hay Dusty” he started to say, but she cut him off by throwing herself against him more forcefully than he could have believed she was capable of.

Without a word she wrapped her neck around his and buried her nose in his fur. Rather stunned, it took Slyth a second to realize she was crying. He let her stay there and pour her emotions out into his fur.

 

Soon he found he had to support her as she leaned more and more against him. It didn't seem like her tears would ever end. They only got stronger and louder. It was some of the most heartbreaking cries he'd ever heard.

With no attachment to her or the dog she loved so much that he looked like, Slyth began to feel her sorrow cutting into his own chest.

The pain in her cries was so terrible he was certain it would soon tear even him apart. Tears filled his own eyes despite himself.

 

It might have gone on for an hour, or it might have gone on for a whole day. Slyth could not have said. Eventually, Dusty did calm down. It wasn't all at once, but slowly. Gradually her bawling turned to sobbing, then to whimpering. Finally she quieted. She wouldn't leave their embrace though. Even after she went silent she still rubbed her nose against his neck, the same way she would against Kodi's grave.

 

It took Slyth a few minutes to finally pull himself from her. Looking her in the eyes again, he couldn't be sure she would ever be ok again. That much sadness in someone would surely kill them. Something in her eyes had changed though. Were they more focused or were they less?

His eyes looked sadly into hers, wishing he could do something for her. Maybe the ache he felt in his heart now meant he had taken some of her pain from her. It was comforting to think so.

“Goodbye, Dusty.” Bowing his head at her, he turned away and gave both Ralph and Kirby a nod before departing the room.

 

Dusty watched him go feeling weaker than she had ever been before. So much had poured out of her, there wasn't much left. Slyth had done more for her than he could ever know. Her mind was still mixed up but she felt that maybe the haze clouding her thoughts had cleared. Even if it was just the tiniest bit.

 

“Dusty. . . “ Ralph approached her, looking disturbed.

 

Dusty’s eyes flickered up to him. Ralph seemed startled that she was actually looking at him. It felt like it had been ages since she had. His face finally clicked in her mind.

“R-Ralph?”

He beamed at her. Kirby came up next and was overjoyed when she was able to speak his name too. If only barely.

“We should get you home, Dusty.” Kirby suggested. Dusty shook her head.

“No.” She said it as firmly as she could manage. “To him.”

 

Sometime passed before they managed to get Dusty to Kodi's grave. They sat together in silence looking at it. Both Ralph and Kirby almost expected Dusty to say something, but she didn't. She just lay down between them. For several long moments they waited.

 

At least an hour passed this way. Dusty never took her eyes off the stone with Kodi's name on it. She surprised them both when she sat back up. They watched her rub her nose against the stone and heard her voice only just barely manage to say “Goodbye, Kodi.”

 

The next few days that went by showed an alarming change in Dusty. She improved significantly once she had let Kodi go. Still too weak to do much however, she hadn't seen Slyth again since. He had allowed her to finally get some closure. That was ultimately what was eating her up inside. Everything had been taken from her so suddenly, there had been no chance for a goodbye. A terrible emptiness still filled her, but it no was no longer consuming her. That's the way it would probably always be without Kodi.

One day, she was going to have to say thank you to Slyth.

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