As I close my eyes slowly, never to reopen again. My entire life was right there, in front of me, flashing right before my eyes. And I realized, that even though this was the life I didn’t expect to be lived in, it was the most exciting experience ever. And I smile as I remember when everything was…different. Different than right now at least.

CHAPTER 1:  Stolen!

My name is Buck and I am a St. Bernard/Scotch Shepard Mix. I was born in a cardboard box in a living room in Southern California about 12 years ago, along with my siblings. I never did get to know my brothers and sisters much, because it was a short seven weeks to Adoption Day. The night before Adoption, however, our parents came to talk with us about how we have to move on to a new experience if we are ever to learn more. And how they are not getting rid of us, just doing their jobs as parents. It was a long conversation, and for me it was quite boring, but the others seemed to enjoy it. It was like they were actually excited about Adoption. Me, I didn’t care. As long as I get three meals a day, water and a place to play, and most importantly, love, then I’m happy.

The next morning, our parents got us ready to be sold. And that meant taking a bath! *Shudders* I’m still getting shivers from the thought of baths! And in a few hours, we were placed in a cardboard box (a different one) and we waited. Soon people, especially kids ran to the box where we were. It felt kind of awkward for a lot of humans to be this close to us, saying how cute we look and stuff. But less people came to me and another pup, my brother, because we were the only ones who had wolf-like faces. But I was the only one of the two who inherited my dad’s (The St. Bernard’s) big size. But time went on, and even my brother was adopted at some point. At last…it was only me, myself and I. My parents were about to give up when a man in a suit walked by. He stopped suddenly and came to look in the box. I looked up at him. He seemed really nice.

“Hey there, little guy.” He said as he ruffled the fur on my head. “Ya need a home? Well, I guess I could use a companion.” I laughed because now the ruffling tickled! “And a spunky one at that. I’ll take him!” When those last three words were said, a spark of thrill went through me as he carried me home, telling me that this was where I truly belonged. I waved goodbye to my parents, who waved back, tears running down my Mom’s cheek. But I knew those were happy tears.

The man’s name was Judge Miller, and he was exactly the kind of person I wanted as an owner. It was like a miracle! Judge named me Buck because of my big size (figures) but I liked it, and it suited me.

Watching me grow is almost exactly the opposite of watching paint dry. By the time I was full grown, I weighed about 190-200 pounds! (Not my fault!) Well, partly. I just love to eat!

The two years I had lived with Judge Miller had been one of the happiest moments of my life. He took me for walks every day, played with me in the yard, I took care of him when he was ill, and almost every night we would sit by the fire place (whether it was lit or not) and he would talk to me. He could talk to me about everything! His problems, the weather, a book he read recently, anything! One night, was the night I’d like to officially begin my adventure.

This night, he decided to talk to me about money. In this time (around the 1920’s) money was scarce and it was very hard to find jobs. He said we were one of the luckiest people in America because of his job. Judge Miller was rich, just so you know. After talking, he finally sat back in his chair and fell asleep. I did the same, but not in a chair.

There was one other person I forgot to mention. The Gardener. Judge Miller had a few people to do things for him while he works or plays with me. And one of them was the Gardener. I forget his name. But he was always so devious of me. He was only doing this to make some money, but he feels he’s not being paid enough, and he feels that Judge is lazy because he can’t to his own work. And when he plays with me, he’d just have to watch while he waters the plants. I felt kind of bad for him over the years, until that night. You see, he had a devious plan. A plan to get rid of me, for good. And he knew just how to do it.

When I awoken from my sleep, I was being dragged out of my house! I squirmed, trying to break free, but I was on a leash. Then I looked up to see the Gardener, pulling me. I didn’t squirm around as much because and as much as I felt bad for him, I trusted him. I looked around and saw he was dragging me to his car. I always loved car rides, so I didn’t bother escaping when the Gardener carried me in the back seat. I didn’t know why the Gardener was driving me around this late, but it was a short five minutes before the car stopped. I got ready to jump out of the car and run back to the house, but when he opened the door, I wasn’t home. I was at a train station! I watched as the Gardener got out of the car to meet a huge man. The man gave the Gardener a stack of cash, and he smiled and griped it in his hands. Next he went to the car and carried me out. I was squirming like crazy because I didn’t know what was going on! In a minute, I was being thrown into a cage beside a train that looked like it was about to leave. The Gardener said bye to me, and then he laughed, an evil laugh. Next thing I knew I was being carried inside a car on the train by the big man. He put the cage with me in it on some boxes and he went to another room. As soon as he left I tried to break free, but I couldn’t reach the hinge because I had huge paws. So I just barked repeatedly, over and over again for someone to let me out. Soon the big man was back and I quieted down a little bit, but didn’t stop barking. But then I saw the big club in his hands, and then he yelled at me, but I couldn’t understand human words unless they were simple commands like, “sit”, “lie down”, or “stay”. So I still didn’t stop barking. So he threw the club over his head, still gripping it tight. And suddenly hit the hinges off the cage. I was free! Or so I thought…

Right after that I jumped out of the cage as a huge whistle was being blown from the train. But I really didn’t know what happened after that. Everything went completely black, at least for a minute. When I woke up I was in another cage with a stronger lock. There was really no point in getting out this time.

Days passed, and I was parched and starving. I was not used to not eating for a day or two. And I couldn’t run around either. Yeah, I could get up on all fours and turn around in a circle, but that was it! And the worst part was, if I barked for any reason, even growled, I would get clubbed. I had no idea why I was here, or where I was going for that matter. But all I knew was, I didn’t like it here.

Luckily, the train stopped in a matter of three days. I didn’t really care where I was anymore, I just wanted food. The huge man carried me out of the car, and guess what? I was put on ANOTHER train! But this train was different, instead of just me, this car had a lot of dogs in it! I couldn’t even count the endless rows of caged dogs, whimpering and barking, wanting to get out, just like me.

They put me in a new row, so I wasn’t next to anyone. I sat alone, hungry as ever. But at least I was aloud to whimper, as all the other dogs were continuously doing. After three minutes, the train finally pulled out of the station, and I was going somewhere else now.

I was now lucky. Because they brought me food this time! Even though it was less than half of what Judge Miller used to give me, it was still food. So I ate it. When the food was gone, I could finally think of other things right now. I thought about Judge, how he was so happy when he found me. And now, two years later, I was stolen by his own worker! I couldn’t believe I was so mindless back then, thinking it was just a simple car ride. Well, I actually had no choice anyway, because I was leashed. I wondered how Judge would be feeling right now. He must be looking everywhere for me. Poor Judge Miller. Now he probably thinks I’m a goner, or worse, that I abandoned him! I gasped mentally. He could actually be thinking that I took advantage of him these two years and finally left for another place. That Gardener could tell him anything! I cried myself to sleep that night, thinking about how Judge Miller could ever think I just abandoned him!

CHAPTER 2: Curly

The next morning was a better one. I had eaten breakfast, and drank out of my small water bowl, which was now empty (again). And thought positively. Maybe Judge didn’t care if I was apart from him, just as long as I was okay. And I was, for the most part. And love has no boundaries, so we will never be apart technically. I was still sad, though, that I will probably never see him again, but I had to be strong. I had to be brave.

I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out where we were going. I had to yell to another dog in front of me, it was so loud in here. He yelled back saying he didn’t know. None of them knew, actually. I didn’t get it. What do humans want with dogs anyway? What do they have against dogs? I didn’t know at the time, but soon I’ll find out.

The next day, well, could’ve gone better. Here’s what happened.

I was taking a short nap after my small breakfast. That was the only thing holding me back from going into a frenzy was the little food I’d gotten. I was getting pretty used to it now, though. But I was woken up by the sound of the train stopping. I