Sasha by Caroline Hood

​Sasha 

 
“I don’t know why you want a pet, Lila. You’ll probably just kill it,” Jacob, my brother, narrowed his green eyes at me. 
 
I stared at the top of his faded black head. His hair had always been a lighter black. It was almost a grey color. 
 
I sighed and turned towards the dusty window of the brown Jeep we were traveling in. Though it was difficult I could make out trees through the smudges of dust. They were oak trees, and they towered high above our car.  
 
“You know that mom thinks it is a good idea for me to have an animal. She thinks it might help with all my eccentricities,” I said. 
 
Our mother had very interesting ideas about what my brother and I were supposed to be like. They weren’t society’s ideals but rather her ideals. My differences labeled me outside of the realm of what was acceptable by her standards, and she had been attempting to fix me since I was young. My eccentricities were of course my tendency to go into fight or flight mode fairly often even when faced with non-threatening stimuli. For example, crowds made me very nervous, but that was only one of the many things that caused me anxiety. I often compared myself to an anxious guinea pig. 
 
However, to get my point across I gestured at my body. I hissed as my hand caught a strand of my black hair flinging it into my green eyes. My brother always insisted that I had beautiful features, but I wasn’t so sure. I adored his hair and his eyes. His green eyes looked like some kind of special stone you would own. Mine looked like something you would scrape off your shoe. 
 
Jacob looked ahead at the road. His tanned hands tightly gripped the steering wheel. I knew from personal experience that the bottoms of his hand were calloused due to his work in our yard.  
 
“You’re just you. That’s what makes you lovable,” Jacob said.
 
I gave him a big smile and waved my hands in the air. 
 
He rolled his eyes. “Loveable and annoying.” 
 
 I sat back in my seat and watched the trees go by. After a few minutes, I closed my eyes and relaxed into the familiar bumpiness of the car and the ever present clicking of the steering wheel. 
 
“Sis, sis.” Jacob poked me in the side. “We are here.”  

I grabbed his hand, and he swung me out of the Jeep. Ahead of us was a one-story brick building with a faded sign that read Hope’s Friends in navy blue lettering. 
 
“You ready for this adventure?” Jacob asked. 
 
He took my hand in his. 
 
I grasped securely onto his hand. “Bring it.” 
 
We walked towards the building. The doors creaked open, and I was assaulted by the smell of urine and feces. I scrunched up my face. Though the place was only one story it seemed that they had managed to fit a large number of animals in the inside of the building. 
 
“Let’s go that way.” I pointed to the left where there were several rows of dogs and pulled on Jacob’s hand. 
 
The first dog we came to was some kind of mixture between a Golden Retriever and a Collie. I stuck my finger into the cage to try to pet the dog. 
 
“Hi, sweetheart. Are you a boy or girl?” I asked. 
 
“She’s a girl.” A woman had come up on our right. 
 
I felt my heart rate increase at her unexpected appearance. I clenched Jacob’s hand and took deep breathes. 
 
Her brown eyes peered at me through her wide rimmed glasses. “How may I help you two?” 
 
“We’re looking for a pet for my sister,” Jacob explained. 
 
The woman tapped her pencil against the clipboard she was carrying. There appeared to be some kind of form attached to it. “Well, I am Ms. Ivory, and I can assist you.” She turned to me. “What kind of dog were you looking for?” 
 
I fidgeted underneath her gaze. “I really don’t care. Sweet and not too wild.” 
 
She tapped the pencil underneath her chin and then stuck it in her tight bun adjusting her brown hair. “Well then I have the perfect pet for you.” 
 
She led Jacob and I down the right. It was away from where we had been. It was darker this way, and the smell of urine increased. I tried to pinch my nose every so often without Ms. Ivory noticing.  
 
“Here she is,” Ms. Ivory said. 
 
She gestured to a cage where a grey Pitbull huddled in the background. She had her paws covering her nose and her head lowered to the ground. However, her eyes did flick to us as we drew near the cage. 
 
“Who is she?” I asked. 
 
Ms. Ivory placed one hand on the cage and the Pitbull whimpered and curled further in on herself. “Her name is Sasha. We don’t know much about her background. She is shy but very sweet.” 
 
Jacob chewed on his lip. “I don’t know. She seems kind of timid.” 
 
Ms. Ivory sighed. “Sadly, she is quite skittish. I am hoping that the right family will soften her up though.” 
 
I stared into Sasha’s brown eyes. They were flicking rapidly between all of us. I could particularly sense the fear radiating off of her. She and I were not that different then. I was scared of everything, and it seemed she had a certain level of fear herself. 
 
“I’ll take her,” I said. 
 
Jacob turned to me. His mouth opened partway. 
 
“Lila, you can’t be serious,” he said. 
 
“No, no I’m serious. Mom wanted to get me an animal so I would have someone to comfort me when I get nervous. What better dog to comfort me then one who knows what it is like to be scared,” I said. 
 
“Fine, it’s your decision.” Jacob turned to Ms. Ivory. “We’ll take her.” 
 
Ms. Ivory smiled. “Good, let’s go to my office.” 
 
Jacob went to Ms. Ivory’s office to fill out paperwork and then Ms. Ivory let Sasha out of her cage. Ms. Ivory handed me the leash, and Jacob and I walked towards the car. I walked behind Jacob allowing Sasha to take her time. She walked slowly with her tail between her legs. Jacob and I opened the back of the car, and Jacob hoisted Sasha in. She gave a slow whine while he had his hands on her. 
 
“You’ve got your work cut out with this one,” Jacob said.
 
I nodded towards the Jeep. “Just drive.” 
 
We climbed into the Jeep and exited onto the road. I watched Sasha to make sure she was handling the turns well. She was curled up in a small ball in the back. Her tail was twitching slightly. What was I going to do with her? 
 
I smiled as our house came into sight. Two stories with purple peeling paint and fairy lights adjourning the yard. It was not an average house, but I liked to think that we were not average people. 
 
Jacob helped get Sasha out of the car, and I pulled her into the house and up into my bedroom. I placed her in the center of my room on top of my purple carpet. She glanced around the room. She wouldn’t be able to notice that the walls were navy blue, but I hoped that she would still find my room comforting. I sank down into my cream-colored blanket on my bed. 
 
“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” Jacob said.
 
He headed down the curved steps.  I stared at Sasha. She had to let me pet her. She just had to. She was going to be my dog. 
 
I slowly inched my way towards her, and she began to whine. Her right hind leg began to shake. 

“Okay, you don’t like that. How about this?” I lowered myself to the purple carpet and crawled towards Sasha. I had my hand over her flank, and she growled.
 
“Not that one then.” I placed my hands on my head. “I’ll just sit here then.” 
 
I sat there. I stared at the clock as the minutes ticked by. 
 
After 30 minutes, Sasha raised her head and began crawling to where I was sitting. She placed her head within petting distance. I slowly lowered my hand and began to pet her. She did not growl. She leaned her head into my hand and made an appreciative noise. 
 
“See we got this girl. We can do life together. Just a bunch of scaredy cats learning to live life,” I said. 
 
I pulled a book off the shelf nearby and began to read while I continued to scratch Sasha. Somehow within the next hour Sasha wound up in my lap. She was a heavy thing.
 
“Looks like you made a friend,” Jacob spoke up from the doorway. 
 
“Looks like I did,” I said. 
 
He handed me a food bowl. “You still have to feed her though.” 
 
I laughed. “I would expect nothing less.” I scratched Sasha’s head. It looked like things were settling in just fine.

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Caroline lives with her family and her four cats in Georgia. She can most often be found curled up with a book in her hand and chocolate and diet Dr. Pepper in front of her. Stories have helped her throughout the years and helped shape who she is. She hopes that her stories might help shine a little bit of brightness in world where it is hard to see. She is excited for you to read her books and hopes you enjoy coming on this journey with her.  

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