My Dog Skip Page #5

And that's what he needs.

A friend.

All right, then.

Here, Skipper!

Here, boy!

Here, boy!

What the hell?!

Damn mutt.

What'd you do to him?!

That's my dog!

I told you to keep

that damn mutt out of here.

Why, if it ain't old Dink.

Need a jar of hooch, buddy?

Millard, fetch a pint for Dink.

Listen, you boys need

to get on out of here.

This your buddy?

You know how much he

and that mongrel cost us?

I said you need to get out of here.

Millard, listen to who's talking.

Mr. Hitler's best friend.

It's you who better get out of here.

Get your moonshine

and get out of here.

And I better never see you

around here again. Got that?

Come on, Junior. Let's go.

Come on!

It's getting too damn popular

around here anyway.

You better hope that dog lives.

Any word?

It doesn't look good.

Could you come on back, please?

Do you want someone to go with you?

He's a big boy.

He'll be okay.

Is he gonna die?

I don't know.

I've done all I can.

It's in God's hands now.

Please don't die, boy.

What would I do without you?

You taught me how to play football.

You helped me meet the guys...

...and get up enough nerve

to talk to Rivers.

And understand about Dink.

I'll never have another

friend like you. Ever.

Skip's gonna be all right.

You're all right!

That's my boy.

I love you, Skip.

I knew you'd make it.

I almost lost old Skip that day.

Even as he was sleeping

on the operating table...

...he was still teaching me.

That day...

...I became a young man.

Why, in childhood and youth...

...do we wish time

to pass so quickly?

We want to grow up so fast.

Yet as adults,

we wish just the opposite.

You're a good boy, Skip.

If, as the authorities

often declare...

...a dog's life in relation

to a human being's...

...can be calculated by

seven human years to his one...

...then Skip was an adult

when I was still a boy.

Sometimes it seemed as if he possessed

the wisdom of a creature...

...as old as time.

All the lessons you learn

in childhood...

...kind of come in waves.

We finally saw Waldo Grace play.

And play, and play, and play.

In remembering moments

such as these...

...I retain the sad,

sweet reflection...

...of being an only child

and having a loyal and loving dog.

For the struggles of my life...

...of the dangers, toils and snares

of my childhood hymns...

...loyalty and love...

...are the best things of all...

...and surely the most lasting.

The day finally arrived for me

to move away from home.

I was awarded a scholarship

to attend Oxford University in England.

A long way from Yazoo, Mississippi...

...and a long way

from my family and friends.

The dog of your boyhood...

...teaches you a great deal

about friendship and love and death.

I was an only child.

He was an only dog.

Old Skip was 11...

...and feeble with arthritis...

...but he never lost that

old devilish look in his eye.

He made my room his own.

Came across an old photo

of him not long ago.

His little face...

...with the long snout sniffing

at something in the air.

His tail was straight out

and pointing...

...eyes were flashing

in some momentary excitement.

He always loved to be rubbed

on the back of his neck.

And when I did it,

he'd yawn, and he'd stretch...

...reach out to me with his paws...

...as if he was trying to embrace me.

I received a transatlantic

call one day.

"Skip died"...

...Daddy said.

He and my mama wrapped him

in my baseball jacket.

They buried him out

under our elm tree, they said.

That wasn't totally true...

...for he really lay buried...

...in my heart.

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