The Dog That Finally Conquered A Stair

 

     Last New Year’s Eve, at the height of revelry and the explosion of firecrackers, scared of all the noises around him and looking for a safe place to hide, our dog, a beagle, who had never ascended our stair to the second floor (except when we'd carry him) all his life (he’s now four years old), finally climbed it and conquered it and went to the second floor. We couldn’t blame him for being scared before because our stair is quite steep and there’s the danger of slipping and falling between steps; he would usually just take a step or two and then retreat. We cheered for him, of course, for he just showed that with determination and belief in yourself (and threats to your safety, lol), you can do anything.

     He needed to sniff and search every nook and cranny of our second floor for hours before he calmed down. It took him another day to learn how to descend, and now, he’s an expert in climbing and descending stairs. Our stair, at least. Now, once upstairs, he’d mostly lie down on the floor beside us or stare at our lovebirds. I’m trying to make him watch TV but so far, he can’t be bothered. He also won’t go to the second floor whenever it’s empty.

    Once, while he was lying down beside me at the second floor, I saw him seemingly smiling, like he felt happy and satisfied. Maybe, he felt sad whenever he was the only one at the ground floor and we were all at the second floor and he couldn’t come with us.

     Now, there’s no leaving him behind.