Thursday the 26th of October, the day that will change my life forever.
I woke up reluctantly and stumbled to get my uniform on. I completed my usual routine: breakfast, get washed, you know - the usual stuff a fourteen year old kid does before departing for school. I gave Bingo a rub and said goodbye to my dad.
School was the usual. I talked to friends, went to classes, struggled to stay awake in said classes. I enjoyed school, seeing my friends and everything. The only part I didn't lie was of course the learning!
So it was pretty routine, just a normal day in the life of Karl Browne. Nothing majorly exciting but nothing to complain about either. That's probably what I was thinking when I was doing my Irish homework. To be honest, I can't really remember because what occurred next was going to hurt. A lot.
My mam called me downstairs, tears in her eyes. She had a cold, so I thought nothing of it. She called me to the kitchen where I saw him lying. He limped over to me. His leg swollen, inflated like a balloon An almost sorry look in his eye.
"I think it's time Karl, he's in pain" she struggled to tell me.
"Okay". I had no idea what to say. I turned around and went back to my room, desperately trying not to think too much about it.
A half hour passed and my mam came up to me. She told me to shut down my compter and I did as I was told. I put on my hat and shoes as my parents got ready. We all got into the car. The short journey seemed to last hours.
We opened the door and were greeted by the man in the blue coat. My mam was now in tears, along with my sister. My dad and I fought them back. The man took us to a back room where he checked my friend. We all knew he would have to go but the man confirmed it anyway. He explained the procedure as I continued fighting the rush, the urge to cry. I could hear screaming patients and I remember falling into a trance, staring at my shoes.
"Say your goodbyes Karl", my mam said.
I did. I didn't want to let go. I couldn't. I couldn't let him go, he was my everything. But I let go and the man injected him with an initial sedative.
I was still fighting those tears. I knew I'd lose the battle but I wasn't giving up. The man lay my friend on the ground and told me to hold on to him. He explained that he would inject an overdoes of anesthetics and my friend would feel no pain. He started to inject the blue fluid. That was it, I had lost the battle, the tears flowed freely.
He was gone. The man checked for a pulse. He was dead. I broke down crying. My mam offered me a tissue but I claimed I didn't need it. In my head, I wasn't crying, closer to dying but I guess my body was crying. I reluctantly took the tissue.
I sat on the floor beside the lifeless body. He was still warm. I rested my head on his stomach. Instead of the usual up and down motion and gurgling sounds coming from his stomach, there was a sorry silence. His eyes were still open as I leant to kiss his forehead. I could have sworn he smiled at me but I was just seeing what I wanted.
The tears streamed down my face as I lost something I could not replace. I hugged him, told him I loved him and left. I left a part of me in that room, a big part of me that I won't ever forget. I loved him and still do. Rest in peace Bingo, you're the best dog, no, best friend a guy could ever dream for.
By Karl Browne, 14.
