Dan’s Hero: Part 1 of 2

Part 1

Dan began to feel uneasy when his best friend Luke called him to tell him that he is on his way over with Spike. Dan was in the garden collecting snails when his Mum shouted down the garden that Luke was on the phone. He raced up to the house, excited that his friend was probably going to come round so they could play together. But when Luke announced that he was going to be walking Spike and that they would call in together, Dan felt his heart sink and his skin crawl.

You see, at 7 years old, Dan was a carefree and easy going boy. He loved running around outdoors, being active, playing video games and especially enjoyed collecting snails. Dan also enjoyed teaching his little sister, Emily, who was only two, about snails and other creepy crawlies that they found in the garden together. Dan liked to go on expeditions around the neighbourhood with Luke and together, they often stumbled upon wild animals some of which had succumbed to an unfortunate fate. A dead squirrel or pigeon was always exciting, and the look on their mothers’ faces the first time they took something home was priceless but the boys quickly learned their lessons and kept their discoveries outside. But for all the animals and creepy crawlies that Dan loved to find and play with, there was one creature that he despised.

This creature is loved by most people. ‘Man’s best friend,’ they call it. Dan couldn’t understand this. Surely man’s best friend is another man, not a dog, just like his best friend was Luke. Cats are nice animals; they purr, they sleep and they play. As for dogs, well, Dan just couldn’t put his finger on why he disliked them so much. There wasn’t one specific incident that kick-started his fear, but all he knew was that he started to feel irrational with panic when a dog started to get closer.

Dan never really liked dogs, but he never used to be afraid of them that much. There was a noticeable rise in this fear after his grandmother died, around six months after Emily was born. Dan was five at the time and he was still getting used to having delicate and soft, little Emily around, when his Gran suddenly became very ill, very quickly and died peacefully in her sleep one morning. Dan couldn’t remember very much about that morning, or even that time in his life. He can remember moments of that time, such as the moment his father told him to run upstairs and check on his sister, while a lady who looked around Gran’s age fell into his Dad’s arms crying. He also remembers the moment that a very large man whom Dan had seen before at the Chip shop on the other side of town, was standing around outside the house, across the street with an angry-looking dog. He remembers that the moment the man saw Dan looking out through the window at him, he wondered off down the street. Dan was only looking at the dog wondering why someone would voluntarily bring something like that into their home, but the whole incident gave him a cold shiver. So although nothing in particular occurred to make Dan dislike dogs so much, it appeared that his fear of them grew after the death of his grandmother.

Dan’s Mum and Dad had recently decided that they were going to get a dog. Rather than buying a dog from a pet shop, his Mum wanted a dog that needed a home. When he heard his Mum on the phone just dropping it in to a telephone conversation she was having casually as though she was mentioning bringing fish and chips home, Dan felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. He felt rather nauseous for a while and then quickly hoped that his Mum was ‘just saying it,’ like grown-ups do sometimes when they talk to their other grown-up friends. Dan overheard this conversation around two months ago and ever since, there had been lots of outings and events where dogs were regular guests, such as days out in the park and barbeques. Although Dan had noticed this, he did not appreciate it. His parents knew more than anyone how much he feared dogs, and yet they were happy to encourage these occasions. To top things off, Emily loved dogs!

Luke rang the doorbell and no matter how many times he had seen a dog, Dan still felt very uncomfortable. He felt a panic rise within him as he made his way through the house towards the front door. He stopped behind the door and took a deep breath to try and calm his heart, pounding in his chest. On opening the door, Dan felt like he needed to run away. He got very sweaty and his heart started to beat faster and faster. Spike, Luke’s small bulldog, was restless and just seemed to want to keep moving.

“Fancy coming out to the park with us Dan?” Luke asked without batting an eyelid.
“Mum said I can’t. I have to stay in and play with Emily,’ Dan replied quietly. His little plan didn’t work as well as he had hoped because at the same moment as he said this to Luke, his mother happened to be going past them.
“Of course you can go to the park Dan. You don’t have to stay here. Just be back in time for dinner. Are you alright Luke?” she said happily.
“Fine thank you Mrs Wilson! Are you coming Dan?”
“I don’t think so, Luke. I’m busy collecting snails at the moment. I’ll come out another time,’ Dan replied, shutting the door before Luke could respond. He breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the hardness of the door, a barrier between himself and the dog.

One Week Later

Dan heard Emily squeal as he woke up from a dream he couldn’t quite remember. He groggily made is way downstairs to find his parents beaming down at Emily and a dog frolicking around on the kitchen floor. Through sleepy eyes, it took him a moment to comprehend and process the scene. He quickly ran out and back up to his bed. His Mum followed him to explain the situation. She said that she and Emily had picked up the puppy from the dog shelter that morning and that if he gave him a chance, she was sure he would like him.

Dan was angry. He was angry with his parents and with Emily too. How could they do this to him? How could they sneak off to the dog shelter and choose a dog without even telling him? Dan felt betrayed. They knew how much he didn’t like dogs and still went ahead. He didn’t know what to say to his mother then. He couldn’t find the words to describe how he felt and more importantly he didn’t know how he could now go forward with a dog in the house.

“Dan, sweetheart, we think you will like this puppy if you get to know him,” his mum started. “He is such a sweet dog.”
Dan didn’t respond.
“His name is Aero and he is a black Labrador. He is 6 months old,” she continued slowly, while giving Dan little kisses on his head.
After a while’s silence, Dan’s mum added, “Aero was abandoned by his previous owners. They moved house and left him on the street with no food or water. Someone took him to the shelter and when he arrived there, 3 months ago, he was so starving you could see all his bones through his fur. He was so cold because he was left out in the snow that he was shivering.”
Dan stared at his mother in disbelief.
After a moment he asked curiously, “Is he named Aero after the chocolate?”
“Yes, he is… guess who named him?” his Mum replied.
“Was it Dad?” Dan asked. His mum shook her head. “Was it you?” he tried.
She shook her head again.
“It was Emily! Can you believe it?” she said smiling.
“Emily named the puppy Aero? How clever…” Dan said. He suddenly remembered that there was actually a dog in the house and once again he tensed up and didn’t know what to say or do.
“Emily and your Dad are going to take Aero down to the park to play in a bit. Would you like to join them?” Dan’s mum asked.
Dan shook his head.
“How about we let them go first and then we follow them over with a picnic at lunch time?” she suggested. “We don’t even have to play with them when we get there,” she added.
Dan nodded slightly. “Maybe,” he said.
“Ok, maybe it is. Why don’t you get showered and changed and come down for breakfast. In the meantime I will send your Dad and your sister to the park,” she said as she turned around and left his room.

Dan quickly shut the door behind her as he wondered what his next move would be. He paced around his room for a bit, listening out carefully for noises from downstairs. After a few moments he heard his family shout goodbye to each other followed by the front door closing. He ran to his window, looked outside and saw the three of them. Emily, Dad and Aero on a lead, which his dad was holding. They walked happily, down the street towards the park. As they got further away, Dan began to feel a bit more at ease so he went off in pursuit of his shower and breakfast.

Later that day, after Dan had spent a good two hours in the garden collecting snails, his mum called out to him from the kitchen door. Dan ran up to the house with his bucket of snails and after placing it by the door mat, he took his wellies off and stepped inside. On the kitchen table, he could see that his mother had already prepared the picnic she had mentioned that morning and she was now in the hallway putting her shoes on.
“Do you want to pop your trainers on Dan, so we can go down to the park for that picnic? I bet your father and Emily are hungry by now.”
Dan slowly trudged into the hallway and opened the shoe cupboard to look for his trainers.

Dan and his Mum set off towards the park. It was a beautiful day and Dan does admit to himself that if it weren’t for the dog issue, he would spend much more time in the park on days like this. Instead he usually remains within the safe fencing of the garden, but now there was a dog that lived within that fencing. He just didn’t see how he was going to come to terms with this. As they entered the park, Dan began wondering whether his parents would agree to keep Aero on a lead in the garden, but he knew that this was never going to happen. They loved dogs and they certainly didn’t pick one up from the shelter to tie it to a tree.

“Let’s see where dad and Emily are, shall we?” Dan’s mum asked, looking around the park through her sunglasses. Only a moment later, Dan heard his dad shouting for them. “There they are!” his mum cried happily, pointing at his Dad and Emily.
At first Dan didn’t see the dog, and wondered whether they had perhaps lost it, or decided to give it to someone else, but before he could enjoy the relief that came with that thought, he spotted Aero running towards Emily with a frisbee in his mouth. Instantly, the relief was replaced with mounting anxiety. As his mum began to walk towards Emily and his dad, Dan froze on the spot.
“What’s wrong Dan? Aren’t you coming?” his Mum asked when she noticed that he hadn’t moved forward with her.
Dan was silent.
“Is it Aero?” she asked gently.
Dan nodded whilst looking over at them.
“Dan, sweetheart, Aero is not going to hurt you. We wouldn’t have brought him home if we thought he might hurt a fly, let alone our favourite little man. It will be ok, darling, I promise,” she said while rubbing his back slowly.
As Dan was starting to feel a bit more comfortable with the idea of going across the park, he suddenly spotted Emily running towards them. Running with her, was Dan’s worst nightmare.