“Mom, where are you taking Solomon?” Kentray asked as his brown eyes filled with tears.

“Kentray, we’ve talked about this. You know Solomon is very sick. Every day it’s harder and harder for him to walk. He’s old, baby.”

Kentray threw his arms around his dog’s fluffy neck. “I can carry him! Or I can put him in the wagon when we go for walks. He’d like being pulled around.” Solomon licked Kentray’s face. “See?”

“No, baby. He needs to go. You don’t want your dog to be in pain, do you?”

Kentray gripped Solomon tighter, and his tears wet the dog’s brown and black fur. “But he’s not in pain! Watch!”

Kentray picked up Solomon’s favorite toy–a little chipmunk that squeaked when bitten–and hurled it into the dining room. Lifting his floppy ears and whining, Solomon watched it fly through the air then rested his head on the hardwood floor.

“Go, Solomon! Go get it!” Rolling onto his belly, Solomon waved his feet at the boy. Kentray pushed him a couple inches across the floor, but Solomon didn’t budge. “Dumb dog. You don’t even know how to play fetch anymore.”

Solomon licked Kentray’s hand, but the boy turned his back on his best friend. It hurt too much to see his dog like this. They used to come up with all sorts of adventures. Now, Solomon couldn’t even walk down the driveway. Solomon pushed his snout against Kentray’s back, leaving a wet mark on the back of his striped shirt. Kentray whirled around once more and hugged him tightly. His mom had to turn away to hide the tears in her own eyes. She tried to reach out to him as he ran past her to his tree house in the backyard, but Kentray was too quick and slid underneath her hands.

Solomon climbed to his feet. Forgetting about the dog, Kentray’s mother walked to the sliding glass door in time to see Kentray disappear through the opening in the tree house. She stood there for a few minutes trying to think of something that would make her son happy. Sighing, she called for Solomon who padded into the living room on wobbly legs. He sat calmly as she clipped the leash to his neck.

Kentray jumped when he heard the garage door. Watching as the car pulled out of the driveway, he wiped his face and climbed down from his tree house.

Kentray stormed back to his bedroom and flopped onto the bed. Something fell against his thigh, and he looked down at it. It was Solomon’s chipmunk. Not caring about the drool on the fake fur, he picked it up and hugged it. It even smelled like his dog. Solomon had thought about how sad he would be without him, so he gave him his most prized possession.

Kentray tossed the chipmunk in the air, and for a moment, he was able to pretend his best friend would be there to catch it.

Cara Nelson is a 7th grade teacher in California. She loves dogs more than anything!

The story that defines, ‘A friend in need is friend in deed – The Banyan tree.