Chapter 14 - Lucy Ate Dinner Beside Murphy Again
For months Lucy refused to be near Murphy while he ate.
The sound of kibble hitting metal made her freeze.
So I switched to a ceramic bowl.
Moved it into the kitchen.
Never mentioned why.
One afternoon, nearly a year later, Lucy was making a peanut-butter sandwich when Murphy wandered over.
She dropped a corner of bread.
He ate it.
Lucy laughed.
Then she looked at his bowl.
“Can I feed him?”
I kept my reaction small.
“Sure.”
She scooped his food.
Poured it into the ceramic bowl.
Murphy attacked dinner like he had not eaten in twelve years.
Lucy giggled.
Then she sat on the kitchen floor beside him.
Not kneeling because someone ordered her.
Just sitting.
Watching her dog eat.
I stood in the doorway pretending to check email because I did not want my face to turn the moment into something heavy.
Healing sometimes looks embarrassingly ordinary.
A child sitting beside a dog bowl without being afraid.
May you like
That was enough.
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