To the ones who gave her up-
Thank you.
No.
Truly. Thank you for not seeing the magic in her wild puppy eyes, for being overwhelmed by the spark that refused to be dimmed, for turning away when all she needed was time, patience, and purpose. Thank you for seeing her blue heeler instincts as burdens instead of blueprints, for failing to recognize the potential in her nips and bounds and boundless need to work. Or maybe, you saw her as work, just another thing on your plate at the end of the day- or another mouth to feed. I do not know.
Because when you closed the door on her… she stepped through the one that led to me.
And what a year it has been.
In just twelve lunar cycles, Luna has transformed from an unwanted spark into the brightest star in my shadowed sky. She has learned to dance with the rhythms of my body—alerting to migraines, panic attacks, even seizures with a precision that no one ever taught her. She just knew. She became my moonlit sentinel without being asked, the flicker of light on nights that were too long, too loud, or too heavy to bear alone. But now because of her, I am never alone- she does not allow it.
She now knows how to press her weight into my chest when I’m spinning out of control (we call it DPT—but it feels like being anchored in love). She’s working on behavior interruption, object retrieval, and soon—gods willing—she’ll be trained to fetch my medication and summon help if I need it. She already knows how to get my little brother. She already knows how to get her other mama.
You called her too much. I call her everything.
And she’s not just my service dog in training- she’s my shadow. She has become an extension of myself. She sleeps at my side every single night, curled into the hollows of my hurt like she was made for it. Her favorite monster stuffie never leaves her sight for long. Her beloved balls (especially the glow-in-the-dark one) are never far from her paws. And her heart? It’s mine. Just as mine is hers.
Luna was never broken. She was never bad.
She was simply misunderstood by those who weren’t meant for her.
But you know something? That is fine because in my thirty years here on this planet I have learned that I, too, am not everyone’s cup of tea. But, I am someone’s cup of coffee in the morning, to get them through the day, or a shot of whiskey to make it through the night.
And now she’s blooming in ways I can barely put into words- ways that you will never see because you threw her away- except to say that I would be lost without her.
So, thank you—for making room in her path for me.
Because I’ve found a piece of my soul in this strange, star-speckled little dog. And no amount of thanks could ever be enough. I almost find it ironic now, the way you named her Luna, moon. And my name is often shortened to Sky, as if the two of us were supposed to find each other.
With every heartbeat she’s helped steady,
-Sky, The Crippled Cryptid ♥
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