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Photo: Ana Llimet
by Ana Llimet
A best friend can come unexpectedly. For me, my best friend came into my life unanticipated, through the form of a question. One night when I was 14, my mom walked into my room and asked if I wanted a dog. I instantly answered, “yes!” I was starting high school and was ready for new things. To my surprise, she told me to jump in the car. I wasn’t sure what was going on but the next thing I knew we were in Beachwood. We got out of the car at a house I’d never seen and a man was standing in his driveway with small dog besides him. My mom told me to grab it and I took it to the car without question. I sat in the front seat with the dog on my lap and waited for my mom. She kept staring at me and was trembling from fear. I kept petting her and telling her it was going to be ok. My mom told me her name was Coco and she was just some mutt her boyfriend had and didn’t want. We took Coco home and she was awesome! She was already potty trained and was amazing with all the little kids in the house.
[pullquote_left]By the time I was 15, I was struggling with friends, family and especially school. I stopped going to school and would stay in my room. I was becoming depressed and would sleep all day.[/pullquote_left]
Coco was cool and all but I initially saw her as an add-on to my life. I only let her into my room when I was bored and threw her out when I was satisfied. I then started getting in trouble for forgetting to feed her. I started to resent her and no longer wanted her.
By the time I was 15, I was struggling with friends, family and especially school. I stopped going to school and would stay in my room. I was becoming depressed and would sleep all day. Coco would constantly bark and I couldn’t really sleep so I started bringing her in my room when I took naps. She began to take naps with me and eventually I wanted her at the foot of my bed every time I went to sleep. I started letting her in all the time and she became my friend. I wanted to spend every minute of every day with her.
I noticed I was sleeping less and figured I would play with Coco more. We were always in my room so it started to get boring. One day Coco and I were in my room, just sitting there bored. I had my headphones on and she kept looking up at me with her big, innocent eyes. I took my headphones off and blasted the music and started dancing. She instantly jumped up and joined me. Her tail was wagging, she was jumping on me and every once in a while she would let out a little bark. She was happy and so was I. I hadn’t felt that in a while, Coco was bringing positivity into my life.
Months passed and I started to leave my room and go out into the backyard. this was a huge step for me since I practically stayed in my room for four months. Coco’s company was great. She helped me find happiness in everything, like the backyard and the fresh air outside. From then on, I would always be in my backyard playing with Coco, even to the point where we made a youtube video. My cousin recorded us as I pretended Coco was a unicorn and I was hunting her. I started to run after her and tried to grab her as she turned around and started to chase me away. It was only 30 seconds long but it was a wonderful 30 seconds.
