Traveling with Pets

‘To Take or not to Take’

That Needs to be Decided!

``````````Choices

A Pet-Friendly Story

Beginning

“Life is all about choices, my dear,” said Mom.

“Great, another lecture of wisdom!” I thought. I was not ready to listen to one of those

I-know-everything speeches my parents love to give. Yes, what they say is sometimes

right, actually most of the time, even always, but I did not want to hear it. I just wanted

to go to my room, put a pillow to my mouth and scream as hard as I could. My

father saw how angry I was and tried to change the subject but the outcry of anger and

frustration came even before he opened his mouth.

“It’s not fair. Humans are cruel, stupid…” Before I finished my sentence, my little

Brother said, ‘Oh no! Don’t say that word!” “Shut up!” I said.

I left the table without being excused and rushed up the stairs.

“Another bad word!” said my brother as if he wanted to make me angrier.

I threw myself on the bed and began crying frantically.

Middle

Suddenly, I sat up on my bed and decided that I would not go with them to visit my

grandparents if I was not allowed to take my sweet Fluffy.

I ran downstairs and told them that I was not going with them. My father got very

angry and said, ”It is not even an option! We are all going and this is the end of the

conversation”

I began crying out loud and ran back up. My brother came and tried to console me but

I pushed him away and hugged my sweet Fluffy. I didn’t leave my room for the rest of

the evening.

“Knock, knock! Can I come in?” said my brother. “We are going to miss the bus. Dad

will be really angry. Let’s go.” After I made sure my brother was gone, I opened my

room door and ran downstairs. My mom was in the kitchen, calling me to take my

lunch but I sneaked out and got on the bus. At school, I did not talk to anyone and my

friends knew not to ask me why.

It was dinner time. I had to sit at the table and listen to my father’s lecture on

obedience to parents and their love for their children. All that parenting nonsense!

Then he moved to the topic of having a wonderful summer vacation.

“Without Fluffy, it is impossible!” I thought.

To everyone’s surprise, my brother asked my father,

“Why can’t we take Fluffy? A lot of people travel with their pets.” The rest of us was

shocked and stopped moving for a second because my father was not the kind who

can handle such challenges from his kids. My mom and I were waiting in fear to see

what my father would do. Shockingly, he was calm and told my brother that he did not

have enough time to prepare all the documents, required for Fluffy to travel with us.

When my mom realized that my brother was going to talk again, she asked my brother

if he wanted more chicken to distract him.

“You don’t have to.” he said. I looked on Internet and found out that

there are some travel agencies that offer special services to people

who want to travel with their pets.

“You need to understand. Most of the information on the Net is not reliable. It is time

that you finish your dinner and start working on your homework.” My father reacted.

My brother very confidently continued,

“I know that. But I checked out the travel agency in our town. When I called them,

they told me they could get the visa and the other documents ready for us before

they book the flight. They even have a veterinarian in their office who prepares all the

health certificates. They also said that they have a brochure that has all the info we

might need during the trip. They gave me a web-site that has lists of all pet boarding

facilities, pet-friendly hotels, pet emergency centers all round the world and much

more. And…”

Climax

Alas, he was very persistent on continuing his conversation with Dad.Before he was able to finish his sentence, my mom tried to interrupt him by asking if

anyone wanted dessert.

“No way, he is not going to shut up.” I thought. Scared, I turned to my dad but he

seemed to be interested in what my brother was saying. My brother went on,

“ Then, they told me to go online and check the Ministry of Agriculture’s web-site for

the info on traveling with pets.” Then he got up, walked to his backpack and took out

a white folder. He took out a piece of paper and gave it to my father, saying, “Here is

the printout of the checklist they had on their page.” ‘

Amazed, my father took the paper from my brother. My brother added, “I checked

out the ones the travel agency will take care of for us. So if we start now, everything

will be ready before we leave.”

Those were the last words we exchanged that night.

ResolutionMy anger and sadness was decreasing. Defeated, I was trying to get myself used to

the idea that Fluffy has to stay behind with my friend. I kept repeating, “It is so unfair,

so unfair.” After a week of trying to persuade my father to leave me behind with Fluffy,

I gave up. My father kept quiet whenever I tried to talk to him. It was so frustrating. I

was so hopeless, helpless, and felt so lonely. Knowing that my friend was in love with

Fluffy and will definitely take good care of him was the only solace I had.

One evening, my father was knocking on my room door and asking permission to

come in. Surprised and very nervous, I opened the door. “Here is the documents you

need to put together. I will take them to the travel agent next Monday.“ Without

waiting for my response, he went downstairs. Later that evening, my mom came to ask

me why my dad was in my room. I showed her the paper my dad gave me. It was the

paper my brother gave him a week ago. Then a smile shone her face: “See, Life is all

about choices.” said my mom.

This time, I was ready to listen to her lecture. I had to go and give a hug to the person

who turned the things around