Once upon a time, in a land not so far away at all, lived a little tank of a blue brindle bulldog, who was very, very loved.

In a land pretty far away, as far as dog travel is concerned anyway, roamed another dog, who was not loved at all, by anyone.

Now this story has equally sad and delightful parts, so consider yourself warned if you read on. But, I will tell you: like all fairy tales, you get a happy ending.

And so the summer went by, hot and sticky. The brindle bulldog was very, very sick but the Princess was taking very good care of him during this time. She would feed him half her meals and they would go through drive thrus and get him his very own roast beef sandwich and cups full of ice cream or whipped cream, depending on where they were. The brindle bulldog was very happy, but getting weaker day by day. He loved to go on trips and would lay peacefully in the backseat until they got to their destination. One time they were in the car for a very long time and every time they stopped and got out it was further from home and there were all new smells and sights. Even the trees looked different. And then…after traveling all day, they reached the ocean. And it was the best thing the little tank of a blue brindle bulldog had ever seen. He was beside himself with glee and couldn’t stop yipping. And the bulldog was not a yipper, but he was so happy he just didn’t know how else to act. He loved the water and there was just so MUCH of it. If he had known the word vast, he would have used it. He had a very good time at the beach every single day. There was water with waves, and there was water without, and it was all glorious. There were smelly creatures in shells and there were trips on a boat. There were lots of new things to eat every day. The Princess made sure that he had a good time and got to see lots of different stuff every day because she knew he wouldn’t be around to enjoy this world much longer. She said everybody needed to experience the beach at least once in their life, dogs and humans, both. And the bulldog got his trip. And he ran free and swam just like a little kid. He was rejuvenated.

At the same time the bulldog was having the best time of his life, the dog no one loved was having the worst time of his. He was the color of chocolate pie filling just before it begins to boil, and he was so skinny that his ribs and hips were clearly visible beneath his chocolate colored coat. His blocky head and enormous paws with their white toes looked way too big for his rangy frame. He spent his days on the move, searching for things to eat and avoiding people who hurled insults and sticks at him. He was always hungry and he was always tired. The chocolate dog slept somewhere different every night with no one to stroke his gigantic velvety head and rub behind his floppy ears. The chocolate dog needed a safe place because he was very big and scary sounding when he barked. Many people were missing a chance to have a great friend because of how he looked.

The bulldog had come to the Princess in a way that most misunderstood dogs do: by default. He was pretty grumpy, but he had been mistreated and abandoned by too many mean people to trust them. But he had always trusted the Princess, and he respected her after an incident with a meter reader. The bulldog recognized that the Princess had saved him more than once and he loved her with everything he had and defended her right up till the end of his days. So when the little tank couldn’t breathe very well, and his eyes looked so, so tired, the Princess held him and let him go to sleep and breathe easy and rest the most restful sleep he had ever had. And when he woke up he was at a beautiful, still lake, the water smooth and cool, and he had a tennis ball in his mouth. And when he looked around, he saw there were tennis balls everywhere!! He had to get to them all and chew them up while he waited for his Princess to come take him for some ice cream.

Letting go is hard, the Princess already knew this. But maturity comes when you can appreciate what you had and not cry for what’s gone and cannot be changed. So, after a time, the Princess decided she was being a little silly and selfish for not sharing her heart with someone else. The Princess knew that dogs with block heads and scary barks didn’t often keep homes very long. And she knew that there are many, many dogs out there fitting that description. So the Princess started looking for one in particular. She was confident that when she found the right one, she would know it.

The Princess searched and searched. She met a few dogs but there was always something that told her to wait, to meet one more. There were so many!! It was heartbreaking not to be able to take them all home. But the Princess knew that for a dog to have the best life with her she could only have one. She would wait for that dog.

In the meantime, the chocolate dog that had been wandering for many months was picked up by a nice man in a truck. He took him to a place with many other dogs, and he had a bowl full of food every day, and all the clean water he could drink. He wasn’t yelled at, or beaten with a stick, and he got to sleep in a warm, dry place all of his own. He visited the doctor and got to feeling better very quick. He didn’t miss being free at all. He was always too tired to play before, but now that his belly was full he had energy and loved to go on romps outside and chase balls and play tug of war with the humans. He was very playful, and very, very strong. He was the biggest dog at the kennel, and families would come by and their eyes would slide right over him as they made their way past. He looked through the bars with his most endearing expression but it didn’t do any good. People would mutter, “Pit bull mix, can’t trust them” and keep moving.

One day, the Princess was feeling defeated about a dog she had set her heart on. The Princess had wanted a protector as well as a companion. She wanted her little brindle bulldog is really what she wanted but realized the fruitlessness of this wish. However, the heart wants what it wants. She looked over her favorites again, gathered in the cyberspace of her phone.

He was too furry, but she sure did like his smile. And his profile was short: “Andre the Giant came to us as a stray. He is around 2.5 and keeps his kennel clean. He is very large and has a scary bark, but is very loveable and playful. He knows some commands and seems very intelligent.” How big was he, really??? the Princess wondered. Only one way to find out. So that weekend, the Princess went to meet this giant dog.

When the chocolate dog got his collar on, the man took him out a different door and he knew something was happening. He saw the Princess, and the Princess had bacon, and he knew something major was afoot. He gave the Princess a kiss and she didn’t turn into a frog, so he knew she was real. And she took him on a walk. She was very kind, and asked him to sit a couple of times. He obliged and was given bacon. It tasted like the real stuff. It wasn’t rubbery at all. The chocolate dog with the big feet and the bigger head knew he should be very, very good and things might just look up for him. This is how it went for the other dogs in the shelter. He had seen so many come and go in his three months there. Or had it been four? He hadn’t been counting. It was still better than life on the streets. He tried to keep slack in the leash to show he could be obedient. He went to her when she kissed at him. He wanted to jump up and give her lots more kisses but he didn’t want to scare her; he had paid attention to all the people who said he was so big.

As for the Princess, she was wondering why all these people went on and on about how big he was. He wasn’t THAT big. He sure was cute, though. And he actually listened to her and acted like he cared. She tried to find something wrong with him, but all she could come up with was that he wasn’t her little brindle tank. The pair made their way back down the hill to the group of shelter employees standing outside watching their progress. She made no move to give them back the large chocolate dog with the blocky head and white toes.

The man explained why the other dogs there wouldn’t be a good fit for her. The Princess shrugged. “I don’t want to meet them anyway….I like him,” she explained with a shrug, still tentative about saying the next words. She was scared to make it real.

The man looked at her, and she looked at the man, and the dog looked at them both. Then the man said the magic words. And so the large chocolate dog with the white toes and the big smile on his blocky head got his cape, got his harness, and got his home that day. And when he got to his home, he had two beds and a blanket. He had too many toys to count, he had a bowl full of food and another bowl of crystal clear water. And it stayed that way. And he got to run and run and run inside a big fence and he got to go on rides lots of times in the rocket. And best of all, he got to snooze on the couch while the Princess stroked his big blocky head and told him he wasn’t so big after all. And she would fry bacon and he would lay on her lap while she wrote stories. It was like it was in his wildest dreams. And he was so, so happy. And the Princess missed her blue brindle bulldog, but this chocolate dog never failed to put a smile on her face. And she thanks the brindle tank for teaching her not all pitbulls are scary and mean, and they love you so completely it’s almost impossible to let them go. But there will always be another to help you find your way and shower your affection on.

And so the Princess and the large chocolate dog with the biggest heart and biggest head and biggest feet with little white toes lived happily ever after.