Cindy's Cherry Eyes

Thirteen or fourteen years ago, the narrator's family got their first puppy named Sydney. One day, while taking Sydney outside, a basketball hit her head and caused a condition called cherry eye. The vet bills became expensive, so the family had to give Sydney away to another family who would train her as a service dog. The narrator was sad to see Sydney go but hoped she would bring joy to her new family. Hey there, it's Nikeba. I hope you're doing well. I'm here with a story I've titled Sydney's Cherry Eyes. It was probably 13 or 14 years ago when my mother had surprised my brother and I with the best gift ever, our family's first puppy. Over the course of the next few weeks, we would go from pure joy and excitement to sadness and heartbreak. But not entirely, as the story does have a relatively happy ending. The accident had occurred about a month after bringing Sydney, our new puppy, home. And every time I think about what happened, I still feel as though I am entirely to blame, and it hurts my heart. We were at the house, and it was a warm spring day, and I wanted to bring Sydney outside so she could spend some time outside of her crate. With her crate being closest to the back door, I unlocked the hatch, scooped her up in my arms, and together we made our way out to the backyard. The backyard, near where my dad and brother had been playing basketball in the driveway. As I stepped out onto the back porch, holding Sydney as close to my body as I could, I had this eerie thought that we needed to go deeper into the backyard, to move further away from my dad and brother playing basketball in the driveway, because I didn't want either of us to potentially get hurt. And in that same moment, before I could even make it down the four little porch steps, it's almost as if demons had heard my very thoughts, when the basketball with sheer force and rocket speed seemed to fly out of nowhere and slam directly into Sydney's head, knocking her tiny body out of my arms. I stood on the steps momentarily, shocked and terrified at what had just happened, before I noticed that Sydney had scurried inside the house, and back into her crate. I followed her inside, and tried to reach for her to see if she was okay, and she cried and whimpered just from the side of my hand. I should have never taken her outside. She might die, and it would be all my fault, were the thoughts that repeatedly plagued my mind. Upon taking Sydney to the vet not long after the accident, we learned that she'd developed a condition called cherry eye, where not one, but both of her eyes appeared to have small, bright pink sacs hanging around the inner corners of them. Likely from the intense head trauma, the vets proposed there was some bleeding, and blood had pooled to the front of her head. My dad never particularly liked Sydney, and when the vet bill started coming in, he and my mom had ultimately decided that we could no longer keep her. Another family offered to take care of Sydney, and she would eventually become a trained service dog, and I, afraid of ever having a puppy ever again, despite my love for dogs. But I will never forget how hard I cried as I watched the new family drive away, with Sydney in the back of the car from my mom's bedroom window. I had to accept that she was no longer our new puppy, but would probably serve as a surprise, being someone's new service dog, and how filled with joy and excitement they'd be. And that's that. Thanks a lot for listening, and have a great day.