Aaron and the Canine by Izmer Aarish

My name is Aaron Starlight. Throughout my life I’ve always been scared. You may be scared of what? To be blunt I’m scared of anything and everything: I’m scared of using public restrooms because there might be bugs that will bite me and I’ll get a rare fatal disease. I’m scared of sleeping and try to stay up all night because I’m scared that if I sleep I might never wake up… but the thing that I am most scared of are animals.

Today my mother had set me up on a playdate with my best friend, Ethan. Ethan however had a dog. The mere thought of a scary unpredictable furry creature in the same room made my palms sweat and my heart race. What if the dog licked me and I contracted rabies? What if the dog bit me and ripped some of my flesh off? What if his dog jumps on me and I can’t get it off of me? There are endless possibilities of what his slobbery dog could do to me.

“Mom, can I please not go to Ethan’s house? I’ll vacuum and mop the house.” I begged my mother with a smile that surely would make her give in.

“No you can’t Aaron you’ve let him down plenty of times already” My mom sighed and said.

“But I don’t want to! He has a dog!” I pleaded with my mom. My moms face turned serious and she brought me closer.

“Look I know facing your fears is scary and you want to stay away from dogs for whatever reasons you have,” I rolled my eyes preparing for her corny statement she was about to say. But she saw me and frowned at me before continuing her statement. “But the way to conquer fears is not keeping yourself safe from it, instead it is to run to it and realize sometimes there’s really nothing to be afraid of.” My mom said with a smile on her face now.

“What a bunch of baloney” I muttered

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

The car ride to Ethan’s house was excruciatingly long however I eventually arrived at his house. I slammed the car door shut and I said my goodbyes to my mom. I suddenly started to feel nauseous and scared and I stood frozen in front of Ethan’s house. Ethan lived in a house that was once painted white with plenty of flowers that were dazzling and pretty. However now it was winter and all the life that used to exude from his house was dead. There was something foul in the air and it smelled much like poo.

“Oh, Aaron! I was waiting for you!” Ethan shouted ecstatically as he swung the door open. From Ethan’s direction, a rush of warmth flooded my whole body and I suddenly started feeling alright. I started to dash to him and to the warmth that would make me feel better again. When suddenly I heard a horrific noise that I knew all too well. BARK! BARK! BARK!

My palms started sweating, my face went pale and my heart started racing. The fight or flight lesson I had learnt in science class started to take effect and I chose the latter. I bolted out of the house and away from the furry monster. Ethan was calling me back and chasing after me, I was wondering why he would chase after me. Even after minutes of running he was still calling out to me to stop running.

Then I really listened to what he was saying:

“Max! Come back to me!” shouted Ethan. Who is Max? I looked back and saw his dog, tongue out, mouth drooling and excessively panting chasing after me. Since I was looking backwards, I stumbled and tripped on the side of a pavement,letting out a horrific scream.

I quickly tried to get up, however my body just gave up. Max was coming closer to me by the second and I started to panic. I sat up and tried to move my legs but I sprained my ankle and it hurt to move it.

Before I knew it Max was right in front of me and he jumped on top of me. I fell back onto my back and Max was staring right at me. I didn’t dare break eye contact with Max. I started to really look at Max.

Sure he had really sharp teeth and he may be slightly dirty but everyone is. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to hurt me, maybe he was just excited to see me. I tried to touch him but as soon as I started going for it he started running to Ethan and I was left there in the dust.

I contemplated my decisions. Should I just run back home to tell my mom that I hurt my ankle or persevere through it and try to conquer my fear. I chose the latter.

I reluctantly got myself up and went to Ethan. Ethan was in front of me waiting for me to go back. As Aaron hobbled over to Ethan, his sprained ankle throbbing, he felt a mix of fear and determination. Part of him wanted to run home, but another part told him to keep going.

Ethan rushed to help. “Dude, are you okay?”

Aaron nodded. “I’m fine, just twisted my ankle. But Ethan, I…” He glanced toward the house nervously.

Sensing Aaron’s unease, Ethan said, “Don’t worry, Max is inside. He doesn’t bite.” He helped Aaron to the couch.

Preparing himself, Aaron said, “Can you call Max out? I need to try something.”

Ethan looked surprised but called Max out. Soon, Max came over, tail wagging with a wide grin on his face. Aaron slowly petted the dog, marveling at the softness of his fur. The overwhelming fear faded, replaced by wonder.

Aaron looked up at Ethan. “I want to play with him. Can we take him for a walk?”

Ethan grinned. “Absolutely!”

As they left the house with Max, Aaron felt a weight lift. This was a new chapter — he wouldn’t let his fears hold him back anymore. Facing his fear had set him free.