I don't have a name. Well that isn't true. I wasn't born with a name. I was made and then stuffed in a box and put on a shelf with a few others that looked like me. I am not even sure if we were all the same color. Somewhere along the way, I was taken off the shelf and thrown into a big box with a bunch of other toys. I don't know how long I was there. A young lady came in and took me. I heard her say she was replacing me with another toy, but she wanted to take me. That is when I met Bruce Lee. No, not the famous karate guy. Bruce Lee was a small dog. His human parents tried to adopt a black pug once from a website. That pug was named Bruce Lee, but he had already been taken. They got a baby black pug for Christmas and named him Bruce Lee. This is what he looked like....
I was given to him. I was hoping for a small child or some little girl that thought I might look cute as part of her bedroom decor. I didn't draw that hand. I got Bruce Lee. He liked to bite me, throw me around, and carry me all over the place in his mouth. There were times when he would carry me outside in the snow! To say he was gentle would be a lie. Some days he would bite me around the neck or by one of my arms and ask his human dad to try and pull me out. They would stretch me back and forth. It was something that they called, " tugging." I am not a fan.
Most of my days were spent being warm. Sometimes I laid on the floor. Sometimes in a bed with Bruce Lee or his brother. Sometimes on the floor of whatever room he left me in. I was given the name, "Green Guy," by the humans. I got baths from time to time, moved to new places more than once, and always shown affection. I became Bruce Lee's favorite. He had a lot of toys like me. A dog, a grey mouse, and some various other characters. For whatever reason, I was the favorite.
You learn a lot sitting in a house and just watching and listening. The humans really loved Bruce Lee. Even when they scolded him for bad bathroom habits or chewing something, you could tell they loved him. He always had their attention. That made his big younger brother jealous. It must be hard to love more than one thing. It is interesting how humans live. Some times they have disagreements and even raised their voices. Bruce Lee didn't like when they did that. His brother could never hear them, but Bruce Lee could. Even when they didn't get along, they still loved him. Everyday they would come home and pick him up and he would give them kisses. That is usually when I became part of the day. Bruce Lee would pick me up and carry me around. They would get excited and say," you got your Green Guy!" He would get more excited. In a large pile of characters, I was the favorite. Maybe Bruce Lee and I had something in common after all.
Forrest is Bruce Lee's brother and was a bit jealous. There were times when I think Bruce Lee felt ignored. The humans would tell him that Forrest needed special love because he was deaf. I think he understood. They were all a family and I suppose I was part of it too. We moved across country and back. Bruce Lee always remembered me though. I was still his go to. The houses changed, but the love between the humans and Bruce Lee didn't. Even an outsider like me could tell that he was the glue keeping them together. They even picked up another dog. An old man named Bailey. He left me alone, but every now and then would fall asleep on me, if I were left in a bed he wanted to be in. We all had some good years.
Somewhere along the way, things changed. Bruce Lee couldn't walk as well. He couldn't seem to make his back leg work. He still moved pretty good. He always grabbed me when one of his parents came home. He carried me all over the place in his mouth. The mom or dad had to take me out and put me back in my spot. They sure did love Bruce Lee! They definitely spoiled him. I am not sure why, but the humans started living in different places. I lived with the dad. I didn't see Bruce Lee everyday any more. I am not sure why. He came over every few days and always made me his first choice. He couldn't really tug with me any more, but that probably led to me sticking around longer. He finally needed special love too.
The last month or so has been strange. Bruce Lee seemed to be using his leg again. He moved faster. He carried me around longer and to any room he wanted. A few times, I even went outside with him. I gotta admit, he was pretty happy. He loved food and got excited every time one of his humans came through the door. I don't know a lot, but I do know that good things don't seem to last forever.
The other day I noticed Bruce Lee could barely get up. He was dragging both his legs. He couldn't pick me up. He looked at me almost as though to let me know he was sorry. The mom and dad were sad too. The kept holding him and he just kept shaking and twitching. Forrest and Bailey were acting strange. It felt like I was watching a movie that I didn't want to see. A short time later, Bruce Lee was gone. The dad came home to feed his brothers, but then left again. Forrest and Bailey seemed pretty confused. They just laid in their beds next to me. It was a few hours later that they brought Bruce Lee back.
He wasn't himself. He was practically sleeping. He didn't even look at me. The humans were so sad. I watched his dad try and get Bruce Lee to eat food or drink water. He wouldn't. They took him away again and this time he didn't come back. They came home and were crying. They held Bailey and Forrest and tried to explain what was going on. They told us all that Bruce Lee wasn't ever coming back. As much as they wanted him to, it couldn't happen. I was sad. I knew that he would never carry me in his mouth from room to room again. I would never get to watch him eat dinner and cuddle with his brothers. I was not going to be his first choice any more.
I heard the dad tell the mom that he was going to box up the toys. I figured that I was going to get shoved back into some plastic box and be forgotten about. The mom left with Forrest and Bailey. I saw them all crying. Then, the dad came and picked me up. He kept hugging me and crying. I thought he was going to box me up, but he didn't. He kept apologizing to Bruce Lee for not being able to make him better. He kept saying how he wished he was still here. I wasn't sure who he was talking to. Bruce Lee wasn't here. The dad put me on a shelf and leaned me against some kind of decoration. I was pretty confused.
That night, the dad moved me again. This time to the place that Bruce Lee and him went to sleep at night. In the morning, I was placed back on the shelf. I am not sure what happens now. I know things will be different. I miss my friend Bruce Lee. I am not sure a human child would have paid so much attention to me for so long. Bruce Lee never forgot me so I won't forget him. I am not sure what my life would have been like. I don't think it would have been as good. When this all started, there were a lot of me. There was definitely only one Bruce Lee.
Bruce Lee 11/4/2007 -5/2/2018