AWAY FROM THE GROUND

The clouds over his eyes had grown thicker in recent years, but Sam could still find his way into the kitchen to get a drink. He followed the cabinets on his right to his bowl in the corner, letting his shoulder brush along the wood, finding his way by sense of touch. It was beginning to hurt to lower his mouth to the water, just like everything else was beginning to hurt: getting up, walking, breathing.
Still, he drank, seeing nothing through the clouds in the darkness. No longer thirsty, Sam wandered slowly back toward the front room, where he could just barely see a faint glow from the fire. He crossed the center of the kitchen, where there was nothing to guide his path, following the light, bumping his head against the doorjamb as his feet found carpet. When the clouds first came, he would cry when he ran into things. But as time went on, he started moving slower and became accustomed to the occasional bump.
In the front room, the glow was brighter and the air warmer. Sam sniffed his way across the floor, eventually coming to Jen’s chair. He ran his nose up the side, finding her hand and nuzzling his head playfully under it. He could only see her as a dark shape in front of the fire, but he could still hear her kind voice perfectly as she spoke to him. Jen scratched him behind his ears, then under his collar. It always felt good to have her scratch his neck.
He moved toward the fire, following its warmth, sniffing for his spot on the floor. He found it, settling first onto his stomach, then his side, both hurting just a little. But the fire was warm, and the pain faded slowly away. He stared at the glow for a while, enjoying the light that found its way through the clouds, before letting his head lower to the carpet. Jen spoke again, gently saying something in her soft, friendly voice. Sam closed his eyes. He was happy.
After a little while he wasn’t in the front room anymore. There was tall grass around him, and fields, and trees, and hills that led to more grass and trees far away. There was dirt under his feet, and warm air all over, and wind that moved through his fur and under his belly. There was bright light around him, the light of the clear sky. And leaping through the tall grass there were rabbits. Sam could see the rabbits.
He ran after them, moving fast, as he watched them leap away through the grass, swishing the tall blades around behind them. He barked again and again, the air coming strong from his chest, as he ran without pain or the weight of his body. He chased them forever, listening to the fast wind blow loudly past his ears, seeing more and more rabbits bouncing away from their hiding spots.
Sam heard a sound in the distance, quiet, but there, over the noise of the wind and the grass. He stopped, raising his head, his ears perking up, as the rabbits bounced away over the hill. Just barely, somewhere out past where he came from, he could hear Jen faintly calling for him. He ran towards the sound, moving faster than he ever had before, soaring through the grass over the hills. Her voice was getting louder as he bounded across the fields, leaving the dirt beneath his feet longer with every leap. Sam was flying now. He was away from the ground.
He saw her in the distance, still calling to him as he soared toward her, moving faster than the wind as the grass barely brushed past his legs. Jen crouched down, smiling beautifully, arms open, as his feet touched the ground again. Sam jumped up to her, licking at her face uncontrollably as she hugged him, rubbing his back and head. She spoke, her incredible voice filling him with happiness, as he looked at her dark hair, smiling lips, and bright friendly eyes. She stood up, patting her leg and whistling as he jumped around her, and together they walked back.
Sam opened his eyes slowly without raising his head, blinking in the blurry light of the fire that filtered through the clouds. He turned his head slightly, his nose pointed to Jen’s chair, as he let a gentle sigh out of his aching chest. He heard her laugh softly, then soothingly speak to him, saying his name. The air was warm around his spot on the carpet in front of Jen’s chair by the fire, as Sam closed his eyes again. He was happy.