My name is Joe. I am your average dog, I like to go on walks and fetch balls. I've been with my human Bill for thirteen years now. He has raised me since I was a pup. We basically watched each other grow. For example, I've watched Bill go through multiple girlfriends, all though I think he's riding solo for now. Bill even brought me to Maine with him a few years back and now we live here. 

The first day we arrived here in the busy city of  Portland I ran into a tiny white dog named Suzie while I was on a walk with Bill. Turns out she's also my neighbor, and now we are inseparable. Suzie and I don't get to hang out as much as we used to, because Bill is always talking about how I have to rest more because of something called cancer which Bill says is pretty common for Pugs like me. I don't mind too much though because I always talk to Suzie through Bill’s window, which is across from Suzie's home. 

This morning I woke up to the soft crackling of the coffee maker and the bare branches rustling in the wind. The air smells crisp outside with the thin coat of glistening snow on the ground. I can hear the tiny crunches of footsteps trailing behind as I circle my favorite tree. I feel a light thud on the bridge of my left ear. I stay still yet I can't hear anything. I turn around and see nothing but feel another thud on my head, and watch an acorn roll off my nose and land in front of me. Once I see that it is an acorn that is hitting me I recognize who is hitting me in the head. 

¨What do you want Jet?¨ I ask as I look up the tree to find Jet, the tiny squirrel. ¨Oh I don't know, I just enjoy watching the face you make each time my acorns hit you in the head.¨ 

¨When are you going to learn that being a bully isn't cool?¨ I questioned him. 

¨It might not be cool, but it sure is funny.” 

Animals like Jet enjoy spending their time messing with other people for their own enjoyment, so I choose to head back inside rather than listen to Jets nonsense. 

Once I am inside I cozy up into my dog bed that Bill gave me five months ago for Christmas, thinking about how Jet has impacted other animals' lives. As far as I know Jet has never had a friend because of the damage he has done to others. He is always messing with people and trying to get a reaction out of them rather than trying to be nice. 

The next day as I am walking along Suzie we see Jet at the end of the sidewalk standing by the rusty red stop sign. 

¨Hey Jet!¨ Suzie shouts as we approach the end of the sidewalk.

¨What do you want?” Jets asked aggressively.

“Nothing, just hoping that someday you will say hello back rather than being grumpy.” 

By the time Suzie and I have turned the corner we are already around the block and in front of Suzie's house. Once Suzie is inside I keep walking and notice a brown box sitting in the road, ahead of it I see the mail truck with the back open. The package must have fallen out. I run and pick it up because the package is small enough to fit in my mouth. As soon as I start walking to the back of the truck it starts to move. I start to run faster to catch up. I am so close to the back of the truck when I notice another package tumble out of the truck. I quickly picked the very tiny package up and tried to hold both packages in my mouth without letting them fall. As I am struggling to keep up I see a flash of a fluffy tail behind one of the boxes in the truck. Jet. Before he has the chance to throw another package I make it onto the mail truck along with both packages. 

When I get on the bus Jet is dying of laughter. While I would love to give Jet another life lesson on being kind-hearted, I suddenly remember I have to get back home before Bill starts to get worried. Right as I'm about to jump out, the mail truck takes a sharp turn and the back door slams shut, leaving Jet and I stuck inside. Jet gets thrown to the side of the mail truck and realizes we just got stuck. 

“What did you do?” Jet shouts.

“I was trying to get myself out of the mess you created. In fact if you weren't always trying to mess with people we could both be in our homes right now.”

Jet doesn’t respond but instead just sits there and focuses his attention on anything but me. We both stay silent and as I watch the sun go down through the windshield and I notice Jet has already found himself a bed for the night on top of a small package. 

The next day the sun's rays wake me up to see that Jet is still curled up on top of the package, and we are no longer moving. The driver has also left and we are parked by a curb on a busy road. I go up to the windshield and can see many tall buildings and the roads overflowing with cars. I start to panic when I realize I can see the Empire State Building, because that means not only did we get stuck on a mail truck but we also ended up over three hundred miles from home. I quickly hurry over to wake up Jet.

“Jet wake up!” I shriek.

“What's so important? I am trying to sleep.” He whines back.

“Jet, we are in New York.”

“Oh really, that’s sweet.” He says, shutting his eyes again.

“No really the Empire State Building is right over there, see for yourself.” I say pointing out towards the front end of the mail truck.

“Oh my gosh, quit it already.” Jet responds as he gets up and hops onto the dash.

I watch as his eyes widen and his paws become glued to his head.

“Aghhhh why are we in New York? This can’t be happening. We have to go home.” He frantically says. 

Jet and I managed to pull the lever that would open the door, and jump out of the mail truck. I spotted the coffee shop which the mail truck was parked by, but didnt think that'd be any help in finding us a way home. We didn’t know where to start.

Within the next few hours we have been making our way around New York trying to find our ticket back home. And although we want to get back home I decide to stop at a park and Jet follows. I settle by a tree and take a deep breath exhausted from the day it's been so far. I notice Jet is sitting against the tree playing with a piece of grass.

“Jet, how come you’re always messing with people?’ I ask cautiously.

“I don't know I guess I am just scared that all the other animals don't like me so I act like I don't like them so that I don’t get rejected again.” He shrugs.

“What do you mean again?”

“Well, when I was younger my mom left my dad and I for a different family.”

“I mean it wouldn’t hurt to try and make friends with the other animals. I'm sure they would love to be your friend if you showed them the real you.” 

“Why are you so nice to me when all I ever have done to you is make your life worse?” Jet asks.

“Well, I haven't really told anyone but Bill said I have this thing called cancer and I overheard the doctors say I don't have very long left to live, so I don't see the point in being anything but nice.” 

I see the realization in Jet’s eyes, but he doesn't say anything.

“Anyways, what do you say we try and find our way back home?”

“I'd like that.” Jet says as he stands up.

Jet and I head back towards the coffee shop where the mail truck was parked in hopes that it might go back to Portland. When we get there, not a single mail truck is in sight. Great, now we are two animals from Portland, Maine lost in the big city of New York. We decide to keep walking until we finally see our ticket out of here. We spot seven mail trucks in an empty parking lot. As we head towards them Jet and I split up to look for clues to get us back home. After a few minutes pass I hear Jet scream.

“Jet, is everything okay?” I ask. 

No answer. I walk over to the mail truck where Jet is to find him peering through the window with a big grin on his face. 

“What, what is it?” 

“Look.” He says pointing at the window.

I go to look in the window to see a box that says ‘Shipping to: Portland, Maine’.

After waiting for nearly an hour for a driver to come, I decide I will go beg for some food considering neither Jet or I have eaten since being on the mail truck. 

Finding food doesn’t take very long when you can persuade any human with puppy eyes. As I start to walk back I can hear a very familiar scream getting closer. I turn to see yet another mail truck with the back open and Jet screaming from the back. I start to panic trying to find a way to make it to the mail truck. I find myself yet again running after a mail truck, but this time I notice Jet is trying to help me get on. I am running as fast as I can but just can't seem to get on. After about two minutes I am out of breath but the truck slams to a stop and I hear the driver screaming. I quickly jump on and make sure I don't miss my chance to get back home.

“What just happened?” I question out of breath.

”I had to put up a small fight to make him stop the mail truck.”

Once we got home we explained to all of our friends the journey we have been on. I was thankful to be back at the foot of Bill’s bed that night. Since we got back to Portland Jet has apologized to the animals he has messed with in the past, and now has made lots of new friends. It still makes me smile when I sit in the soft spring grass every morning knowing that Jet chose to try and help me rather than leave me in New York that day. Even though my time on this earth is being cut shorter each day, I can pass away in peace knowing that I helped Jet be himself and showed him how to not be afraid.