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By Sofia Van Dyke
My hands were trembling and my heart was beating fast. It wasn’t from fear though, it was all excitement for what I was about to see. I followed behind the woman, and she led me through a door. When I entered, blurs of brown, black, and gray came running at me barking their hellos. They all clustered around my ankles like a swarm of bees, vying for my attention. I smiled at the puppies and kneeled down, letting them lick my fingers until a high pitched whistle shook the air. The little group of furry bodies that surrounded me slowly dispersed with a commotion of tap-tap-taps on the tiled floor. I stood back up and finally took the chance to look around me, and that’s when I saw her.
I stepped closer to her playpen and she rose slowly from her bed and walked sleepily towards me. As I stopped in front of the barrier between us, she stopped on the other side. Ever so slowly, she stretched her small paws and yawned, releasing her small, rosy-pink tongue into the air. She then plopped down and lazily stretched one paw towards me as she looked up. When those small chocolate brown eyes locked on mine, I knew I was in love.
The woman walked over and encouraged me to pick the little puppy up. I was a little hesitant however, as she looked so small, and I didn’t want to hurt her. But that didn’t last long, for those brown eyes had a way of convincing me. I reached down, and my fingers made contact with her small, furry body as I lifted her from her enclosure and hugged her to my chest. She fit perfectly in my arms and her small head sidled up against me as she curled into a little ball. I could feel her small breaths coming from a miniature black nose resting against my finger. She lifted her head slightly and I felt a small tingle on my hand as she left a quick wet kiss on my skin. That was the moment that I knew we were made for each other. Without a second’s hesitation I turned to my mom and said the three words that changed my life, “She’s the one.”
I left that day smiling, knowing that in a week's time I would be coming back to take her home. Now four years later, I smile every time her small brown eyes stare back at me and the memory of our first meeting floods my mind. Whenever she melts another heart, I realize how lucky we are to have found each other, and I can’t thank God enough for bringing my little Yorkie into my life all those years ago. That day I went on a mission to find a puppy, and instead, she found me.