Love's Labor

This story came to me one night while I was watching the Discover Channel. They were showing all these interesting stories and I saw one that just grabbed me. It was called “Grey Friar’s Bobby” And the story was about this cop that lived in the 1800’s, he was a policeman and he had a little terrier named Bobby. When Grey Friar died, Bobby would go to the grave and keep a vigil over his long-departed master; the little Terrier did that for 16 years. I decided to write a story about that, for Chris and his pugs. So here we go, grab your tissues, this is gonna get ya good.

Disclaimer: If this is real, then I am in BIG trouble because I have cursed the men folks :p

Authors Note: POV will change through out the story, if you get confused e-mail me at emeraldsilver@hotmail.com and I will help you AND send feedback there too!  ALSO! This is MY work, and anyone caught stealing this work will be hunted down and evil things will be done to him or her.



Part 1

August 8, 2000 4:45pm

Busta stood at the door and waited patiently. He knew his master was coming home, his heart and his nose told him that. Busta sighed as he stared at the door; he missed his master so much when he was gone. It wasn’t too long ago that Busta was allowed to travel with his master’s groups. But ever since he had that little accident in that Golden Child’s bed, he had been exiled off the bus and into his master’s friend Erin’s apartment with his annoying baby sister Korea. Busta lay down and stared at the door as Korea bounced by with a squeaky ball in her mouth for Erin to throw. Busta shook his head and sighed, as far as brains went in this house, he was top dog. He loved Korea, she was the best, but she was an idiot! His master always told him that Korea was still little and he needed to give her time to grow. But this was getting ridiculous, how many times can you get woken up by a smiling face at the crack of dawn before you just want to shove their face head first into the dog food and drown them. But, he would never do that, it would make his master sad and Busta only lived for his happiness.

Suddenly, he heard it, footsteps! Busta jumped to his feet and placed his tiny paws against the door, all but bouncing with excitement “Leave that to the morons of the room.” He thought. The footsteps were getting closer, they were his master’s no doubt about it, he was so happy he even threw in a few little yips, after he made sure no one was looking. Then there it was: a door handle turning, the door being pushed opened and then, there he was, like an Angel, MASTER CHRIS!



Part 2

August 8, 200 4:50pm

 Busta, over come by excitement threw himself into Chris’s arms, so happy to see his master he couldn’t help but deliver a few moist kisses to Chris’s face and neck. Chris laughed and set down Busta. “I missed you too little guy, now calm down so daddy can get in here.” Chris set the pug down and walked into Erin’s apartment. “ERIN! Erin, my dear, your favorite CEO is here.”  Erin came out in the living room drying her hands on a towel. “Oh Chris! Welcome home!” Erin hugged Chris tightly and stepped back to get a good look at him. She was surprised with what she found. Chris looked very haggard; his face was scraggly and unshaven, his eyes were bloodshot and he looked horrible. Erin hugged him again “Chris, do you want to stay for dinner?” Chris shook his head “Nah, I need to get these monsters back home.” And with that he gathered his pugs and left with a worried Erin looking on.



Part 3

August 8, 2000 5:15pm

Korea looked out the window of the moving car, looking at the trees, she loved trees. But more than trees; she loved her Master Chris. She was so glad he was home, she always missed him. She wished she could go with him when he was gone, but she wasn’t allowed because her big brother Busta wasn’t allowed. Korea got down from her post at the window and jumped into Chris’s lap. She sighed happily as he stroked her ears. But something was off; it didn’t feel like the same strokes that she usually got. Master Chris’s fingers felt like they had no strength. She looked over at Busta who was sitting in the passenger seat and he nodded, he noticed something was off too! Whimpering gently she licked Chris’s hand a couple times for good measure before climbing out of his lap and next to Busta. The two pugs stared at Chris, there was something wrong and they couldn’t figure out what.



 Part 4

August 9, 2000 11:50am

Busta stared at Chris feeling more worried than he was yesterday when they were picked up. As soon as they had gotten home, Chris, instead of playing with them as he always did, had curled up on the couch and not moved. Korea was curled up at Chris’ feet looking so worried Busta didn’t know what he could do. Busta was about ready to brave the phone when the doorbell rang. Almost doing a backflip, Busta ran to the door and put his paws on the front door. Chris walked up behind him and opened the door to reveal his best friend Joey Fatone. Smiling, Chris held the door opened and let Joey in leading him into the living room. Joey noticed the couch with the blanket and took in Chris’s appearance. It didn’t look too good; Joey sat down and sighed “Chris, whats going on man, you look like hell.”

Chris sighed and sat down on the couch pulling the blanket around himself. He didn’t know what was going on, he felt worse than he looked he was sure of that. “I don’t know Joe, I haven’t felt this bad since I had the chicken pox when I was little.” Chris shivered under the blanket. Joey bit his lip and stood. “Come on man, we are going to the vet.”



 Part 5

 August 13, 2000 3:20pm

People were running all over the house, it was crazy! Busta stared at the people running around, what had happened? All he remembered was that Master Chris had been sick, he had gone to the vets (a place he hated himself) and then all hell had broken loose! People were running around stepping on him and Korea and when was the last time a bone had been placed at his feet? He jumped on the couch and laid down watching everyone; he recognized Master Chris’s mom, she made excellent steak. He recognized Master Chris’s mom’s littlest puppy cause she was always picked him up and kissed his nose and called him a “wittle puppy” which he hated. And Busta also recognized “The Guys” but everyone else was foreign. Sighing, he jumped off the couch and went into the kitchen where he hoped someone at some point had decided to feed him, but apparently not, his bowl lay empty. Starting to whimper he laid next to the bowl, where was Master Chris, he was there and then he was gone. He wanted his master back, he wanted to be patted and told he was a good dog, he wanted his tummy rubbed and he wanted to be tickled. He glanced over at Korea who had tears falling down her face; he got up and laid next to her trying to reassure her, when he wasn’t even sure himself.



 Part 6

New York Times December 12, 2001

On December 10, 2001, Chris Kirkpatrick of the group NSYNC died from complications from the rare form of cancer he contracted called Bone Marrow Leukemia. A bone marrow match was trying to be found for Mr. Kirkpatrick, but he died due to complications when he contracted pneumonia. The private funeral has not been released to the public, but flowers; gifts, etc can be left at the gates of “The Compound” No comment from the group as been released at this time.



Part 7

December 12, 2001 8:32am

Joey stared at the TV trying hard to block out all the noise that was coming from the reporters outside; they were so annoying! Chris hadn’t even been gone 2 days and those vultures were ready to move in! Damnit all to hell! Shaking with anger he stroked Korea gently and bit back the urge to cry. She was getting so thin, she wasn’t eating, sleeping or anything. The vet had prescribed sedatives, but she couldn’t take them without food and she wasn’t eating. Sighing he looked at Busta and shook his head. That dog had been sitting at that door waiting for almost an hour; it was like he was waiting for someone to come through that door. He had been doing it for 2 days. Sighing he got up and got Korea’s dish, one more time and then he was moving on to the eyedropper.



 Part 8

(2 months later) February 14, 2002 4:45pm

 “Yes Joey, everything is fine. The dogs are great.” Erin crossed her fingers and asked for a silent prayer of forgiveness for lying to one of her best friends. The fact was the dogs were not great. Korea was eating again, but barely. And Busta wasn’t doing anything all day but staring at the door. She was worried about the two, but there was nothing she seemed to do that helped. She had tried toys, walks, and treats, everything! Nothing worked. She hung up the phone with Joey and noticed Busta was doing an odd thing. He had placed his paws up on the door and was wagging his tail, but whimpering at the same time. Shaking her head she went back into the kitchen, nothing these grief-stricken dogs surprised her anymore.

 * * * * * * * * *

Busta all but bounced with happiness. He could hear Master Chris’s footsteps on the walk. They were there, they were closer, but they didn’t come inside. Oh why didn’t they come inside, he wanted to see his master so much, he wanted to play with him and be petted and everything. But the footsteps stayed outside and then they were gone. Sighing, Busta lay down in front of the door and waited patiently for the footsteps to come back tomorrow, they came back everyday, but never inside. But maybe tomorrow they would and then him and Korea would be happy again. And until then, he would wait by the door hoping for them to come inside.



  THE END

 Well, what did you all think? I normally don’t write such depressing stuff, but I was just in the mood to. Okay, send feedback, I love it :)

© Barbara Bechtel