Here I stand, looking down at you; raw, numb and at the crossroads of my life. I feel relieved and somewhat lighter now that this moment has arrived, and we have completed our dance of death. I see you take one last, shallow breath and then, the long moment ceases. I was sure and quick as I extinguished your spirit. Lead flew through the sky, leaving your body lying motionless and riddled with hot smoking holes. The air is thick with the smell of my discharged pistol. We have fought each other long and hard, through gut-wrenching, disfiguring battles. We knew that only one of us could walk away from this.

As I stare down at the slumped carcass of you, my once dominant master, I see that what was once a sleek coat over an energised body now looks dishevelled, tired and torn from the many years of battle. Your filthy, black mange drips heavily, your head is slumped, your body fragile and limp. Your spirit dances in the moonlight, leaving an empty vessel behind. My past now fades with the wind as you release the grip of the retched jaws that once held me so tightly! Piercing eyes that once ripped through the darkness are now veiled and bleak as your light fades rapidly away.

Even after death, reflections of you remain toxic and draining if I dwell on my past. But this turn of thought is fading, and these emotions now exist in an increasingly dusty, unused corner of my psyche. I no longer need your help. Your day has passed. So I stand tall, true to heart, battle hardened. I am now the master of my new journey. So I draw a deep breath, inhale to the bottom of my lungs and scream for one last time to all of existence, ‘TAKE YA DOG BACK’!