CHOOSE: IT’S EITHER YOUR DOG OR ME! I CAN’T STAND THE SMELL OF THAT MONGREL ANYMORE! DECLARED MY HUSBAND. SHE CHOSE HER HUSBAND, DROVE THE DOG TO A FOREST THAT EVENING, HE SAID HE WAS LEAVING HER FOR ANOTHER WOMAN.
Emily loves her husband, Matthew, more than anything. They’ve been married for five years. There are no children yet, but she has Max an old German Shepherd she rescued as a puppy, long before she met Matthew.
Max is family. Intelligent and deeply loyal, he understands Emily without words. But hes aged: his hips ache, he sheds constantly, and lately, he has the unmistakable odour of old age.
Matthew endures it for as long as he can. But when Max, unable to hold it any longer, urinates in the hallway on their brand new laminate floor, Matthew finally snaps.
Thats it! Enough! Matthew thunders, shoving the old dogs nose towards the puddle. Am I living in a kennel? There’s hair in my meals, the whole house stinks, and now puddles on the floor! Emily, choose: its me or this wreck!
Matthew, what do you expect me to do? Hes twelve Emily sobs, hugging the guilty, bewildered dog.
Take him to the shelter. Leave him out in the countryside for all I care. Put him to sleep! I dont care! her husband snaps. If hes not gone by tonight, Im leaving. I want to live in a clean house, not pick up after your mangy baby!
Emily is weak. The thought of being alone terrifies her. Shes afraid to lose Matthew, the one providing for them, with whom shes planned holidays and a mortgage.
She chooses her husband.
She drives Max out past the city boundaries. The dog, joints stiff with age and pain, clambers into the car, licking her hand with cloudy eyes, thinking theyre off to the park.
Emily cries the entire journey.
She pulls up by a wood about fifteen miles outside town. She ties Maxs lead to a tree, so he wont chase after the car.
Im so sorry, Max Forgive me she whispers, unable to meet his trustful, greying gaze.
Max doesnt resist. He simply sits and looks at her. He understands.
Emily leaves his bowl filled with food, gets back in the car, and drives away, pressing her foot down hard. She can see, in the rear-view mirror, Max rallying what little strength his old legs have left lurch towards her, straining on the lead, barking hoarsely, desperately.
The sound of that bark haunts her all the way home.
She returns a broken woman; her eyes are sore and swollen from crying.
Matthew is home. Hes packing.
What are you? I did everything you said. Max is gone. I took him out
Matthew looks at her, a cold smile on his lips.
Well done. Quick work. But you know what? Im leaving anyway.
What do you mean? Where are you going? she stammers.
To Helens. You know her, from accounts. Weve been together six months. Shes pregnant.
Emily collapses onto a chair, her world spinning.
But you gave me an ultimatum! The dog or you Why?!
I was testing you, Matthew says, completely unmoved. Seeing if youd actually stand up for yourself. I hoped youd show some backbone. But you you betrayed your oldest friend for a pair of trousers. Actually, Id be scared to get ill around you. If you can dump a dog thats loved you for ten years, youd toss me in the bin without a thought.
He zips up his suitcase.
Goodbye, Emily. And by the way Max was the only real man in this house. You? Just a traitor.
As the door clicks shut behind him, Emily lets out an agonised wail.
The truth hits home. For the sake of someone who never really cared, she shattered the soul of the one who adored her.
She grabs her keys and speeds back to the woods.
Its nighttime. Rain lashes down.
She returns to the tree.
The leads been chewed through. The bowl overturned. Max is gone.
Max! Max! Come on, boy! she cries, running blinded by tears and rain through the tangle of trees, her face scratched by branches.
She searches for three days. Puts up posters, begs rescue groups for help. She eats nothing. She sleeps even less.
On the fourth day, her phone rings.
Are you looking for a German Shepherd? One was found on the motorway. Lorry hit him.
Emily rushes to see for herself.
Its him.
Max must have gnawed through the lead and set off after her. He was trying to come home. On painful, arthritic legs, through fear and misery, he was running to the one who abandoned him. He never made it. He died at the side of the road, still waiting, never giving up.
Emily buries Max.
Two years pass.
She lives alone. Shes never remarried she cant trust anyone, not even herself.
Matthew is happy with his new wife and their child. Hes forgotten Emily as if shes a bad dream. For him, it was just a test a convenient excuse to leave guilt-free, shifting the blame to her.
As for Emily she now volunteers at a shelter for elderly dogs. She scrubs out kennels, cleans up after them, nurses their wounds. She tries, hopelessly, to atone for what shes done.
Every night, she dreams the same dream: she stands beneath the tree, Max watching her. She calls him, but he doesnt come. He simply looks at her. No anger. Just heartbreak so deep its bottomless.
And in his eyes, she finds her verdict.
Moral: Betrayal is never forgiven. Never sacrifice loyal friends for those who force ultimatums. Someone who truly loves you will never make you choose. If they do, theyve already betrayed you, and youre simply postponing the inevitable, making a terrible mistake.
