CHOOSE: YOUR DOG OR ME! IM SICK OF SMELLING THAT MUTT! DECLARED MY HUSBAND. SHE CHOSE HER HUSBAND, DROVE THE DOG TO THE WOODS AND THAT EVENING HE SAID HE WAS LEAVING FOR ANOTHER WOMAN
Margaret adored her husband, Richard, to the point of madness. Theyd lived together for five years, childless so far, but they had Ruperta weathered old English sheepdog shed rescued as a pup, long before Richard ever came into her life.
Rupert was family. Clever and loyal, he understood everything without words. But time claimed him: his legs ached, his fur fell out in snowy drifts, and more and more he smelled of age and dampness.
Richard endured it for ages. But when Rupert couldnt make it through until his walk and left a puddle on the new hardwood floor in the hallway, Richard snapped.
Thats it! Enough! Richard shouted, pressing Ruperts old muzzle towards the mess. I live in a kennel! Smell, hairs in my tea, and now thiswee! Margaret, you decide: him or me!
Richard, where would he go? Hes twelve Margaret sobbed, clutching the shamed old dog.
A shelter! The woods! Have him put down! I dont care! her husband snapped. If hes not gone by tonight, Im leaving. I want a clean home, not one full of your mangy boy!
Margaret was frail at heart. She dreaded loneliness. She was terrified to lose Richard, who supported them and shared her dreams of holidays in Cornwall and finishing the mortgage
She chose her husband.
She drove Rupert out of the city.
Rupert groaned as he struggled to clamber into the car, joints aching, but he licked Margarets hand. He thought they were going on an adventure.
Margaret wept the entire drive.
She let him out near a copse, twenty miles from town. She tied his lead to an old oak, so he wouldnt chase after the car.
Forgive me, Rupert forgive me she whispered, unable to meet his mournful eyes, clouded by age.
Rupert didnt resist. He just sat, watching her. He understood.
She left his bowl of food and hurled herself into the car, slamming the accelerator. In the rear mirror, she saw himforgetting his painspring after her, stretching the lead taut, barking hoarsely, wretchedly.
That bark echoed in her mind the whole way home.
Margaret returned a shattered woman. Red-eyed from tears.
Richard was at home, packing his things.
Whatwhat are you doing? she stammered. I did what you asked. Ruperts gone. I drove him away
Richard gazed at her with an icy smirk.
Well done. That was quick. But Im leaving anyway.
What? Where?!
To Helen. You know, from accounts. Weve been together for six months. Shes pregnant.
Margaret sank into a chair. The world blurred.
But you gave me an ultimatum The dog or you Why?
I was testing you, Richard said, voice sharp. Seeing if you had a spine, a bit of steel. And youchose trousers over a ten-year friend. Frankly, it frightens me to live with you. If you abandoned Rupert who loved you for a decade, youd chuck me out at the first headache I give you.
He zipped up his suitcase.
Goodbye, Margaret. And, by the wayRupert was the only gentleman in this house. Youare nothing but a traitor.
As the door slammed, Margaret howled.
She understood what shed done. For a man who hadnt loved her, shed crushed the soul of one who worshipped her.
Grabbing her keys, she raced back to the woods.
It was night. Rain poured down.
She found the oak tree.
The lead was gnawed through. The bowl was overturned. Rupert was gone.
Rupert! Rupert! My boy! she shouted, stumbling through the dripping copse, branches tearing her face.
She searched for three days. Pasting posters, writing pleas in online groups. She didnt eat or sleep.
On the fourth day, her phone rang.
Have you lost an old sheepdog? One was found at the roadside. Hit by a lorry.
Margaret went to see.
It was Rupert.
He must have bitten through the lead, running after herto go home. On his bad legs, in pain and fear, he ran towards the one who betrayed him. And died on the verge, never making it back.
Margaret buried Rupert.
Two years passed.
She lives alone. Shes never remarriedshe cannot trust others, or herself.
Richard is happy, with his new wife and child. Hes forgotten Margaret like a bad dream. For him, it was only ever a test, an excuse to leave cleanly and heap the blame on her.
And Margaret Margaret now volunteers at an old dogs shelter. She scrubs kennels, cleans up messes, tends the wounded. She tries, hopelessly, to atone.
Every night, she dreams the same strange dream: shes by that old oak, Rupert watching her. She calls to him, but he never comes. He only looks, not with anger, but an endless, aching grief.
And in that gaze is her judgment.
Moral: Betrayal is never forgiven. Dont sacrifice devoted friends for those who force a choice. A loving person would never make you choose. And if they dothey have already betrayed you, and you are simply delaying the inevitable, making a grave mistake.
