"What is Love?" by Milk tea

Love is difficult. It’s so easy to neglect this fragile baby bird of an abstract concept or to accidentally cause it to perish. It also hurts to harm this baby bird knowing that you were the oneo inflict the pain.

I worked hard to get that relationship where it was. It took a lot of trust, skill, and some motivation, but the perfect balance of coexistence was finally there, or so I thought. I was content with the situation; it was nice being with another and simply having their presence. We hardly spoke during our time spent together, but I liked to think it was a comfortable silence.

Some days his company felt pretty forced, mainly because it was forced, and it put a damper on things because he would give me the saddest look every two minutes. Other days, as much as I loved him, I felt like he took up too much space, and he needed to go. I’d never tell him that, of course, but it was still a pressing thought in the back of my mind.

One particular day, he was lying in my bed as I did my homework. It was another one of those comfortable silences where I’d occasionally say a few words to him without receiving much acknowledgement. As I turned to look at him, it was obvious he wasn’t happy with where he was, yet I refused to let him leave. He was too important to me.

“No! Please stay!” I cried every time he made an effort to stand up. Every time he would just give me the most unsympathetic glare before sitting back down. It haunted me.

Eventually, enough was enough. With a resolute huff, my dog finally got up and jumped off my bed, scurrying out of my room as fast as his little legs could take him. He never turned back…until the next time I forced him to hang out with me.