Based on 89 community votes, the most popular answer to “The Dog Who Slept On Dad’s Side of the Bed” is “Call the number and finally speak” — chosen by 27% of voters.
Category: heartwarming • Theme: 📬 Unspoken Words
I could never run the whole thing. That was the rule in my head. I dropped out of cross country after one season, and Dad just patted my shoulder and said, "You finish how you finish. I'll be at the line." The last marathon he signed up to watch, he never made it. I think it was late fall; the trees by the trail still had leaves, but my breath came out white. Eleven months and three weeks after the funeral, our dog, Murphy, started sleeping on his side of the bed where the dog slept every night that year. Dad never said big things. He grilled extra hot dogs and slid one onto my plate without asking. He warmed up the car when it snowed. He called every Sunday at 3pm for eleven years, just to ask, "Did you eat?" I still know his ten digits, the phone number still memorized, even though it just gives a dead tone now. When Murphy got sick, the vet said, "Maybe a week." He lived just long enough for us to get through the first year without Dad. Then one quiet morning, he was gone too. I went home and scrubbed the kitchen sink for an hour. Yesterday, I crossed the marathon finish line they both never saw. I keep dialing his number and hanging up after the ninth digit. Is not calling still a kind of running away? What would YOU do?
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