Foley Monster's Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Jessie crosses

 

Dear reader, if you have perused my prose before, you will know what happens when a soul transitions to the Bridge to become immortal: At the moment the life cycle of their mortal body has expired, their soul flies to the nearest body of water, and it goes from waterway to waterway until it reaches the River of Life that runs under Rainbow Bridge. The soul is reborn when it climbs from the water, and after crossing the Bridge, it becomes an immortal angel.

Some dogs don’t want to cross over, grieving all they have lost, But, eventually, they all climb out of the river.

Jessie will always be a Jersey Shore girl. She spent many summer days swimming in the water there I think it was when she was the happiest. Hier mortal life. Others wander away to walk between two worlds as a troubled spirit.

Not that Jessie had many unhappy days,  especially after leaving the shelter and joining her mom’s Sandy, and dad’s Hobie’s pack. That is when she met Willie, who, for the time they were together taught her some important lessons: Love your pack, play hard, swim fast, and die hard. 

Willie showed Jessie how a proper dog does the latter, but fighting off cancer, and many other illnesses, and even losing a leg. But, each morning, when the Bridge angels arrived, Willie gave them the same answer: “Not today.”

You can only say that so many times and Willie said it more than any other dog I know, but the Bridge always wins. Willie was suffering in his quest to stay, so his parents helped him,

When the Bridge Angels came for Jessie, she gave the same answer:  “Not today.”

The Bridge Angels gave her a lot of reasons to accept their offer. She and a tumor on her spleen or her liver, which caused her discomfort until it burst, and her insides turned to fire. “Not today,” she said.

Her body was filled with so much fluid she could not breathe, but she could still say “not today.” She would still be saying it but her parents could not watch her suffer, so they said: “Today.”

There were hundreds of us, some of Jessie’s family members, some of her real-life friends, and some of her online ones, waiting for Jessie. Willie spotted her doing the backstroke and told her to get out, she needed to be sworn in.

But Jessie had never been able to resist the water, and she stayed happily swimming. Soon, I felt Willie brush by me. He jumped in the water and he began to splash around with her sister. Soon, the gathered angels joined them.

Another swearing-in ceremony has gone off the rails.

So, I did the only thing I could. I joined them in the water, where we played all night to dawn’s break. It was colder, and we were tired, so Jessie relented, and let me swear her in, both of us dripping on the grass. Then she followed Willie to her new home,

I feel sorry for the mortal slide, which has been lessened because Jessie joined us.

But for her friends here it has been a blessing. It is like eternity just became short.

Or at least more