My life was plain and ordinary, however this was about to change. My childhood pet, Bailey, had been diagnosed with carcinoma, a very malicious form of toe cancer in dogs. At the current rate that the tumor spread, the vet had only given her at most a few months to live. I was devastated when I heard the news and felt as though the last part of my childhood was being stripped form me.
  

The worst part was the suffocation of being so helpless, and not being able to lengthen all the time I had left. Excising (or removing) the tumor wasn’t an option, as the vet said due to carcinoma’s persistence and ability to effect many of the body’s organs. This meant the only thing I could do was watch the days slowly drift by one by one, pulling the deadline closer and closer to me. Every day that passed all I could do was watch her from afar, unable to approach her due to the immense sense of dread shrouding her.
  

As days turned in to weeks, and weeks into months Bailey’s condition only worsened as time dragged on. Carcinoma, was not only horrible due to its malignance but also the symptoms it possessed. Carcinoma causes, bleeding ulcers and extreme swelling in the tumor infested toe/ foot. This causes limping as bailey could no longer used the foot. Seeing her with her wrapped, bleeding foot tore me apart. Bailey was always such a cheerful and happy dog, but when the tumor consumed her the pain filled her eyes, seeping into the ones who saw them.
  

As the months slowly crept by, a menacing cloud of dread formed by the upcoming toll in my life, it slowly crawled towards me and Bailey with its arms stretched out beckoning for Bailey to join it. Time began to lose meaning, and I thought the worst had already come, until the vet came with more news. Bailey had been given only week left to live, the cloud was close enough now I could feel its moist texture on my skin. I wished things could have been different, more than anything I wanted more time with my one and only Bailey. The week was consumed with pain, despair, dread, and fear of what was coming. Before I knew it, death’s cloud pursued, and no matter how I hard I would try, the end was inevitable.
  

That morning all I could do was hold Bailey close, unable to let go. My eyes filled with tears, unable to cope with the inevitable before me. I sat slowly petting her, unable to do anything else, unable to focus on anything but what right in front of me. In the end, school awaited, and the bus was around the corner yelling at me to get aboard. The worst part was walking away, and saying the only thing I knew for certain “I’m so sorry for everything.” I walked out of the house defeated, head hung in despair, and slowly went to the awaiting bus just around the corner. I learned an important lesson that day, it was to cherish the people and all the things I love in this world, because I’ll never know when the day will come that death comes beckoning again.