The Puppy & Don Draper

There once was a diminutive friendly puppy that lived in New York, who loved the city a great deal and loved exploring the different boroughs as much as possible. It was quite a big change of environment from where he had been born, but the city had proven to be a nifty "playground" for him to take part in. Streets pulsated with life and activity everywhere he went, and he enjoyed interacting with strangers and new acquaintances alike. Young Brooklynite hipsters, older yuppie Upper East Siders, Astoria locals - he always found something to like in all of the social circles. In fact, this was the main reason why he enjoyed living in the city so much: he could stroll around anywhere and meet very different people without feeling out-of-place or detached from their likes & dislikes. He was quite the "social butterfly" of a puppy, and he embraced it wholeheartedly.

One day while chasing pigeons at a park, he met a young Woman. Her smile and free-spiritedness slowly but surely caught his attention, and impelled him to ignore the pesky birds that were easily getting away from him. The puppy saw in the young Woman a vibrant thirst for life, while she in turn seemed to be thoroughly amused and entertained by him, as he constantly made her laugh with his playful antics.

Days turned into weeks - and weeks turned into months - and the puppy and the young Woman continued to cross paths at the park. Sometimes the Woman would give the puppy a brief but affectionate petting, and be on her way - while other times the Woman would share her picnic blanket with the puppy on those sunny afternoons where she'd relax outside with a good book. The puppy saw these meet-ups as a habitual event. It was the only moment in his daily routine where he could freely interact with a human being in such a genuine manner, yet also be able to develop a loving bond with someone not usually attuned to his world or environment.

Abruptly one afternoon, however, the young Woman arrived at the park with a man in tow. The puppy didn't understand who this man was, only that his name was Don and that he was impeccably dressed. The puppy didn't understand human language that well, but judging from their physical interactions, it seemed to him that Don was more than a friend to the Woman. The day quickly went from bad to worse, as the puppy clearly noticed that the Woman was keeping her distance from him, and opted to spend all of her time flirting with Don while sitting together underneath a tree. As the puppy tried to keep himself occupied running around the field, Don smoked one cigarette after another, and every so often took quick sips out of a flask while having his hand treacherously close to the Woman's chest. The puppy then realized that the Woman didn't even know that he was there, even though he had spent time and effort performing silly tricks in front of her to catch her attention and make her laugh. Instead, she focused squarely on Don's seductive eyes and devilish grin, and was enraptured by his manly musk and brazen personality. At one point, the puppy could not hear the Woman's soft-spoken voice any more. When he searched for her, he realized that she and Don had already left. She hadn't even known that he was there, waiting to play with her...

Several weeks passed, and the puppy did not cross paths with the Woman - until a particularly bright Sunday afternoon when he spotted her from afar. She was in her usual spot - sitting on a picnic blanket, reading a book underneath an oak tree - but her demeanor was anything but normal. Her arms trembled ever so slightly as she held her book, and her eyes were red as if she hadn't slept in days. The puppy tried to keep his self-respect intact and not approach her, but seeing the bad shape that she was in, he decided to trudge over to her spot. As soon as she noticed him, her eyes grew wide and a genuine smile appeared on her face. The puppy, however, kept his distance, and this sudden rejection caught the young Woman off-guard. The puppy truly felt uncomfortable at being thrust into this position. Although he could not understand human language, he could discern that the Woman's troubles had to do with Don. The whole situation was none of his business, yet he knew that he couldn't remain inactive. Moving swiftly, he skipped towards her, got on her lap, and licked her cheek. The young Woman immediately started chuckling and wrapped her arms around him, petting him affectionately. The puppy, in turn, was glad that she was back in his life, and that his small gesture could - at the very least - brighten her day just a little bit more...

He ended up seeing her at the park a couple more times, and everything went smoothly until he finally noticed something that had previously gone unperceived by him. The puppy saw a sumptuous, sparkly wedding ring on the young Woman's finger. She also carried a different air to her that didn't fit with her usual personality, and it seemed like she was much more reserved than before. While the young Woman petted him, the puppy couldn't help but stare at the ring for a long time. Jeez. I could very easily swallow that thing in an instant. It would definitely delay Don's plans, at least for a bit! But this is more complicated than that. She's leaving for good. She chose him....Every week, she smiled and laughed with me - but she chose him.

In the end, after the young Woman was long gone and he remained living in the city, the puppy came to acknowledge a harsh reality: that, no matter how much he tried to ignore it, he was - and would continue to be treated like - a puppy. He could continue to be as sociable and peppy as always (or even more so), but it wouldn't change the fact that his inner warmth and attentive spirit was treated as nothing but an amusing diversion by certain people. Affectionate and loving, yes - but a diversion, nevertheless. All that he could hope for in his future was to see if he could outgrow being a puppy, and in some forthcoming situation build a friendship into a lovely and lasting connection.

In the meantime, he would choose to continue on his usual path - getting into adventures, meeting new people - while keeping an eye out for the next sociable stranger that would invigorate his life again.