Samu photo taken by: Brian Adams

Beach scenery painted by: Gary Marrocco

“Kody!” a man’s voice called out.Kody slowly opened his eyes to look into the sun-filled room. He yawned and stretched his body and then climbed out of bed. He shook his body and looked around to see where the voice came from. Kody heard the voice call out again and made his way to the kitchen.“Hey there little man, are you hungry?” the man asked. Kody turned his head to the side and looked up at the man. Kody looked over at the bowl sitting in its usual spot and worked his way over to it. He banged his nose into the bowl and the man smiled. “Okay, I will get you your food.”

The man fed Kody and walked into the living room. Kody finished his food and hopped into the living room.Kody heard a jingle as he turned to look around. Samu slyly moved his head from around the room’s corner. Kody saw him and quickly grabbed the remaining bites of his carrot and moved closer to his Daddy. Samu made himself known to the man. The man walked over to the orange tabby cat and gave him a pat on the head. “Samu, don’t you go bothering your friend Kody. You know you are only a visitor, so behave.” The man walked back into the living room and Kody decided to follow. Samu looked around the room and lay down in the doorway.

  Samu quickly gazed at the cooler and life jacket and realized that the trip would not include him. This made the cat happy because he disliked traveling. The car ride over to visit Kody and his Daddy made Samu anxious. He knew it was only a short vacation, but the three week long vacation had 20 days remaining.

The man came down the stairs with a bathing suit on and several towels. Kody knew that the trip was almost here. He hopped back to his bed, hoping that the man would let Kody bring his bed for the car ride. Kody used to love sitting in his Daddy’s lap while the car was driving, but since Kody is now paralyzed he had to stay in the backseat in his bed. The man grabbed the cooler, towels, life jacket and his car keys. He opened the door and said “Kody, wait right here, I will be right back.” He walked out and shut the door behind him. Kody, too happy to be making a trip, ran to the front door. When the man returned without the items, Kody knew he was next to go outside. The man grabbed Kody and his bed and carried him outside.

Kody and his Daddy drove down the highway, heading towards the sun. Kody knew that soon he would soon smell the salty air of the ocean. Soon the man stopped the car and Kody watched the windows roll up, they were there! The man picked Kody up and juggling everything so he would not make another trip to the car, made his way to the sandy beach. It was quiet there that morning, this made Kody happy. Kody loves to think the whole beach belongs to him and that is difficult to do when lots of people are there. The man placed everything down in the sand and grabbed a water bowl out of the cooler and placed it in the sand. “That is going to be for later.” Kody looked at it and stuck his nose under the pile of towels. “Alright, I will lay them down. You want to sleep already?” The man unfolded the towels and laid two of them down in the hot sand. He picked Kody up and brushed the sand off of him and placed him on a towel. Kody dug a few lumps out of the towel and lay resting in the hot sun. A few minutes later Kody woke up to being placed in his life jacket.

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The man carried him down to the water and before Kody could contemplate what had happened he was floating in the waves with his Daddy. This was the first time since Kody had been paralyzed that he had gone swimming. His Daddy stayed beside him watching and playing with him. Kody would swim after the fish and a few seagulls. He was curious about them, and he loved being in the water. SwimmingVideo.mp4

Kody’s life jacket helped to keep him floating since Kody’s back legs were just hanging in the water. This never bothered Kody, he two front paws moved him around in the water and he was happy. His Daddy let him be in the water for quite some time swimming and chasing the other animals.

The man saw a larger wave heading towards the beach, and started to swim towards Kody. But the wave came and knocked him to the land. This worried Kody, but his Daddy picked him up quickly and told him he was okay. He shook the water and sand off. He placed Kody deeper into the water and Kody quickly swam back to his Daddy.

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The man rested his body beside Kody on the towel and Kody continued his drinking. After Kody stopped drinking, he decided to curl up beside his Daddy for a nap. Kody loved the hot sun beating down on his little body. The two woke up about an hour later and the man, who did not put sunblock on, was burnt. He looked over and said “ouch, that is going to hurt later, eh Kodes.” Kody looked up at his Daddy and turned his head sideways. He always did that when he wanted to understand what his Daddy was telling him. He waited for the man to pick everything up and brush himself off. The man untied Kody, picked him up and brushed the sand out of his fur. “You can have a bath when we get home.” Kody did not like that idea. The car was packed up and soon Kody was back enjoying the breeze from the open windows. Kody soon remembered the warning of a bath, so he pretended to sleep for the rest of the trip. Unfortunately for Kody, he did really fall asleep.

The man stopped the car and unloaded the objects onto the grass. He picked up his little sleeping buddy and carried him into the house. Samu greeted the two at the doorway. The man said hello to the cat and continued to bring Kody upstairs to the bathroom. Kody looked over the man’s shoulders to see Samu follow up the stairs. When Samu got to the bathroom door, the man turned around and the last thing Kody got to see was the door being closed. It was time for that bath.

The end.