For Leonardo, the world hadn’t been gentle. There were times in his life where it all felt so unbearable. The world always had a hand raised and never lowered a hand to help. In many facets of life he seemingly drew the short end of the stick. A poor immigrant moving from the normalcy of his country to a world of entirely different sets of social views. His English consisted of small broken sentences rife with a thick accent with a target on his back. It was easy to bully the new kid who had no friends, wore clothes that were too big for him and couldn’t tattle. Later on in life, this bullying adversely affected his growth socially; an awkward, shy, mess who had to muster the courage to ask for permission to go to the bathroom. At home, there were seldom smiles as the stress of providing for a family of 7 weighed heavy on his parents, but they did their best. Leonardo was the second youngest and had been raised by his older siblings, with his parents making appearances on the weekends mostly to go to church. His solace was his older siblings, but eventually they left, one by one. The older Leo got the lonlier he became, the more he began to feel comfortable just being alone, slowly he became accustomed to being alone, and soon he could only find himself being comfortable by himself.

To combat the void that loneliness tends to make, Leonardo found solace in books ever since he was young. He doesn’t remember what spurred this habit, but he was grateful for it. Reading helped him speak “properly” and helped him learn English. He took a spanish to english dictionary and would spend hours upon hours learning at the local library. Once he got a grasp on the language, he spent most of his time immersing himself in a different world. It was a form of escape that worked for a long time, until puberty hit and the woes of being a teenager hit him. With so many new feelings and teenage angst, Leonardo struggled with self expression so he leaned on music. The songs he listened to spoke the words he felt that he couldn’t let out.

Late into his highschool years, he was the next one who would be leaving the nest. His parents not having to feed nine mouths were doing better for themselves. Stress was at an all time low, his sister was growing up quickly and everything seemed to finally slow down. But, Leonardo found himself at odds with this peace. Things were suddenly better, he wasn’t bullied anymore, he could speak the language, he had grown to love books, his parents loved him, they weren’t struggling to make ends meet anymore… Yet he felt so terrible on the inside. Not only for not being able to enjoy the extended hand, but because he had a revelation that his problems were no longer external. That void that he tried so desperately to fill every day didn’t just suddenly disappear. That made him angry.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Leonardo’s later highschool years were rife with a lot of strong emotions that further isolated him from his peers that he’d grown to hate. For external observers, he had ‘suddenly’ become moody, irrational, and would refuse to interact with anything.

Then they got Brook.

Brook was a mutt that his sister had begged their parents to take in one day. For Leonardo it was like a blur. One day his parents detested even having fish, now there was a yappy worse for wear stray in the house. He didn’t understand why they were okay with this and more importantly he couldn’t understand why they were so happy and he wasn’t. The dog over time became less of a stray and more of a beloved member of the family. Shots, grooming, a collar, and two fancy bowls. Brook had cemented herself into the hearts of Leo’s immediate family, and she would sneak her way into his own. For as isolationist as Leonardo was, that behavior only worked on people, not a needy whiny animal. Every day Leonardo returned from school Brook was there to greet him with kisses and an excitement that his family didn’t seem to have for him anymore.

Leonardo felt wanted. It was something that made the pain he carried with him feel a little lighter… and he soon fell in love.

Unlike his other siblings, Leonardo wasn’t forced to leave. He would start pursuing a degree at his local community college while working a part time job. He started being more proactive with his family. There were more laughs and a long needed connection that he yearned for. To Leonardo, this was all attributed to this random stroke of luck in dog form. To Leonardo, Brook had allowed him the opportunity to get out of his room, his music, and his books; comforts to fight against his loneliness that were ineffective in comparison to the unconditional love of a boy and his dog.

It would be nice to end Leonardo’s story on that note… but the world was not a gentle place for Leonardo. With its fist raised, he lost it all.