desert moment

I drive almost 800 miles to visit my dog for a weekend. At noon the next day I still haven't found her. I wander across farms and fallow land whistling and calling into the sky.... Willis! Will-is! Wiiiiillis! We are followed by an entourage of farm cats, a dusty, pugnacious puppy, and a rooster boasting his position. They follow us over the hill. Willis Willis Willis .... Willis! Autumn walks me to the neighbor's farm, far down the gravel road. We squeeze through the fence and before I see the first building I hear Autumn say, "there she is," and down the path the black fur comes streaking toward me and leaps. I sit down to receive my full embrace and Willis pins me flat in the dust, licking, licking, licking. I can't even sheild my lips from her tongue she is so enthusiastic. It has been five months since I have seen her.
I know she is not my dog anymore. But her violent affection continues for minutes. After I get up from the ground, she greets her sister, Bo. Her father, Goofy, is there too. I can see the resemblence in them- in their stature. And they have the affection of a family. I am so so content. Tiny is there, too - a stunted pet cow. She has thick dirty fur like Willis and she nuzzles me with the indulged neurosis of a spoiled house pet. When we leave the farm, Autumn's puppy is faithful to her heels, Willis is faithful to mine, and Goofy and Bo tag along. (Tiny cries as she watches us from the path.)
But Willis is now grown. She is the independent, adventursome, and now mature dog that I know belongs in this desert. She and Bo leave my heels for romps across the valley, chases through the sage and juniper, and then return to me, panting.
I took Willis away to the forest for one day. Then I brought her back to her family so that I could return to my suburban responsibilities, and when she saw Bo and Goofy, she gave them the same violent affection. She didn't chase me as I drove away. She didn't notice. She had found a smell to chase, another momentary adventure in the desert. She belongs there. I miss her, but I am so content. Willis is happy.