A young boy, Buddy owned a dog, an old dog named Alphonse whose eyes are constantly running an account of he’s going blind. Sometimes when Buddy takes Alphonse for a walk and the dog would tug on the leash and he would be on the ground. The first time it happened he cried, sort of whimpered and looked at his back leg. When Buddy were to kneel down and feel Alphonse leg, it was in a spasm. Alphonse always thought whatever Buddy told him, it would be true.
When Buddy took Alphonse to the vet, the reason behind to why he would fall would be because of arthritis. The vet gave Buddy red pellet-shaped arthritis pills for Alphonse. Buddy got Alphonse as a present for his first birthday from his dad just as a scruffy, little brown pup and he wasn’t a special breed. The picture Buddy has of him and Alphonse, Buddy was a gooey-looking blond kid in blue corduroy overalls and a Donald Duck T-shirt.
Buddy tells Alphonse everything, even things he wouldn’t tell his best friend, Herb Malken. Buddy’s mom even sometimes calls Alphonse “Baby” since he is like Buddy’s brother. After about a week, Buddy’s mom said “I don’t like the way Alphonse looks. I better take him back to the vet, Buddy.” Buddy took Alphonse to the vet after school since his parents are always at the army base for work and by time they get home, the vet is closed.
On the way, Alphonse didn’t fall at all but his eyes were half closed. A young ginger-colored cat went under a wooden fence and into the field. Alphonse always had an effect on cats and the cats always scatter. While in the examining room, the vet said Alphonse lost weight and was asking questions while scanning over his body. By Alphonse’s rectum, there was a lump. Buddy didn’t know it was there and the vet said “Sometimes older dogs get lumps and they usually aren’t anything to worry about.” After that, Buddy thought about that to himself.
After the vet checked it out, they found out Alphonse had cancer. Buddy sat there and asked himself questions about Alphonse. That night, Alphonse slept with Buddy and he whispered things into Alphonse ear. “Anything” he whispered into Alphonse ear, he wouldn’t leave out a single detail, he’d make sure to tell him everything that would happen and he would be missing. Buddy said “He’s going to sleep with me one last time.”