"When you left me on my own that first time, I thought that you weren't coming back and I feared that you'd rejected me. I worried myself sick and in my concern I chewed up the carpet and messed up the settee.
Then when you came back in the door and I heard your cheerful voice and saw your smiling face again my heart lit up. Then your face changed for the worse as you noticed all the mess and I felt rejection for the second time in one day.
It took three months before I learned not to piss in your shoes or to stop trying to sleep in your bed on a night. I like your smell in bed and I only wish that you liked mine enough to let me in, even on top of the sheets.
When I was six months old I had never been so happy. You and I held eyes for no other and the loving presence of each other was all we seemed to desire. Then, when I was at my happiest, you saddened me more than I'd ever been saddened and made me feel rejected again when you brought that strange man into our lives; first into our house and then, into your bed.
He wasn't expected to sleep above the sheets uncovered! No, you let him kiss and cuddle you and play tents beneath the sheets. Then when he stayed and didn't look like ever moving back out, I thought that I'd better get to like him or else I'd soon lose your affection. After all, I loved you more than anyone else in the whole wide world and if you liked him, then he must surely be 'likeable.'
Now, I am pleased to report that I am happy and content once more. My days are filled with food, fun and a little bit of sadness when you both go out to work on a morning and leave me to tidy up in your absence. But, I don't feel rejected any more. Hurry home you two; I miss you both. I love you....and I'm getting hungry." William Forde: October 31st, 2014.