It’s Mine Forever
By: Snow the Bear

Authors Note: For Nate and Eli. Two sweet souls I’m thankful to call friends. May love and happiness bind you forever.

Eli parked and turned off the car. Finding a parking space near the edge of the sand suggested the beach wasn’t too busy. He looked at his son in the rear-view mirror and said, “We’re here Nate”. He watched as his little Basset Hound pup started to bounce excitedly in his car seat. The drive had taken less than two hours, but to the excited cub his first trip to a beach had felt like days. Eli got out and stretched before opening the backdoor. He unbuckled Nate from his car seat and the eager cub raised his arms to be lifted out. Eli took this opportunity to quickly slip a bright blue cub harness around his pup. He fastened the buckles that held it on, then tethered the harness to his wrist with a leash. Now that his pup couldn’t wander more than a few feet away, Eli lifted him out of the car and lowered him to the ground.

Finally out of the car the cub tried to take in all the strange new sensations. There was an unknown smell in the air. Curious he took a few big sniffs, but having never been to the beach he couldn’t recognize the tangy scent of the ocean. He felt the familiar feel of warm asphalt under his bare paws, but it felt grittier. He looked down and saw that much of the parking lot had a fine layer of sand on it. This turned the cub’s attention to the sandy beach. Nate had seen sand in a sand box at the park, but this sand looked different. It was light brown while the sand box sand had been dark. Finally, his gaze hit the ocean and he stared in awe. “It’s so big, it never ends!” Nate started forward but the harness’s leash only allowed him to go 3 feet before it stopped him, keeping him safely near his Poppa and away from the water’s edge.

Eli felt the pull on the leash and glanced toward his son. Poppa chuckled, “It does end, but the other side is too far away to see”. Eli had opened the trunk to unload their beach things, “Come here Nate, I got a present for you”.

The cub quickly ran to his Poppa’s side. His eyes sparked with excitement as he watched his Poppa pull a mesh bag out of the trunk. Through the loose mesh he could see a little plastic shovel and pail, and other things he didn’t recognize.

“These are for you to play with in the sand” Eli said as he handed the bag of toys to his pup. “Once we are settled I’ll teach you how to make a sand castle” 

“Is it like building with blocks?” the pup asked taking the bag and pulling out the shovel.
“Not quite, I’ll show you how it’s done once we are on the beach” replied Poppa.

Then Nate surprised his Poppa. With an audible slurp he gave the shovel a big lick. 
“Why did you do that?” Eli asked puzzled.
“I licked it, now it’s mine forever!” the cub said proudly.
Eli chuckled, “where did you learn that?”
“Nowhere, everyone knows that. It’s a rule!” Nate exclaimed confidently, causing Eli to chuckle harder.

Finally, the car was unloaded. Eli had tucked a beach umbrella under one arm, and carried a beach bag in one hand and a cooler in the other. The beach bag contained things they needed for their day at the beach, such as a beach blanket and towels. It also served as Nate’s diaper bag today, and contained the things needed to care for his little pup. With Nate carrying his new toys the pair headed down to the beach.

Nate was surprised when he first stepped onto the sand. He had expected it to be firm like dirt, but his paws sank onto it a little. The way his paws sank and how it slowed his walking reminded him of mud, except it was dry. Like the parking lot the sun had made the sand warm, but only on top. The sand below the surface felt cool. It was so different from anything he had walked on before. When they reached the spot Poppa wanted, he tried scrunching his toes in the sand, and giggled at the feeling of it sliding over his paws. 

Poppa had led them to a nice spot and put down their things. He saw Nate had sat down and was running his paws through the sand. While his pup was busy experiencing the sand he put up their umbrella, and laid out a big blanket for them to sit on. “Nate sit on the blanket for a moment, you can play in the sand soon.” Eli said and pulled a bottle of sunscreen from the bag. The excited and impatient cub did his best to sit still as Poppa applied sunscreen to his long sensitive ears and his nose. “OK now you can go play” he said as he continued unpacking their things.

Eli had bought his cub more than just a pail and shovel. The other items the cub hadn’t recognized were molds to make castle walls and buildings. Nate tried to pile up and shape the sand like he did with his Playdoh back home. But the sand wouldn’t take shape

“Poppa, how do I make a sand castle?” the cub asked.

“Use the shovel to fill the pail or the other shapes with sand, then flip them over and pull it off slowly” Poppa replied, but still busy unpacking he wasn’t watching as Nate tried it.

The cub filled the wall mold with dry sand and flipped it over, but the wall crumbled apart immediately. He tried again, but the sand just collapsed into a pile. “Poppa I can’t do it, the sand won’t stay up” he whined in frustration.

Eli looked over and saw the problem. “Sorry Nate, I forgot to tell you dry sand doesn’t stick together. You need to wet it with water to make sand stick. Let’s build your castle closer to the water”. 

Eli led them to the water’s edge and filled the pail. He showed his cub how to make the sand sticky. Then he showed him how to fill the molds with wet sand and use them to make walls and buildings, and how a pail of wet sand could make a tower. The cub was captivated as their sand castle grew around them like magic. Finally, Eli showed him how to make a moat around the castle, and dig a trench to the water to fill it.

“It’s amazing Poppa” the cub exclaimed. He loved his new castle and couldn’t wait to get it home and show it to his Furby Oreo. He knew the perfect place for it in his bedroom. But first he needed to claim it as his own, so he bent over and gave one of the towers a lick. “Blah” he exclaimed and used his paws to brush the gritty sand off his tongue. 

Eli had been squatting down next to his cub, and he fell over laughing, “Nate the sand belongs on the beach, you can’t keep it forever”.
“Why Poppa? There’s so much sand why can’t I keep it?” the pup asked.
“There is a lot, but if every cub kept some soon it would all be gone. Just like the swings in the park we have to leave it so everyone can play” said Eli. 

Eli looked up at the sky and wiped sweat from his brow. “It’s getting hot, how would you like to play in the water to cool off?” Eli asked. The cub jumped to his feet and started straight for the ocean. 

“Hang on pup you can’t go in like that”. 
Nate looked back at his Poppa and asked, “why not?”

“Your diaper will try to hold the whole ocean” Poppa chuckled. “You need a special kind of diaper to play in the water” Eli explained as he took Nate’s hand and led him back to their blanket. “Lie on the blanket” Poppa instructed as he pulled a strange looking diaper out of the beach bag.

Nate look around and blushed, “Poppa no, not here people will see” he pleaded. 
Eli thought for a few seconds, and then hooked a towel to the umbrella to create a small tent. “There, now no one will see” he assured his pup.

The cub relaxed and in no time his regular diaper had been replaced by the swim diaper. It felt strange but he was so eager to get in the water he didn’t care. “Can I go in the water now?”

“Almost, you need one more thing” Poppa said as he pulled two strange things from the bag. He began to blow into them, and he soon had two triangular shaped balloons. “These are floaties” Eli explained. “You wear them on your arms to help you float in the water”. He slid them on the cub’s arms, “OK now you’re ready, let’s go swimming”.

The cub leapt up and dragged his Poppa to the water’s edge, but then suddenly stopped. The ocean was SO big it was a little scary. What if he got lost out there? What if there were things hidden under the water waiting for him? He looked down and saw some tiny fish swimming nearby. He began to imagine other fishies hiding in the waves and waiting to nibble on his toes!

In a hesitant voice, the cub asked “Poppa is it safe?”
Eli saw worry on his cub’s face, “It’s safe Poppa’s will be right next to you”. 
“So, the fishies won’t nibble my toes?” the cub asked
Eli chuckled, “I’m sure you have tasty little toes, but these fishies don’t nibble on puppies. It’s safe but you can’t go in alone until you’re much older OK?” The cub looked up at him and nodded, a smile returning to his face.

Eli led them into the ocean. The water felt cold at first, but refreshing after staying in the sun for so long. As their heads got closer to the water their ears began to float beside them stretching out like wings. Nate started to worry when the water reached his neck, but like Poppa said the floaties on his arms held him up.  Once Nate’s feet no longer touched the bottom Eli held his hands and helped pull him deeper. At first Nate wasn’t sure what to do, but soon his natural instincts took over and he started to paddle. He quickly learned how to move in the water and was soon swimming in circles around his Poppa. Swimming felt amazing, and with his legs not holding him up, he wondered if this was how birds felt when flying. 
 
The two dogs spent over an hour having a wonderful time swimming and splashing about. Being in the hot sun all this time had made him thirsty, so Nate lowered his head and gave the water a lick. “BLAH! It’s salty! Why does it taste so bad?”

Eli laughed, “You can’t keep the ocean either little one, and this water is no good for drinking”. 
“I wasn’t going to keep it Poppa, I was just thirsty”
“Then it’s a good thing I brought us some lemonade. Let’s go back to our blanket and have lunch.”

As they got back on the beach the pup shook himself to dry off. His long floppy ears whipped around him sending water flying everywhere. Eli lead them back to their blanket and dried off his cub properly, and then changed him into a normal diaper. He then opened the cooler and handed his cub a star shaped sandwich, and a sippy cup of lemonade. The two hounds ate all the food Eli had brought, but they were still hungry.

Then the cubs ears perked up as he heard a familiar tune coming from the parking lot. “Ice Cream!” Nate shouted. 

“Ice Cream sounds like the perfect dessert on such a hot day. Let’s go get some.” Eli replied.

When they got to the truck they found a Polar Bear leaning through the serving window. The bear looked down at the pup and with a friendly smile asked “what can I get you little man?”

The bear was smiling and looked friendly, but he was so big, and his voice was loud and rough.  Looking up at the big bear Nate became shy and hugged his Poppa’s leg. He looked up at Poppa for guidance. “Poppa?” the cub whispered, and both adults smiled.

“It’s OK Poppa’s here, do you want to tell him the flavor you want, or do you want me to?” Eli said, he was sure what flavor the cub would ask for.
“Chocolate please!” the cub quickly replied. Which was exactly what Eli had expected
“Is your chocolate canine safe?” Eli asked the bear, who answered that it was. “Great, one chocolate cone and one vanilla cone please.”

The two adults chatted while the bear made their cones, and Eli mentioned it was Nates first trip to the beach. The bear handed them each an ice cream cone. Nate’s cone also had sprinkles and a cherry on top, “Your first trip to the beach is special and deserves a special ice cream cone” the bear said as he gave Nate his. The cub thanked the bear for the special treat.

Soon they were back sitting on their blanket in the shade of the umbrella. The hounds sat side by side as they enjoyed their dripping treats.

Nate at Poppa with his muzzle smeared with ice cream and asked “Poppa can I try yours?”

“Of course pup” Eli replied and held his cone out so the cub could lick it, which Nate did. “So, does licking it make this yours now, or can I keep it?”

The cub giggled “it’s mine unless you lick it again, but I like chocolate better so you can keep it.”

With their tummies full they cuddled, and enjoyed the warm sun as they watched waves break upon the shore. The waves seemed much bigger now to Nate, and he was about to ask Poppa why, when spotted movement around the castle they built.  Something small was moving around inside their castle walls. Nate scampered out of Poppa’s lap and started toward the castle, but the tether stopped him partway there. “Poppa, something is inside the castle!”

Eli stood up, and his height let him see the small crab that Nate couldn’t. It was exploring their castle. “We can go see but stay beside me Nate. This one really might nibble your toes”. Eli smiled as the cub quickly ran to his side. Slowly they crept up to the castle until the cub could see their visitor.
 
“What is it?” the cub asked wide eyed. It looked like a spider but bigger and had pinchy looking claws.

“It’s a crab. You can watch It from here, the crab won’t hurt you if you stay away from it”. Then Poppa smiled and added “and no licking it, you don’t want those claws grabbing your tongue”

Nate giggled and said “ew Poppa I don’t want to lick it”, but in truth the thought had occurred to the curious puppy.

Nate sat outside the castle walls and watched the crab scurry around. He was fascinated by how it seemed to walk sideways, and how it used its claws to dig into the sand castle. It was fun watching the crab, but his fun ended when the crabs digging caused the castle to collapse. The puppy got to his knees and crawled over to see if the crab was OK. Poppa called out for him to be careful, but the pup had stayed safely back. He watched as the crab emerged from the sand pile that had been the castle, and scurried down the beach into the water.

While Nate watched the crab go Eli walked over to him. His puppy had drunk a lot of lemonade at lunch, and his diaper was suspiciously droopy. He knelt down and checked the cubs diaper. As suspected he needed a change. Nate giggled as Poppa picked him up and carried him back to their blanket. As before poppa made a tent for privacy and changed his little pup. While changing his pup he saw him give a few little yawns, and knew it would soon be time to go home.

The two laid down on their blanket and Eli snuggled his puppy. They lay on their backs to watch the clouds in the darkening sky, and played a game pointing out the shapes they made. Nate enjoyed the game but continued to yawn as they played. Eli pointed at a cloud shaped like a dinosaur, “what do you see in that one?” he asked. But this time his pup didn’t answer. A quick glance down confirmed he was almost asleep.

Eli packed up their things to go home. It was a challenge to get everything back to the car while carrying his sleepy pup, but he managed it. As he strapped Nate into his car seat the sleepy puppy leaned forward and reached up to hug his neck. “Thank you Poppa, the beach was so much fun” the cub said sleepily.

Too tired to hug for long, Nate plopped back down. Resting in his comfy seat the cub started to slip back into sleep. But he was startled when something wet suddenly swiped across his nose. He opened his eyes in surprise and saw Poppa grinning down at him, his tongue sliding back into his mouth.

“There I licked you, now you’re mine forever” Eli said tenderly. “And you’re the best thing in the world”.