The One and Only Bob

by Katherine Applegate

We smell feelings, too. Sad has a sharp scent, with an undertone of sweetness. Sad smells like being lost in a winter forest as the sun goes down.

And happy? Happy is the best, but there’s a touch of wistfulness around the edges. Happy smells like bacon ice cream served up in an expensive leather shoe.

You’re going to love every minute of it, but you know it won’t last forever.

Humans love it when we get silly. I think they’re so weighed down by people problems that sometimes they need to be reminded what happy looks like.

By the time we reach the park, the sky is definitely in a bad mood. Gray clouds galloping like panicked horses. The nervous scent of rain on the way, the kind that makes you antsy in your own skin.

That’s one thing I’ve figured out. Don’t ever assume a little patch of the planet belongs to you.

When you’ve been through the worst with someone, you appreciate the best.

Sometimes nothing is the worst sound in the world.

Sometimes we hear what we want to hear.

It’s exhausting, all this responsibility, this worry. This love.

I’m trying hard to find the forgiveness that seems to come so naturally to other dogs. Maybe that’s what Boss was getting at. Maybe it’s easier to forgive others once you’ve learned how to forgive yourself.