"Ivana... Ivana... Come here girl... Come to Mama..."

Warm..

Wet...

Hands in fur...

Shaking...

Bam!

Silence...

Nothing.

The 8 year old girl shook with sobs. Her light brown hair was matted and wet, and her simple, navy blue dress was dirty and torn.
She was clutching a beautiful white and brown fur pelt to her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Blood was seeping out from the pelt but Natalia didn't care. She clutched the dead dog closer to her. Her sobs came louder. Eventually they turned to screems.
"Why?!" She screeched. "Why?! Why her? Why me?"
A crack of thunder sounded and the cloudy sky lit up in a flash of lightning.
Something felt...different. In her lap. The dog's body was quickly losing heat even though Natalia was holding her tightly.
But something felt different. Empty.
Natalia looked at the dog. Something white was seeping out of Ivana, like smoke.
Natalia stared in shock and awe as the smokey substance came out of the body of her dead pet. It clumped above Ivana's body. It seemed to have a hard time staying in place as the wind and rain threatened to blow it away.
It formed something; a silvery white borzoi dog. It had all the features of Ivana; one ear curled in at the end; her slightly bent nose; her brown patches; one on her back and one on her side.
But when Natalia looked into the eyes of her ghost dog, there was only feeling. Emotion.
Happiness and joy were prominent but flicks of sorrow and pain were buried underneath.
Natalia hoped beyond hope that her friend would stay with her, even like this. She hoped that this form of Ivana could stay with her, even though her physical body lay dead and cold in Natalia's lap.
But when Natalia looked into the eyes of her companion, she knew her hoping was in vain.
Natalia had seen many ghosts. But they were all human. Animal spirits couldn't stay on the earth as a spirit form. They dispersed, turning back to nature.
When Natalia looked into Ivana's eyes she saw that her friend was ready to go and couldn't keep this spirit form much longer.
The wind pulled and the rain pounded, trying to take Ivana with them.
But she held on.
She held on to this form with all her might and turned her gaze to her master and let her look into her eyes, so she could understand why she had to go, and couldn't stay like a normal ghost.
And Natalia saw.
And she understood.
And she felt.
She felt life. Ivana's life. Her life's ups and her life's downs. Her life's joys and her life's pain.

She felt it.

Natalia felt it.

Ivana felt it.

And Natalia let go.

And Ivana let go.

The silver smoke drifted into the wind. The wind carried a little part of Ivana's spirit in the breeze and blew into Natalia's nose. Ivana's sent was over whelming and it was everywhere.
And Natalia knew.
She knew that Ivana was everywhere. Her spirit and gone back to the earth.
Where it belonged.
And Natalia knew.
She knew that even though humans were long ago banned from returning to the earth after death, she knew.
She knew the rules would bend.
And in the bend Natalia would slip after death.
To join her friend.
Her companion.
Her love.
But only after life.
A full and happy life