[ TT ] You did n't realize just how blind you were until you went in and got prescription glasses ... Now you can see the leaves in the trees , the pebbles on the ground , and that your dog is actually a tiny dragon .

I walk out of the eye doctor's office almost giddy with excitement. I can see - bricks on buildings, petals on flowers, the little light on my dashboard I'd been ignoring that apparently meant something was broken. Even the prospect of having work done on my car could n't dampen my mood. 
 
 `` You're a grown adult,'' I chide myself. `` It's not like your glasses will make you see magical creatures.'' 
 
 I marvel at how nice my house looked as I pull up in the driveway, but the thing I'm most excited to see is my puppy, Tiny. Tiny is, well, unusual. I adopted him when I bought my house to have someone to share the huge, empty space with. He'd been at the shelter for months, supposedly not adoptable. The ladies who worked there would cluck and shake their heads. `` He's just too funny-looking,'' everyone said. 
 
 I'd taken him on the basis of his outcast status alone. I knew how it felt, and I needed him as much as he needed me. The poor guy would n't even come out of his pen the first time I saw him, hunkering behind the ratty dog bed as if he was scared that I too would shake my head at his appearance. We bonded after that, the two of us loners - the dog nobody wanted to adopt and the kid no one in the family wanted to deal with. 
 
 Coming home to him is always my favorite part of the day. I do n't mind any of his quirks. For one, he is n't very soft or fluffy. More... almost bumpy. Poor guy probably has a skin condition. He's way smarter than other dogs, though - I swear he understands me when I talk to him. He's also learned how to open anything as fast as I can close it. Mostly, the little rascal goes in my drawers and takes my jewelry. He stashed it behind the mop in the closet and I do n't have the heart to take his little hoard away. I'm not sure how he got on top of the dresser, though. Or the fridge, or the bookshelf, for that matter. Last I heard, dogs ca n't climb, so I guess mine is talented. He also does n't bark. Well, he tries, but it comes out more like a cough. I started finding weird burn marks on my furniture, too, but I do n't see how Tiny could be doing that. 
 
 Basically, Tiny means everything to me, and I ca n't wait to finally see my best friend clearly. I open the door and whistle, and the tap-tap-tap of little feet greet me as they always do. 
 
 `` Tiny?'' Is this my dog? `` You - umm, are you okay?'' He has scales! And spikes! And, well, I'm not even sure he's a dog at all. `` Are you a dragon?'' 
 
 Tiny's eyes widen in an almost-human expression of shock and hurt, and I feel horrible. `` I mean, I could n't ever see that well, but I did n't think I could have missed-'' 
 
 He's gone, pattering down the hall as fast as his stubby legs carry him. I run after him, my voice cracking as I call his name. He must think I do n't want him any more, must feel like he's back at the shelter where people shake their heads and mumble about what a poor thing he is. 
 
 He's curled up under my bed and I lay down so I'm at his eye level. My heart breaks as he shrinks farther into the shadows. 
 
 `` Tiny, listen. I do n't care that you're a - a dragon. Frankly, it's pretty rad. You're my best friend, all right? I need you.'' 
 
 It takes what feels like an eternity for the little dragon to inch his way toward me, as if he's hesitant to believe that I can see what he really is and it does n't matter to me. 
 
 `` Tiny. I loved you as a dog, and I love you as a dragon, too. Really.'' 
 
 I sit up as he crawls into my lap, curling up exactly as he always does. So that's where the burn marks come from, I realize with a chuckle. Tiny makes that funny coughing sound of his, and a little spark drifts up and fizzles out above my head. If dragons can smile, I think that's what mine is doing right now. 
 
 As I sit with Tiny in my lap, I realize that for the first time since my mom screamed at me to pack my bags and get out, the four walls around me feel safe. Cozy, even. This is home, where my heart - and my dragon - are. 
 
 ______________________________ 
 If anyone wants to make this into one of those emotional humane society ads, go right ahead. Adopt a pet, kids.: ) ( edited to fix a punctuation issue )
