Creative Task Essay

â€Å"When someone prizes us just as we are, he or she confirms our existence.† My feet were so cold. The only thing I could feel was the muddy water soaking through my timeworn sneakers and my tattered socks as I was walking through the streets of Brooklyn on a cold, rainy December’s evening. After all, how could I feel anything else? I’d just been fired from my job; my girlfriend had just kicked me out of the closest thing I had to a home and the only place I could think to go was my dad’s spare house. I was carrying the only thing I was able to grab from my girlfriend’s apartment, my 6 string nylon guitar which I grabbed so that I could feel a sense of ownership over something. My girlfriend said it was useless to me anyway because whenever I played it, apparently it sounded like a two wild gorillas trying to kill each other. For some reason, whenever she said that I always thought of our relationship. But besides that, I was alone on the streets of Brooklyn with nothing but my wallet, the little money it had left in it, my guitar, my drenching apparel and no hope. After moping around the cold dark streets for an hour I finally found my dad’s old house that he never sold, but kept for a ‘spare’. He gave me a key for it in case I ever found myself in need and at this point in time I’d never felt more this way. I dragged myself up on to the front porch and felt through my pockets for the key. As I stepped closer to the door I heard a growl, a growl that made me feel like I was invading the territory of a wolf in the forest. Despite this feeling I felt no fear of what I could not see in the shadows, but I was curious as to what had made itself comfortable on my front porch. Before I had time to even step into the shadow, what appeared to be a golden retriever leaped out of the shadow. The dog had deceived me in my formerly estimated image as a brutal stray, as it only seemed like a joyous little puppy seeking shelter from the rain. I think that I must have scared the poor little thing as I approached the door of my tempo rary new home. The dog stared at me with wide glowing eyes, as if it was begging me for a place to stay, but the last thing I needed was a dog which would need taking care of, when I was unsure if I could do so to myself. â€Å"You can stay outside little fella†, I murmured to the pup assuming that it would be gone by morning. I received no reply, as the dog just kept the same facial expression whilst glaring into my eyes. I wandered on inside to try and get a good night sleep so I could have a clear mind in the morning to think about how I was going to sort my rock-bottomed life out. Two weeks had passed and I had made a start to gathering what options I had left and turning them into the best possible outcomes. The only problem was – it wasn’t a ‘hole-shot’ of a start. I had been to 2 job interviews which only lasted about 5 minutes each, and I had not heard back from the managers. Isn’t that promising? I had a huge lack in confidence and my self-esteem ha d gone through rock bottom and kept plummeting. It was raining outside so I had thought that I should go and get the newspaper so I could desperately look for any job that I could get my hands on. As I went to open the door I felt a resistance pushing against it. I put the little energy I had into a shove that might have knocked over a pedestal fan, and couldn’t open the door. Finally, I heard this object pull itself up and move out of my way. I opened the door to find the golden retriever puppy staring at me with the same enticing glare it gave me when I first arrived at my house. I couldn’t resist to the stare this time around as it was freezing cold outside and pouring rain, so I thought I would take it in. â€Å"Come on in buddy, let me get you washed up†, I said excitedly. As I let this stranger ride into my home and walked to grab the newspaper, a sudden rush of warmth and excitement ran throughout my body like I had just met my childhood hero. I walked through the door and the puppy was still staring at me the same way it was when I had found it. It didn’t seem to mind the mess as much as my dad did when he came to help me get on my feet a little. I looked closer at the dog and saw a rough looking collar with the name tag ‘Archer’. I fixed Archer some of my leftovers that I had piled up over the past couple of weeks, and by the time I had found one job offer in the newspaper; he had destroyed the collection of cold toast, bacon and baked beans like he was a prisoner on death row receiving his last meal. There was something about Archer’s personality that made me feel comfortable and not alone. I felt that maybe this could be a turning point in my life that was only heading in a southerly direction. The next job interview that I had was probably the worst one yet. The store owner was a complete jerk and told me exactly what he thought of me straight to my face, as if my presence was imaginary. â€Å"Why would anyone want to hire an unshaven, underdressed, useless piece of garbage like you? Get out of my office!† he shouted in my general direction. I was plainly intimidated and embarrassed by this big shot and I was back to square one. All messed up with nowhere to go. Feeling depressed and unsatisfied, I decided to drag myself home and repeat my so called routine that I had developed over the past 3 weeks – look for a job, eat, sleep, look for a job and repeat. As I stumbled back onto my front porch I heard tapping on the floorboards I my house, but wasn’t in the right state of mind to even think what it was. I opened the door without a care and saw a pair of glowing eyes staring right at me. It was Archer, and he looked like he had never been so happy to see me. I had been so humiliated and belittled that I had lost thought of Archer. A tear rolled down my cheek and dropped onto my shirt. I couldn’t figure out whether this tear was because I was unsure of my existence as a part of the human race, or because I had realised that I had something important in my life without realising. I dropped onto my knees and gave Archer a huge hug, feeling relieved. For the rest of the day I played with Archer and cleaned him up. I felt like he was my only friend. The only person who didn’t judge me even if I was a useless piece of garbage. He gave me a sense of confidence that I had never felt before. He made me feel that my existence on planet earth was of some worth. Within a year of the day that Archer had performed the miracle of instilling a person with happiness and friendship, I had completely steered my life around. I had gained enough confidence to go for my dream job – a gig playing my guitar and singing at a top nightclub in Brooklyn. I played my music for the manager at the club and he said I could possibly be the next big thing within a couple of years time. I had found a girl who was perfect for me and appreciated me for who I was, unlike my last partner. I was earning enough money to start renting a house that my girlfriend, Archer and I had moved into and I was feeling like I could do anything that was possible to man. I found it amazing that a dog – just a dog, could turn a man’s life around. It was all thanks to him, making me realise that there are things in life that are worth staying around for. If it wasn’t for him standing at my door on that cold dark day, I’m not sure that I would be here to tell this story today.