It sounds like a cause for celebration, were this an AA meeting... but sadly, it's cause for mourning, because I'm starting to think we'll never see her again.
In fact, it's been over six months since Martin and I have seen our dog. We left her with friends in April, while we packed up our apartment and left our lives in Korea. We worried that she wouldn't adjust well to a new home. We fretted that we'd have to find a way to fly her to Canada once the summer was over.
This dog, we decided was worth it. What was "it", you ask? It's hard to say... we'd invested so much money and time into Whisky's rescue, but more importantly, we'd fallen in love with her. We'd started a family with her. Whisky had bonded us as a couple, shown us a new side of Korea, and would be the token we'd take back with us, to start our new lives.
In fact, she was the reason we decided to go to Canada. Martin and I knew it was time to leave Korea, and as the end of our contracts approached, we looked at our next step, dog in tow. Returning to England, Martin's homeland, meant paying six months of her board for quarantine, which would cost us a fortune we didn't have. To bring an Asian dog into Canada, you need a rabies certificate and $35 for a vet check at Border Control. Basically, we decided to go to Canada for the winter, for Whisky.
First, we were going to travel, for nearly six months. Our trip would take us West, slowly but surely, and once we landed in Canada in September, the summer-months ban on flying pets would be ending and we would get her shipped to join us and start our new North American lives. The spring and summer were an incredible adventure, and we got regular updates on Whisky from our friends in Daejeon, who were generously fostering her. She was doing well, looking beautiful as ever, and I started to miss her terribly.
Landed in Canada, we began plan for her arrival. It was an incredibly stressful time, finding a company to pick her up and fly her. We finally arranged a flight to Toronto. We were so excited! We bought a giant bag of kibble and a giant box of milk bones; we decided where she would be able to roam in my parents' backyard, where she would sleep until we got our own place. Martin bought food bowls and prepared to construct a holder for them. We priced out floor mats since she'd apparently started to sleep on soft surfaces, finally. We searched for a used car that she'd fit in the back of, to drive up north where we had a job offer at a dog sledding company. We found possible houses to rent that allowed dogs. In short, we couldn't wait. Having Whisky would mean our lives were starting to take form again.
In early October, we'd had a bad week - our Korean bank account had been hacked while we were travelling, we were having trouble getting everything set up for our jobs and a sudden lack of independence was wearing our tempers thin. I was convinced Whisky's arrival would make things better - give us some perspective and a sense of accomplishment - remind us that we cared about more than our own experiences exploring the world. The bad week was not over, though. As we settled into our laptop to wire the money to the Pet Airline company, we opened an e-mail from the friend who was taking care of Whisky. A series of panicked e-mails, in fact.
She was gone. She'd run away during her last walk mere hours before the pick-up was scheduled to take her to the airport. We calculated the time difference - it was past the hour she was supposed to leave. They were looking everywhere, but there was no sign of her. We had other e-mails cancelling her flight since she'd been AWOL when the shipment came to pick her up. It was over. We would not be seeing her that weekend.
I contacted everyone I could in Korea; I put up notices online. It's a very strange feeling to have so little control over something that breaks your heart. We crossed our fingers and hoped she would be found.
It's been one week without Whisky, and there's been no news of her. I'm starting to lose hope.
Do I try to move on? Do I tell myself she's okay? Is it her
Call of the Wild; is she better off on her own? Did we do the right thing curing her of all her disease - or was it all futile? Is this Fate, telling us it wasn't meant to be, Whisky leaving Korea? I was so sure it was the right thing. Maybe it was the right thing for me, but not for her.
For now, Whisky roams somewhere in the Land of the Morning Calm. Something tells me she'll never leave. I just wish I'd known I'd never see her again.
