My first best friends, as I'm told, were the animals on the farm where I grew up. When I would get in trouble, I would invariably end up outside, with one arm around my goat and the other around my dog. Knowing goats as I do now, I'm actually surprised that it held still long enough for a four year old to hug. Sunny, an orange striped tomcat was another special friend for many years, from the time he was a kitten to the time he wandered away to the woods never to return. When I think of all of the pets that I had, I remember him the best, a steadfast friend that waited patiently for me to come home, no matter where I went. He even became the inspiration for one of my earliest stories, even before I realized that I wanted to write them down.
Sunny, and another ancient tom named Freddy, were two of my most constant companions as I roamed the barn, cheerfully adding their purrs to the sounds of my adventures. My dog joined me as well, though somewhat less consistently. Later, after we moved from the dairy farm to a smaller farm a few miles away, my dogs followed and Sunny remained behind, an aging king in the old barn. Since his eventual passing I've found few animals that forged as deep a bond with me as a tiny yellow kitten that grew to a giant, both in life and in the memory of a small boy on a big farm.
I believe one of the reasons people enjoy animals company more than actual individuals at times is simply due to the fact that animals love unconditionally, without expecting anything in return, and are always by your side. There is an unspoken bond of trust between both you and the animal, a bond that supersedes a communication barrier and a species barrier. Animals are the best listeners and won't judge you when you are eating cereal at 3am, in your underwear, without any make up on, and your hair all a mess. Animals are your best friend, the one you share everything with, and the ones who will always let you just hug them and cry. I too enjoy the company of animals over people and I think it's mostly because various people can fulfill all of the roles an animal companion can, but I'm hard pressed to find one person who can fill all those roles at once like animals can.
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