They Almost Never Met Onyx. Now He’s at the Center of a Christmas Movie.

The day April Floyd met Onyx Furbaby Floyd began with a sentence she still cannot explain. That morning, she woke up and told her husband, Eddie, “I smell puppy breath.”

There was no puppy around. After losing her Maltese, Cotton, to cancer, April had been reluctant to bring another dog into her life, though she had once said that if she ever did, she wanted a Goldendoodle.

Later that day, Eddie unexpectedly suggested they go to Tower Grove Park in St. Louis, where they stumbled onto a festival full of dogs. April kept stopping to greet them until Eddie joked, “You keep this up, you’re going to wind up with a dog.”

They left the park without one, but before they even went inside after getting home, April said, “Let’s go to the Humane Society.”

Eddie agreed, though he pointed out, “You know you’re not going to find a Goldendoodle.”

When April and Eddie arrived at the Humane Society, they parked too close to the car beside them and had to pull out and try again. During those few extra moments, April noticed a family arriving with a dog.

She assumed they had just adopted him. Instead, they explained that they were bringing him in because they needed to find him a new home. April barely hesitated: “Well, I’ll take him!” Then Eddie asked what kind of dog he was. When the family said he was a Goldendoodle, April could hardly believe it.

April showed the family photos of Cotton, wanting them to know their dog would be cared for. The father told her they had prayed they would somehow know where he was going and who would have him. Moments later, Onyx jumped into April’s arms.

Later that day, his previous family came to April and Eddie’s home with his food, toys, blankets and treats. During that visit, they mentioned that they had originally planned to arrive at the Humane Society at 9:00 a.m. One delay after another pushed them back until around 2:00, just as April and Eddie happened to be there.

“They were five hours late for one appointment,” April says, “and right on time for us.”

Looking back, April sees the day as a series of small choices and delays that somehow put them in the same place at the same time. To her, she and Onyx were meant to find each other.

What April could not have known that afternoon was how much Onyx’s role in her life would eventually change.

Some time later, April had a small fall and noticed an immediate change in him. Onyx became unusually attentive, watching her closely and appearing determined to help. She remembers seeing the concern in his eyes, and the moment made her realize just how observant and intuitive he was.

Because April was already dealing with several medical issues, she began training Onyx through online courses to become her service dog. What started with that small moment would eventually become much more important than either she or Eddie could have anticipated.

When April later faced cancer, Onyx remained beside her through what she describes as one of the hardest periods of her life. By then, he was no longer simply the Goldendoodle she had unexpectedly met outside the Humane Society. He had become her working service dog, her companion and an important part of getting her through some of her most difficult days.

Years after the afternoon that brought them together, Onyx is now becoming the canine star of Wishbone Christmas, a family holiday film written and produced by April and directed and produced by Eddie.

The project, currently being developed as a St. Louis-area production, follows Onyx after he is accidentally left behind during Santa’s Christmas deliveries and begins a journey home. The story explores family, loss, belonging and second chances.

The film’s premise echoes Onyx’s own story. Years earlier, he found his home when he jumped into April’s arms outside the Humane Society.

Since then, he has become her service dog, stayed beside her through cancer and now has a new role on screen. None of it was part of the plan that day.