Dog Days

The girl sat on her porch steps, watching the juice of her red popsicle dribble down the wooden stick and along the creases of her fingers, across the rough skin of her palm and the smooth skin of her wrist. It was sticky and sweet, but tasted just fine when she licked it up.

On the other side of the street, lounging on white wood much like that which laid beneath her feet, a small brown dog stared at her with judging eyes. He’d sat there every day this summer, floppy ears tilted and mangy fur springing all over his body like someone had plugged him into an electric socket. She stuck out her tongue, still smeared with strawberry, but he didn’t even blink, and she huffed.

Her toes raised and lowered, tapping against the deck with growing impatience. In one quick motion, she stuffed the rest of her popsicle into her mouth, biting it from the stick. Cold shot along her tongue, through her cheeks, and she chewed quickly, feeling the brain freeze clawing its way through her skull. She swallowed, sucked the remaining juice from the stick, and dropped it into the grass.

Certain no one was there to yell at her about wearing shoes, she tore off across the lawn and into the street, feet slapping against the warm concrete. Dog waggled an ear, glaring woefully as she careened toward him. He snorted when she scratched his neck, pretending to be offended, but she knew he was pleased.

She skipped away, dancing her way down the sidewalk, and this time he heaved himself onto four small paws to pad after her, nails clacking against the ground. They ran along down the street, her giggles echoing between the houses, his yips following their bounds with glee. Bright sun poured down through a cloudless sky, soaking them with summer heat, but neither minded the drenching sweat, too enraptured with the ants scuttling along in straight lines.

Dog pounced on them, paws scrabbling, and his wet nose followed the tiny picnickers as they disappeared into the freshly mown grass. Girl laughed, scolding him for destroying nature, and they carried on through the midday neighborhood.

Two streets over there was a quaint little park, filled with gargling children and bored parents, but Girl turned the opposite direction, determined to keep her adventure to herself. The unworthy would only ruin her journey, hold her back from discovering the secrets of the universe. Dog was a suitable companion, racing circles around her and preserving the inflated smile stuck to her mouth.

They ducked into the forest, cutting between brown trunks and green leaves, dodging low branches and spiky bushes. Their fort was only a minute away, walled with stacks of sticks and moated with a shallow stream. Girl and Dog splashed across, jumping the wall, and crashed into their places, too happy to bother shooing away the bugs. This was the home of all creatures, after all, not only them. Life was welcome to sit at their tables of mushrooms, to join in their revel.

It wasn’t long before their friends crept in, Fox at the right and Rabbit at the left, Sparrow shy as always and Crow squawking louder than a siren. Dog curled beside Girl’s knee as she served the food and poured their drinks, chattering through her work with a grin, taking time to ask about all of their days and their families, expressing joy at the birth of Cat’s new kittens and sadness at the passing of Squirrel’s mother.

Here they dined like gods, sipping nectar and ambrosia, rejoicing in the others’ company, soaking in the afternoon and beaming at their family. No five-star restaurant could compare to this service, this cheery atmosphere. Not a single critter was left wanting, all had their fill and returned to their dens and burrows with full stomachs and merry souls.

As the sun dipped above the towering trees, only Girl and Dog remained, laying in soft patches and listening to crickets and cicadas, watching as the wind fluttered through the wood. Girl reached, fingers outstretched, and grasped a handful of Dog’s fur, a reassurance that he was still there, that he would always be there. But of course he would. They would never leave each other, such was the strength of their friendship.

Girl sulked when they departed their palace, stumbling over twigs and misplaced weeds, pushing their way back out into the sunshine. Suppertime was nearing, and her mother would be angry if she was late, but her feet still dragged their steps and Dog’s head still drooped.

Their tread was slow and condensed, wilting like winter flowers, their blithe cheer fading to a vapid silence, trudging toward an undesired destination. The last block was the shortest, their houses rising before them, and their hearts sank in their chests.

Mother waited, hand braced against the screen door, and under her fiery glare, Dog slunk across the street, slumping back into place. Girl tiptoed into the frigid air conditioning, shivering as goose bumps raised along her arms. She wished to whirl around and sprint into the air she belonged to, but instead cowered beneath the ire of her parents, sagging into her chair with wobbling lips and shiny eyes. Every night was the same, the disappointment unraveling through her insides.

She nudged the greens around her plate, eyes focused on something deep within her mind, her and Dog scurrying through the dirt after a black beetle, entranced by its wobbling gait.

Those moments were gone, now, dissolving in a haze of television and video games, fingers on screens and bodies on couches. Girl slipped beneath her covers in the darkness, breathing slowed, but when her parents moved to another room, she cracked the window to let in the sounds of the night. Somewhere out in the gloom walked Raccoon and Possum and Owl, waking in time with the moon.

Perhaps she was trapped in her room for these moments, but tomorrow she would be free again, and the day after and the day after that and forever and ever until it was just her and Dog and the world.