Together

They walked around the park twice, somehow dodging a pair of overly-friendly pomeranians and passing a jogger at least three times.  They walked to the street opposite where they had entered the park from and walked up, around the neighborhood that surrounded the park in two-level chipped paint homes with backyards and shared driveways.

They reached the corner with the light, turned and saw a yellow school bus pass beside them.  The man said "Hey, there you go - perfect timing" as the bus slowed and stopped a block ahead of them.  The boy and the girl got out, but Betty couldn't see who they were just yet.

The man whistled the loud whistle that he only does every once in a while, when something exciting is happening.  And the boy and the girl wheeled around and started running to catch up.  Betty knew them from their yelling, their flaling legs and how the lady and man walked faster.  She jumped up and wanted to kiss the girl, then the boy, then the whole day with all of its crazy sunshine.

Spring

For a while, life got busy.  The kind of busy where you walk and you sleep and you do everything, but it blurs and you don’t seem to get a clear picture of anything until you stop and stand still.  The winter passed kind of like that.  Only a few snowy days, which was fine with Betty because she loved to romp in the snow but didn’t like when it bunched up in her paws.

The sun came back just about the time that the clocks slowed.  The lady, who was usually on the go most days, stayed home one day when she would normally have been gone.  All day, Betty stayed close by her.  Stood outside the bathroom door when she peed, sniffed around the kitchen while she baked pumpkin bread, paced around her as she dressed to take Betty for a walk.

Stepping outside with the man and the lady, Betty closed her eyes and sniffed the air.  It smelled like flowers not yet ready to bloom but almost there.  The sun was out and the air was made of light.  Betty pranced as they walked, ran forward as she saw them approach the park, and barked happily as she saw other dogs out with their ladies and men, circling the park and chatting.