The Routine

The lady, the man and the kids needed noises to wake them up.  Beep, beep, beeping from a box that the man swatted at until it got quiet.  Then again, a few minutes later, but this time with a grumbling and a quick pull on of a bedside lamp.  Betty kept her eyes open but liked the warm pile of fur she created between the two people.  The lady sat up and Betty decided to stretch and moan.

The lady opened the doors of the kids’ rooms, flicking on their lights to the grumbling of the girl and the giggling of the wide-awake but hiding boy.  She went into the bathroom and disappeared for some time into the sounds of water and flushing and brushing. 

The man got dressed and headed downstairs, followed by the now-dressed children, all three heading for bowls and cereal and cups of milk in the kitchen.  They petted Betty, but didn’t seem to be near the front door at all.

The lady came downstairs and gasped.  “We need to take the dog out first thing, guys.  There’s a puddle down here.”  And in a bit of a huff, she grabbed the collar, hooked Betty and headed outside muttering something about a serious change in routine.

The Arrival

Some things arrive with fanfare or gore or a cacophony of crashing, honking noises.  Fortunately, dog poo is not one of these things.  It arrived as quietly as it was made, at the end of a just-before-bed walk, ending in a tidy little pile of stink to the right of the house and just shy of the neighbor’s unruly corner bush.

And with that, all fears of midnight scrambles to reach the door or painful veterinarian proctologists with girthy gelled and surgical gloved fingers were put to rest.

And so the man, the lady, the two children and Betty rested.  All night and quite happily, by the way.

The Elusive Deuce

It had been over 24 hours and two bowls of food, and she had only peed.  This was very concerning to the lady and the man, and they decided that what she needed was a very very long walk.  Well, actually they spent a good thirty minutes psychoanalyzing the effects of new people and new places, not to mention soul-crushing rejection, on the delicate psyche of a smallish beagle.  (Ironically, Betty was on a couch during this conversation, but only because the kids were there and watching some very loud program with a pineapple houses.)

The man walked Betty while the lady went to the store for more supplies.  There were so many smells and so many sounds that she didn’t even try to make sense of it all, she just trotted along and sniffed the air and crunched her paws on the leaves and watched all of the cars.  She could be totally entertained if all they did was sit and watch the cars.

The man still seemed nervous and they headed back home, a minor pee and one bark later.  The lady had returned with a green bone that smelled like mint but tasted like pork and Betty happily sniffed at it, dragging it about and following the lady.  The man followed too, nervously looking at Betty and talking about poop.  They filled her bowl with food again and watched her, both staring, both deciding that if another night passed, they would have to call a professional.

The House

The lady and the man seemed nervous.  They brought her into a house, messy and old and smelling like drafty windows and dust and cookies.  They scurried her up a lot of steps, which made her nails click and her paws slip, into a room with a bed and toys.  She guessed this was the boy’s room, because it smelled like him and had clothes on the floor.

The boy and the girl came in and talked to her in that high-pitched voice that people seem to take when they are happy and talking to her.  (Not like the angry voice, which is decidedly lower and more definite.)

From the other side of the door, she heard scurrying about.  Things being moved and the sound of trashbags and vacuum cleaners and other noises she couldn’t even place.  After a while, they opened the door and walked downstairs, which she did tentatively.  There were really a LOT of stairs, and looking straight down them made her feel just a little bit woozy.

Going Home

After what seemed like the turning of a sun and moon, the lady and the man and the kids came back.  After a quick walk outside, they opened the car door.  Betty loved to ride in the car.  She jumped right in.  They had placed a soft circle bed in the middle of the backseat and she turned around and around on it while the boy and girl got into the car on either side of her.

They had a thick rope with knots on either end and she sniffed and chewed at it, but it didn’t really interest her.  She like to look up out the windows, lay her paw or chin on a warm lap, and drift along with the car.  She particularly loved car rides because nobody got up and wandered off, or walked away.  Everyone was together, right where you could smell and see and touch them.

There are dogs that live their whole lives in one house, or cage, or farm.  But Betty didn't care about buildings.  All she wanted was in that car, held still with her.  If she stretched herself out just so, she could touch the girl's leg with her paw and rest her chin on the boy's lap.  She drifted to sleep again, dreaming of a giggling little girl and a boy who was twirling his hair. 

The Quiet

Betty walked with the man outside.  She peed a little and they went back inside. She curled up on the bed to sleep again, assuming she had a buddy to rest with.  It seemed a pretty nice morning, even though she could not believe the others had gone.  Unfortunately, the man had other plans.  He hid the food dish, filled the water dish and slipped out through the bedroom doorway, shutting the door behind.

It is simply impossible to imagine that when someone leaves you, that they will ever return.  Did the man disappear into thin air?  Did he turn into a goose or a clover?  Was he still standing just outside of the closed door?

Betty hoped for the last option, as all she would have to do is call to him and he would surely open the door and return.  She called for a long time, drank a little water and finally gave up to rest on the bed, still thoroughly exhausted.

The Talk

The children, the lady, and grandma were hungry also.  And all of the really good food was back with grandpa at the other house.  Because the man rarely ate much in the morning, he stayed behind with Betty in the bedroom.  Grandma drove to the other house.  The children and the lady walked.  It was only about half a mile and they got to walk past the sheep on their way.

They baa-ed at the sheep and talked about the dog as they kicked pebbles along the road's edge.  They talked about what they had to change in their house.  About finding a veterinarian and going to the pet store to get all of the things that dogs need (and toys and treats that dogs just plain like.)  About soft ears and how you trim the toenails of a dog.

They agreed, somewhere near the driveway of the other house, that all their conversations lately about getting a pet had been vague, and they certainly had NOT visited grandma and grandpa expecting to get a dog this weekend. And from what they could tell, Betty had simply wandered into their afternoon just as easily as she could have wandered into anyone else’s.  But that, if you are ever asked what the meaning of the word “serendipity” is, yesterday was it.