Say When (A Faderville Novel, #4) by Sasson N. Gemini & Sasson N. Gemini

Author:Sasson, N. Gemini & Sasson, N. Gemini
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: literary fiction, dog story, dogs, australian shepherd, soul mate
Publisher: Cader Idris Press
Published: 2018-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

chapter 19: Sooner

We went running nearly every day. At first, it seemed hopeless. He was old... well, not old-old for a human, but older than Brandy. Past his prime. He shuffled and stumbled, heaving for air like he was racing up a mountainside carrying twice his weight on his back, not jogging through soft grass at a leisurely pace. I almost gave up on him several times. He wanted to give up. The first few times, he’d stop often, hands on knees as he stooped over to catch his breath, sweat dripping from his chin onto the ground. Sometimes I wondered if he wasn’t going to keel over dead right there. Then what was I supposed to do? So I’d nudge at the back of his knees until he told me to stop, lick his face in encouragement, tug in the direction we’d been going, and whine in impatience. Eventually, he’d start to walk. But why walk anywhere when running was an option? After his breathing had evened out, he’d start running again, some foolishly persistent determination awakened in him.

It didn’t take me long to recover from all my cuts and bites and bruises. I was starting to feel more like my old self again: curious, eager, energetic. I wanted to explore this new place, sniff every chipmunk hole and rabbit trail and pile of horse manure I could find so I knew who else had been there, how long ago, and sometimes what they’d eaten. I rolled in the grass and drank from the stream. When Grayson wasn’t paying attention, I even dug at the earth to see what small, slimy creatures I could find. This farm, all spread out, was all so excitingly new to me.

I’d long since given up on finding Brandy. Besides, she hadn’t come back to find me, even though I’d been there by the van, left, and come back to wait some more. At times, I wondered if this was how it would be for the rest of my life: one home after another, new places, new people, new rules. Did people tire of their dogs and trade them for new ones? Not care if they lost them? Did a dog ever stay with one person forever?

As each day passed, it became achingly clear. This man, Grayson, he was my person now—for however long that might last. And even though he was terribly inept at communicating with me, he tried. He was getting better. I let him know when he was right and ignored him when he was wrong. That was how Brandy had taught me. The relationship I had with Grayson was mostly one of confusion and frustration, but there were moments, more and more, in which we did seem to click.

Grayson stood up from the oversized desk in the upstairs spare bedroom where he’d been hunched over his phone listening to a small voice speaking from a tiny moving picture. The words had been familiar. Words a good owner said to his dog.

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