This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Where Do The Dogs Go?

           They were  the party days.  The days started in the afternoon and the nights ended as the sun was rising.  They were the dog days.  Heat and humidity oppressed the days and obstinately hung on through the nights.

           After Vernon dropped me off at home, I stealthily made my way through the dark house hoping that my parents would not hear me.   I was in college, still living at home with my parents. No rent, free food, low living costs.  It worked well for my budget.

          In the early morning quiet I carefully shut the door to the bedroom that I shared with my two younger brothers.  They were asleep in the bunk bed that was across the room from my bed, which was beside the room's only window.  My mind was racing.  I knew that I needed to go to sleep, but my mind was still in party mode. 

           The sky gradually began to brighten.  The bedroom was stifling from the tedious aftermath of the hot August night.  Leaning on the windowsill, I extended my face through the open window trying to capture a bit of what would be the coolest part of the day.  There was no real relief, yet the illusionary morning air pretended to provide coolness.

          As a splenetic sun edged over the houses in the distance, I saw the dogs.  Blackie, the stray that had made our yard her home, appeared from out of the carport accompanied by three other strays that regularly passed through our yard.  The canine quartet sauntered diagonally across the yard, leaving a pathway marked in the scarce dew that would soon be evaporated in the heat of morning.  I watched as the dogs crossed the street and continued through a neighbor's yard until they disappeared from sight.

          I had seen them before.  The dogs made their daily passage to a destination unseen by me.  Even after the dew had dried the spoor remained.  The dogs were making daily rounds and I began to wonder where did they go each morning?  Perhaps food was waiting at another house.  Maybe a neighbor on another street also thought of Blackie as his dog.   Or maybe Blackie was just a friend of one of the other strays that he thought of as his dog.  The dogs seemed to be goal-oriented.  They seemed to know where they were going.  But I wanted to know.

           Stirrings outside my bedroom told me that my father was up and getting ready to go to work.  I didn't want to leave my room for fear that he might begin lecturing me about finding a job or enumerating chores that needed to be done around the house.   And besides, I was so tired.

           I lay down upon my bed so that in the event my father looked into the room I could pretend to be sleeping.  It was no assurance that he wouldn't rouse me to give me marching orders, but perhaps he would let me sleep.

             He didn't look into the room.  I could hear him leave the house and I heard the car pull out of the driveway.  I did not look out the window lest he see me.  With a deep sigh of relief, my head settled into the pillow and my eyes closed.  My thoughts wandered.

          Classes at the university would be starting soon.  This evening I would probably be partying again.   I had no big plans for my life.  The days would come and go and I'd eventually figure out what to do.  For now, there was no hurry.  I'd bide my time, eat when it was time to eat, and be careful not to get hit by a car when I was crossing the street.  Then, like any good dog on a hot summer morning, I lazily drifted off to sleep.

11 comments:

  1. I enjoyed that! Great story! Did you ever figure out where you were going in life?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great story, Lee. The ending reminds of my little Bella, who has nothing better to do that lay around and enjoy the luxuries of living here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice story. I rememebr laying in bed hoping my parents would think I was sleeping there all night.

    Stephen Tremp

    ReplyDelete
  4. Did you ever follow the dogs to see where they went?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alex -- Thanks

    Rae -- Thank you. I did for a while, but now in my current stage of life I sometimes feel like I did back in those college days.

    Wanda -- The other day my wife commented that she kind of wished she was her daughter's dog since the pet doesn't have to really worry about anything and is always taken care of. Some dogs have got it made.

    Stephen Tremp -- After hearing some of the things my mother has told me, I don't think I ever really fooled my parents much.

    Carol-- I really wanted to follow the dogs, but it would have meant I would have been traipsing through neighbors' yards which might not have been taken the same way as dogs going through their yards. Besides if I had started following the dogs they would have noticed and then they would have come back and started following me. They knew I was one of the food guys.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah...you did have an college life. Glad those do not last.
    kim

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Lee sorry I am late family crisis but all alright now:

    I could just imagine those dogs, many years ago before laws came into force about stray dogs being on the street I used to see many dogs running along looking for food.

    Have a good week-end/
    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice storytelling, your strong side is that you do not just describe but also leave narrative comments on every scene. And you are also good in inner monologue.

    I wish I ever had time to bide my time :(

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kim -- The most important stuff we learn in life is not learned in college.

    Nikole -- Thanks for stopping

    Yvonne -- The stray dog problem in Los Angeles seems to under control and hope back in Tennessee it's not like it used to be.

    Dezmond -- Thank you for the complimentary comment on my writing. You are very encouraging.

    ReplyDelete

Go ahead and say something. Don't be afraid to speak your mind.
I normally try to respond to all comments in the comment section so please remember to check the "Email follow-up comments" box if you want to participate in the comment conversation.

For Battle of the Bands voting the "Anonymous" commenting option has been made available though this version is the least preferred. If voting using "anonymous" please include in your comment your name (first only is okay) and city you are voting from and the reason you chose the artist you did.

If you know me and want to comment but don't want to do it here, then you can send me an email @ jacksonlee51 at aol dot com.

Lee