A Cat Runs Through It...

Yesterday I went home after work and took a walk around my property with my dog. The yard was covered in leaves. The wind was blowing and I could detect that smell of winter in the air. The clouds hung low in the sky and I saw virga etching the gray sky above, a presage of colder and snowier times to come.

I didn't let the dog off of her leash yesterday, though my custom is to allow her to run around the yard while I'm outside. I guess I didn't want to chance her running over to the neighbors for a nap behind his stupid f_cking shooting range.

I didn't want to do any yard work. So I decided to take the dog for a walk down the road. I think I took that walk for lack of anything else to do.

She tugged on her leash and pulled me forward down the lonely country road from which my driveway diverts. We crossed a small one-lane bridge overlooking a murky creek. The water was black and looked cold. I listened to the water gurgling in its path to bigger waters and thought about the detritus floating by. Those leaves, helpless to change course, floating towards another water, and another.

My dog and I walked further down the road, and came upon an overgrown field. The field was converting into a young set of woods, mostly new growth and scrub bushes. The land was choked with sweet gums, briars and weeds. No tree was taller than 15 feet. I heard something in the brush, apparently something scared by my approach. My dog was instantly quiet and we both watched the small trees and bushes bending as the animal made its escape. I wondered if it was a deer. I thought about how happy my dog was to be out with me, in these surroundings. She wasn't sad at all about Joey dying. The only thought on her mind was getting off the leash and chasing that animal in the brush.

We continued down the road a little further, then not seeing any reason to continue, I decided to turn around and head home.

Before I reached my driveway, I passed my neighbors house. I sheepishly glanced at his home. I was half afraid that I'd see my neighbor, and then I'd have to talk to him about the cat shooting incident. I am still not sure what I'll say to him when I see him. I don't want to see him.

The dog and I got to our house and went inside. I took her leash off and felt a minor blush of humilation when I saw my girlfriend, who could tell from looking at me that I hadn't yet talked to my neighbor.

I built a fire in the wood stove. I sat on the couch and looked at the fire dancing behind the sooty glass panes on the stove's doors. I remembered seeing Joey next to the wood stove so much last year that she seemed to be a permanent fixture there. I thought that maybe tomorrow I'd give some thought to getting a new kitten. An inside kitten.

by: File Boy