now. We played tug-on-a-towel and she wasn’t pulling very hard.
“That can’t be right,” Gloria said.
“They have very sensitive noses! I’m going to try to scare it out of the house and down the street,” Clarity said.
“Are you sure it’s a fox? A fox, as in, the animal?”
“I know what a fox looks like. It’s a little one.”
“We should call the police.”
“Like cops would come for a fox. I’m just going to shoo it outside. Stay back in case it makes a run for the stairs.”
I heard Gloria gasp and slam the door at the top of the stairs. Clarity picked me up and ran out the back door and into the cool night. She took me right out the gate and didn’t set me down until we were around the corner.
I didn’t understand the game we were playing, but after shaking and squatting I was ready to keep going. Clarity paced with me up and down the street and then a car came around the corner and stopped. The window rolled down and I smelled Rocky! I put my feet on the metal side of the car and tried to peer in. I smelled Trent then, too.
“Thanks for doing this, Trent,” Clarity said.
“It’s okay,” Trent said.
Clarity picked me up and handed me through the window. I crawled across Trent’s chest, licking him in greeting, and then sniffed along the seat. Rocky wasn’t in the car, but he had been. We were both front-seat dogs.
I went home with Trent that night and Clarity did not come with us. I was distressed when we drove off, and I whimpered, wondering where Clarity was, but when we arrived at Trent’s house Rocky was there! We were overjoyed to see each other and he and I wrestled in the living room and in the backyard and in Trent’s bedroom. Trent had a younger sister named Carolina who played with us and Trent played with us and even his parents played with us. I fell asleep in the middle of it all, suddenly so fatigued I simply had to lie down even though Rocky was chewing my face.
As soon as Rocky and I awoke the next morning we recommenced the play. He was a little bigger than I was and obviously very attached to Trent, because sometimes he’d break off wrestling and run over to Trent to be stroked and praised. It made me miss Clarity, but every time it occurred to me that I should be worried about her Rocky would climb on me and we’d be back at it. I comforted myself that she had to come back to get me, and eventually she did.
Later the back gate clanged and Rocky and I tore over to see who it might be, and there she was. We both jumped up on her and I finally growled at Rocky for acting as if he was as important to her as I was.
Clarity and Trent stood in the backyard to watch me play with my brother. I tried to show her I could pin Rocky when I wanted to, but he wouldn’t cooperate.
“She gone yet?” Trent asked.
“Not yet. Her flight isn’t until one o’clock. I told her I had to leave early for school.”
“ Are you going to school?”
“Not today.”
“CJ, you can’t keep skipping school.”
“Molly needs me.”
I froze at the sound of my name and Rocky jumped on my back.
“You’ve had Molly for three days. What about the other times?”
“I just don’t feel like school is relevant in my life.”
“You’re a high school student,” he said. “School is your life.”
“I’ll go Monday,” Clarity told him. “I just want to spend time this week with Molly, while Gloria’s gone.”
“And when Gloria gets back, what’s the plan then?”
“I don’t know, Trent! Sometimes people don’t plan everything, it just happens, okay?”
Clarity and I went for a car ride and I sat in the front seat. We went to a park that had a lot of grass but just one dog in it, an unfriendly brown canine who was only interested in walking with his owner on a path. Then we went home and, thankfully, I wasn’t shoved back into the tiny place under the stairs but had the run of the house. I could smell Gloria, but she was not around.
I slept in Clarity’s bed. I
“That can’t be right,” Gloria said.
“They have very sensitive noses! I’m going to try to scare it out of the house and down the street,” Clarity said.
“Are you sure it’s a fox? A fox, as in, the animal?”
“I know what a fox looks like. It’s a little one.”
“We should call the police.”
“Like cops would come for a fox. I’m just going to shoo it outside. Stay back in case it makes a run for the stairs.”
I heard Gloria gasp and slam the door at the top of the stairs. Clarity picked me up and ran out the back door and into the cool night. She took me right out the gate and didn’t set me down until we were around the corner.
I didn’t understand the game we were playing, but after shaking and squatting I was ready to keep going. Clarity paced with me up and down the street and then a car came around the corner and stopped. The window rolled down and I smelled Rocky! I put my feet on the metal side of the car and tried to peer in. I smelled Trent then, too.
“Thanks for doing this, Trent,” Clarity said.
“It’s okay,” Trent said.
Clarity picked me up and handed me through the window. I crawled across Trent’s chest, licking him in greeting, and then sniffed along the seat. Rocky wasn’t in the car, but he had been. We were both front-seat dogs.
I went home with Trent that night and Clarity did not come with us. I was distressed when we drove off, and I whimpered, wondering where Clarity was, but when we arrived at Trent’s house Rocky was there! We were overjoyed to see each other and he and I wrestled in the living room and in the backyard and in Trent’s bedroom. Trent had a younger sister named Carolina who played with us and Trent played with us and even his parents played with us. I fell asleep in the middle of it all, suddenly so fatigued I simply had to lie down even though Rocky was chewing my face.
As soon as Rocky and I awoke the next morning we recommenced the play. He was a little bigger than I was and obviously very attached to Trent, because sometimes he’d break off wrestling and run over to Trent to be stroked and praised. It made me miss Clarity, but every time it occurred to me that I should be worried about her Rocky would climb on me and we’d be back at it. I comforted myself that she had to come back to get me, and eventually she did.
Later the back gate clanged and Rocky and I tore over to see who it might be, and there she was. We both jumped up on her and I finally growled at Rocky for acting as if he was as important to her as I was.
Clarity and Trent stood in the backyard to watch me play with my brother. I tried to show her I could pin Rocky when I wanted to, but he wouldn’t cooperate.
“She gone yet?” Trent asked.
“Not yet. Her flight isn’t until one o’clock. I told her I had to leave early for school.”
“ Are you going to school?”
“Not today.”
“CJ, you can’t keep skipping school.”
“Molly needs me.”
I froze at the sound of my name and Rocky jumped on my back.
“You’ve had Molly for three days. What about the other times?”
“I just don’t feel like school is relevant in my life.”
“You’re a high school student,” he said. “School is your life.”
“I’ll go Monday,” Clarity told him. “I just want to spend time this week with Molly, while Gloria’s gone.”
“And when Gloria gets back, what’s the plan then?”
“I don’t know, Trent! Sometimes people don’t plan everything, it just happens, okay?”
Clarity and I went for a car ride and I sat in the front seat. We went to a park that had a lot of grass but just one dog in it, an unfriendly brown canine who was only interested in walking with his owner on a path. Then we went home and, thankfully, I wasn’t shoved back into the tiny place under the stairs but had the run of the house. I could smell Gloria, but she was not around.
I slept in Clarity’s bed. I
Similar Books
