Dog Day Afternoon

RJ's out of town and I am once again Alley's sole caretaker. In the past occasions, when i'd feel bad about her being cooped up for days, the most i'd do was to walk her in the neighborhood. I'd refrain from taking her to the field, where RJ plays catch with her off leash, due to liability issues. I simply am not strong enough to restrain her. Nor am i fast enough.

Today i felt torn. Walk her? Or drive over to the field to scout it out? Alley has shown aggression lately when she perceives the threat of another dog approaching her ball. Otherwise she's harmless. She's quite a loner actually. I like that about her.

I would walk her to a less popular field (safer bet) even closer to us, but that's been recently riddled with ground squirrel poison.

This Friday I will have to drop Alley off at the boarding place. I figured I might as well get her used to being transported in my car which she'd never been in.

Yeah, that's a good excuse.

Alley couldn't be more excited. She probably remembered no master translated to no car-ride and no playing catch. Good things are better when you're not expecting them.

We got to the field and there was only one other person with two dogs at the far end away from us. Aces! And they soon left too.

I don't throw nearly as well as RJ. I'm a girl. But i try.

Within a minute i attempted a trick RJ had shown me. Whoops! The ball went over the fence into the water tower area.

Gotta get it back! I put a confused Alley back on leash and walked over to find a way in.

There was none. There were two gates. Both were padlocked.

Disappointed, we walked back to the field. Now what?

I stared at the ball which stared right back in contempt.

Damn it, it's right there! I gotta get it back!

I secured poor even more confused Alley and tried climbing over the fence. I got to the top kinda straddling there. And then i was stuck.

Damn these small diamonds of interlocked wires and my fat Ugg boots!

I wasn't sure i could keep my balance to get the other leg over. I could fall. That would make a funny story. Not laughing.

I backed down in dismay.

I released Alley and we just stood there. I fantasized about bribing some schoolboy into retrieving the ball for me for a whopping five bucks. They came after school to practice baseball and more. Only it was midday, and no schoolchildren in sight.

I imagined explaining this to RJ and apologizing, him laughing it off. I envisioned returning days later with RJ. Maybe he could climb over that damned fence.

Just then, a slender young woman walked in with what I guessed was a cocker spaniel. (I'd later find out that he was part that and part golden retriever.) She smiled and said hi. I did the same.

We got to talking. The usual convo between dog peeps who meet by chance, exchanging dog names, age, etc. Turned out both Tesla* and Alley were rescues.

Still, i couldn't take my eyes off the ball on the other side of the fence. The mockery was unbearable. I shared my predicament with this stranger.

"You wanna try again?" She asked. "I'll watch her for you."

"I'm chicken," I said.

"You can do it!" She egged me on.

So i did. And once again, once i got to the top, i couldn't proceed. I looked at my new friend helplessly.

"Just turn around like this," she said, and demonstrated where she stood.

"If only i could jump," i said.

She saw my concern. "If you're afraid, don't do it."

Arrgghhhhh... Fear! Hateful.

Once again i gave up, feeling like a failure.

"I'm not athletic," I told my temporary comrade.

"You think?" A voice in my head said. Another chuckled.

"You want me to try?" My friend volunteered.

"Are you sure?" I responded, overjoyed and touched.

"I can try," she said as she French-braided her light brown hair in a jiffy.

I watched her svelte self go up, weightless. Atop the fence, she was able to find footing easily on the other side in her black ballet flats. And landed effortless and gracefully. I marveled.

She picked up the ball and threw it over the fence.

After she returned and i thanked her profusely (I resorted to clichés such as "You're a saint!" and "God bless you!". I was simply delirious.), we introduced ourselves. Her name was Adriana*.

I'll never forget her.



*Not his real name
*Not her real name