A Life...

I watched in such ambiguous clarity that I was not quick enough to respond to the emergency that evolved before my eyes.

The day was a normal as any other, except in the fact that today I was finally able to spend time with her. She has been a staple in my life since we first came into each other’s lives, and mostly inseparable since.

We walked side by side through the park, from time to time we would look at each other and our eyes would meet, clearly affectionate towards each other as we simply enjoyed this calm afternoon. The day demanded nothing less than to be fully enjoyed.

I purchased two small ice cream cones from a smiling gentleman that had an old fashioned stand by the small lake, his portions were old fashioned as well and we had to eat quickly before they melted all over us.

We sat by the lake and watched the passersby for a while and finally moved on towards the street to head back to the apartment.

As we got closer to the road a small child had lost a ball that he was playing with and darted into the street to get it, despite the oncoming traffic. I could see the terror in the mother’s eyes as the child slipped free from her grip and bolted from her side at the baby carriage.

I looked to my side to share a look of bewilderment, but I too had been left suddenly.

Where did she go?

Before I could comprehend the images flipping through my retinas the incident occurred and there was nothing left that I could do.

She ran from my side after the young child with such speed that she arrived at the intersection just as he did. Quickly she got a hold of him and dragged him a short distance and then suddenly flung him another short distance up onto the curb. Just then a bus came barreling full force into her, leaving me no doubt why she had flung the unharmed child, and even less doubt as to if she was still alive herself.

I ran to her side as she lay there, but my fears were more than confirmed.

She was gone, there would be no more ice creams, no more walks, and the void within my life would be back again, yet grander in scale.

She was dead, my beloved companion, my friend, and my dog.













-j.g.smith (07/30/07)
(simply a work of simpler fiction)