Walkabout

Word count:700



‘Boy, am I slick, or what?’  Agatha thought to herself as she trotted along the sidewalk.  Anyone who saw the little tri-color wire-haired fox terrier could plainly see how self-satisfied she was.

         ‘Stupid Robbie…what a weenie!’  She stopped, perked her petite ears up and listened.  In the distance she could hear her people calling for her.

         “Aggie…Agatha”

         “Aggie, come back here.”

         But she ignored them and moved on.  And again, her thoughts returned to her chicken-hearted brother.  He just didn’t care about having adventures.  All he wanted to do was to get petted.  That’s it, getting petted and swallowing anything he could find on the floor. 

         ‘He can’t really be my brother.  I just don’t believe it.  I’m a goddess, and he’s a big goof.’  Something caught her eye and she made a sudden swerve up a driveway.  But there was no way in—either the backyard or the garage, so she returned to the walkway.

         ‘This is the life.  Behold my kingdom!’  The sky was blue, and the sun felt warm on her back and there was just a hint of crispness in the air.  She paused in the shadow of a hedge and listened again.  But she didn’t hear anything, so she went along, looking all around of her, as she walked.

         She was nearing the end of the block when the UPS truck sped by her.  She jumped back, moved quickly up the nearest driveway and cowered behind a recycle bin.  She hated trucks.  But sometimes the UPS man came to see her, and he always brought her things. 

         She stuck her head from around the bin and tried to see if he’d stopped near her house.  But she hadn’t heard his beep, beep, beep.  He always beeped so mommy knew to put the leash on her.  She made her poutty, little princess face and moved cautiously from her hiding place.

         Then she saw a person and froze.  She didn’t know that person—and he obviously didn’t know who she was.  He was actually calling to her.  She gave him a chilling stare, stuck her nose up in the air and moved away from him. 

         She didn’t think she’d been behind that garbage bin for very long.  But somehow it seemed much closer to sunset than she’d thought.  She was turning around…she wasn’t sure which way she’d come from.  And the sun was setting.  The cloudless blue Arizona sky had turned to mauve, streaked with red.

         ‘Maybe I should go back now.  They’re probably very worried about me.  And if it’s getting dark, than it’s nearly dinner time.’  An awful thought flashed through her head.  If she wasn’t home, maybe they’d give her dinner to Robbie.  She shook off that idea.  ‘No, they wouldn’t do that.  They brought me home as a puppy.  I was their little puffball.  They worship me.’

         A car pulled into the driveway next to her, and she bolted.  There was a light on the corner.  So that’s where she headed.  By the time she reached the shaft of light under it, the sun had set completely. 

‘I don’t like the dark.  What’s more, they know I don’t like being out in the dark.”  Her ears twitched like a cat’s.  But no one was calling after her.  This was very lax of her people.  A motorcycle came zooming around the corner and she jumped back.  He could have hurt her. 

It was dark and she had nearly been run over by a mad motorcyclist.  This was getting serious.  She was pretty sure she had come from the far end of the block.  But she wasn’t positive.  Besides, it was dark there.  It was dark everywhere but where she stood beneath the street lamp.

‘Well, this is no way to treat me.  They should have followed me.  That’s what they should have done.  It doesn’t matter that I wouldn’t go to them.  They are my people and they have a duty to me.’

She was miffed now.  But that was quickly morphing to fear.  A car came down the street, slammed to a stop and the door flew open. 

‘Daddy!’  Aggie ran to the car and jumped in.  ‘Well, it’s about time!’