Is This Mike On?

She watched me as I grabbed the choke collar and prepared to carefully slip it around the dog’s neck.

I knew the question was coming and I guess I didn’t want to hear it.

“Where are you going,” she asked as I took the long, worn blue leash and hooked it to collar.

“I’m just going for a walk,” I replied as I stood up with my black lab retriever. Here it comes, I thought.

“Can I come too?” she asked, looking up at me. She still seemed small for her age, even though she was in the fifth grade.

I paused and looked at her. It would mean more work for me. I would have make sure our lab didn’t run off chasing another dog, while dragging her behind. Then there was making sure she crossed the street without getting hurt.

“Sure, come on,” I said. She smiled big.

I opened the door for her and we walked outside into the darkness.

I let her hold the leash, making sure she locked the loop around her wrist, hopefully minimizing the chance of the dog pulling away from her. We walked side by side down the street with her holding the dog the whole time.

At one point, her young legs picked up into almost a half trot. I instructed her to give a tiny, but firm nudge on the leash. The dog slowed almost immediately and waited for us.

Most of the time I asked questions, letting her talk. She told me about her love for reading, on how important it was for her to win the reading competition in school, how her mom was trying to find a job. There was no mention of her dad living in another state.

We were only gone about 15 minutes when we turned around and headed back to our house. As we pulled up to the front porch, she thanked me fr letting me walk with her. So grateful she was to have somebody pay special attention to her for just a few minutes.

Now that I think about it, I don’t remember walking with my dad like that. It’s been years, but I can’t recall him just giving me a few minutes to talk with nobody else around.

At least for one night, this wasn’t an issue for my little friend.

Tweet This Post