every page matters (chaelisa)

Puppy Love

Lisa doesn't believe in love at first sight.

She doesn't understand how people could form that strong a connection before ever getting to know each other. She doesn't get how such a profound feeling - the feeling of being in love - could develop within 0.002 seconds of seeing one another.

The act of seeing someone for the first time cannot possibly afford enough insight into them, cannot possibly establish a bond as deep as love. Love at first sight is a shallow, transient notion - misguided affection, as Lisa prefers to call it.

Her friend Minnie insists that it was love at first sight between her and her new boyfriend, but Lisa quietly disagrees. Love doesn't work that way, she thinks.

(Of course, she doesn't say anything to her besotted friend - she supports her even though her personal beliefs are different. But Minnie's experience with the 'love at first sight' phenomenon still doesn't change Lisa's outlook on things.)

Love takes time. Love is a feeling that can take weeks, months, years to develop. Falling in love is a process that cannot be hurried, cannot be squeezed into a single moment like 'love at first sight' says it can.

Falling in love is psychological. It's chemical. It is a progression in and of itself, and progressions - by and large - take time to occur.

***

She thinks about the concept over and over again on her morning run. She tries to expand her mind, tries to be more open to the idea.

But no amount of persuasion can change her stance. Love at first sight doesn't exist. That's just what Lisa believes.

She's barely ten feet from her yard when a ball of fur darts out from the middle of nowhere and tangles his lead around her ankles. Lisa almost trips but catches herself at the last second. As she crouches down to untangle herself from the tiny dog's leash, she hears hurried footsteps against the pavement and panting that definitely isn't coming from the dog at her feet.

When she straightens, Lisa finds herself standing before a girl about her age. Her blonde hair is curled loosely around her face, and her body is swimming in a sweater that looks four or five sizes too big.

The girl greets her with a sheepish smile as she catches her breath.

"Sorry about that," she says, taking the dog's leash from Lisa's hands. "Hank is just a puppy, and he must still have a lot of that puppy energy inside of him. I told him we were going to the dog park up the road and then BOOM," she shoots a balled fist out and makes an exploding motion with her fingers. "He shot off like a rocket! I'm sorry that he got caught up around your ankles!"

Lisa laughs lightly and brushes off the apology. "It's no big deal. Have fun at the dog park."

The girl smiles again. She tugs on Hank's leash - the puppy had begun to chew on the laces of her tattered converse - and departs with a wave.

Lisa thinks nothing of the interaction as she walks up the footpath and into her house, where her cat was waiting patiently by the door.

"Hey, Leo!"

She rolls her eyes when the cat ignores her greeting and begins sniffing around her ankles curiously. When Leo gazes up at her accusatorily, Lisa explains.

"You're just smelling Hank, the puppy I ran into outside."

Leo doesn't respond, simply turns around and walks over to his cat bed. He curls up in it and refuses to look in Lisa's direction.

Lisa scoffs, kicking off her shoes and trudging over to the fridge to find a bottle of water. "Dumb cat and your dumb need to be territorial. It's like you're accusing me of cheating on you. I'm offended!"