The Beginning, Middle, but not the End

Day 6,015 (April 5th)

Dante finishes his supreme taco and passes me a napkin to wipe my mouth from the sauce dripping down my chin. He chuckles at me as I struggle to get the sauce off entirely. He crumples up the wrapper, "You're a mess."

"Hey now, no need to point out the obvious!" I toss my napkin at him and laugh. I finish up the last bite of my soft taco and we dispose of the trash. I check my phone for the time, 4:23. Thankfully, we decided to get an after school snack at the Taco Bell right across from the animal clinic. We exit the building and walk across the street. It's cool out and soggy with the afternoon rain.

As we enter the clinic, a bell dangling over the door rings. A guy behind the front counter greets us, "Heyo!" From the sound of his smooth and tenor voice, he wasn't who I spoke to on the phone. "My name's Eric. Are you two the volunteers?"

I nod. My heart pulsates quicker and quicker, "Yeah, I'm Jodie and-"

Dante cuts me off, "And I'm Dante, Dante Hash."

Eric's pale cheeks flush with a rosy color. He pushes back his dark brown, pompadour styled hair. His sapphire eyes glisten in the dim lights. Shadows of raindrops, projected from the afternoon light shining through the windows, scatter across the floor like the night sky. Eric shakes Dante's hand, not taking his eyes off of him.

From a doorway that leads into the back room I'm presuming, an older man walks into the lobby. His face is wrinkled with age and his comb over hair is faded white. His pear green eyes meet mine, "Hello, I'm Hal. I believe we spoke on the phone?" I nod. "Wonderful."

He shakes my hand and then Dante's. Eric speaks up, "Uh, Hal, this is Dante and Jodie. They're the volunteers."

Hal laughs, "Oh I know who they are, I may be old but I'm not senile." After Eric apologizes, the elder man returns to the conversation, "I'm assuming you both met my lovely nephew, Eric." We nod and Eric becomes shy when he meets eyes with Dante. "Well, he'll show you around. I'm hoping you guys can come in about three to four days a week at least, but let us know if there's a day you can or can't come in for whatever reason. I look forwards to working with you kids."

Eric smiles to us and motions for us to follow him through the doorway that Hal entered. We followed the younger man into a hallway which was lined with built in kennels in the walls. In a few of the kennels were dogs and cats, some bandaged and some in physically good condition. The hall smelled of animal food and of litter. We walked through the hall and into a backroom. In the center of the room is a large metal table lined with a white fabric. The walls are bordered with cabinets.

Eric speaks up after stopping the tour, "So this is where we examine the animals that get brought in. Some surgeries go on back here, there's a staff backroom in there." He points to a door behind the table. "But since you guys are volunteers, you'll be in that hall mainly taking care of the pets. You'll also probably be grooming them, which happens back here. Another thing, you guys will be in charge of walking the dogs." We nod, I'm more excited to get to see the animals than the chores. "So, uh, do you guys have any questions?" He runs his hand through his hair, this must be a nervous habit of some sorts.

Dante raises his eyebrow and rubs his chin, "So are you always at the desk?"

The boy chuckles, "Yeah, I am. I'm here almost every day. I'm the secretary of sorts I guess."

From how this tour is going, I'm guessing that Dante is gonna like this gig more than he probably expected. I think this could be good for me, it'll be a nice way to regularly get out of the house and to get into some sort of schedule.