Country Mile

ENLIGHTEN ME

Genna kept on walking down the dirt path that began at the bottom of the porch stairs, and out into the pasture. A smile on her lips at the facetious thought that her poor middle finger was going to suffer from a strain from how often that bird was flying in Delilah's face.

She hadn't walked for long before the sun's heat started weighing on her. She knew it was hot out, but as she kept walking, she realized it was more of a stifling heat. She saw a dirt path branch off ahead. Right went into an open field and left went into the woods, so she went left. She only walked about thirty feet in before she saw a fairly large dog with reddish-orange fur drinking from a small stream up ahead. She abruptly stopped as not to startle it, and from what she observed, it looked like a female that was either pregnant or had recently given birth. She tried getting a little closer, and as she crept forward, a stick broke beneath her foot. The dog's head whipped around and Genna froze.

"H-heyyy girl." she said trying to keep the nerves out of her voice.

She gave the slightest of growls.

"It's okay, girl. I'm not gonna hurt you," Genna said while taking a small step forward.

At Genna's advance, the dog turned her body to fully face her. She held her head higher to appear taller, and gave a more prominent growl.

Genna took a slow step back.

They stared off for a brief moment when suddenly the dog's ear twitched and she jerked her head to the side as if she heard something. She stole one last glance at Genna before sprinting down the path, going deeper into the woods.

Before her brain could think rationally, Genna's feet were carrying her after the fleeing dog. All she could think of was how this poor mama dog was either about to give birth, or already had a litter of puppies, and either way they'll no doubt be suffering from heatstroke by the day's end.

She kept seeing flashes of fiery fur and was able to keep pace, following at a safe distance.

She felt like her lungs were going to explode from running in the heat. They ran for what felt like forever when suddenly the path ended at a wire fence with a hole dug beneath it.

"Damnit," Genna spat while kicking the dirt.

She stopped to catch her breath while contemplating crossing the wire. She knew Adam would be pissed, but could she live with herself if she let his stupid ass rules stop her, and therefore let this dog and her puppies die in this heat?

No. No way in hell.

She turned up the volume on her iPod so the music could guide her back to the path. She placed it on the nearest fence post and proceeded to wiggle beneath the wire. She dusted off and turned to try and find the dog again. She tried to stay in a straight line as she walked through the woods; stopping every so often to listen, hoping she'd hear paws tromping about. She walked for maybe another quarter mile when she head the faintest little whines. Puppies.

I fucking knew it! Genna thought.

She followed the sound of their cries and eventually came upon a den which was a hole dug beneath a fallen oak that had overgrown weeds all around it. The hole went deep into the shrubbery, but Genna could see the mama dog in there.

Knowing there was no way in hell the dog would let her just waltz up and take her pups, Genna looked around and tried to take note of the surroundings so she could find the den again; hoping Adam would help her bring them all back to the farm.

She slowly crept away and headed back the way she came. Several minutes of walking made Genna realize she may not have been walking as straight as she thought she was. The trees all started to look the same after a while and at this point, she couldn't hear anything but birds chirping.

"Well shit," she said aloud to herself. "Okay. Time to bring out your inner Katniss. You don't have a bow, but you're smart, you're a badass, you have pretty hair, and you can find your way through these damn woods."

She kept walking, and walking, and walking, until she finally came upon a stream. Hoping it was the same stream mama dog was drinking from, she decided to follow it's flow, also hoping it would lead her to somewhere that looked familiar.

After walking for another century, she was basically grey haired and feeble by the time she finally heard the sweetest, most glorious sound, of music.
Her iPod's humming lead her back to the fence just as she had hoped it would. She slid back beneath the wire and took off down the path with newfound determination.

She quickly crossed the pasture and just as her foot was placed upon the bottom step, Adam stepped outside, pushing the backdoor open with such force it slammed up against the side of the house. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts about mama dog that the bang of the door and the boom of his voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Where on God's green earth have you been young lady?!"

"I.."

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" he growled.

"Uh.."

"WELL?!"

The shock of his outburst quickly wore off and as she was coming back to her senses, Genna could feel her ire rise.

"Well?! Goddamn, let me get a word in!" She screamed.

Adam pointed at her, "Don't you dare cuss at me little girl, and 'I' and 'uh' don't count as answers!"

"I was out walking, Adam," she ground out through clenched teeth. "And no, I don't know what time it is. So please," she said while crossing her arms, "enlighten me."