Snippets And Conversations

Dog in the park

 "Eye spy a tree." Wednesday muttered, staring out of the window. She watched another car zoom past. "Oh, eye spy a car!"

"That's lovely, darling." Larissa replied, only half listening. She was zoned out, daydreaming about god knows what as she drove down the long road to Jericho.

"Mama, guess what eye spy now?" The little asked in a sing-song voice. Without waiting for her mothers response, she continued. "Eye spy a bird!" She cackled as though it was the funniest thing in the world.

Larissa rolled her eyes affectionately. She didn't have a clue what her daughter was laughing at, but she could never resist smiling at hearing her littles giggles.

"We're almost there, darling. See how many things you can spy before I park the car."

That sparked a flurry of random words from the girl in the backseat. Weems was fairly sure that Wednesday in fact hadn't seen a stegosaurus, a zombie or a lion on the way to Jericho, but who knew?

Parking the car, she hopped out and quickly unbuckled Wednesday, who was trying to press the red button on her chest. Weems laughed a bit as Wednesday shouted something as she jumped out. Rolling her eyes, she went to the trunk of her suv, taking out random toys for the girl.

"Wednesday, wait for Mama, okay?" Weems called out as she watched Wednesday stop at the gate, trying to reach the latch that was keeping it closed. Making her way over, she used her free hand to lift the latch, allowing her daughter to run through.

Finding an open bench, she dumped the bags onto it. She was about to call Marilyn when she saw the red head wave at her from where Enid was building a sand castle.

"Hey!" She smiled as Weems walked over to the pair.

Wednesday had run off somewhere in the park. She was sure she would pop up at some point so she wasn't too concerned. "When did you get here?"

Looking at her watch, Marilyn shrugged, "Maybe half an hour ago? This one didn't want to wait any longer. Where is your little hellion at?"

"Here, hopefully...? I watched her run through the gate, so she must be nearby."

Marilyn laughed, leaning back against the backrest of the bench. "Remember when you first got her? You were so nervous, you'd barely let her out of your sight. I swear, you were one step away from putting her on a lead."

Rolling her eyes, Larissa elbowed her in the ribs. "I'm still only one step away." She scanned the playground, spotting a glimpse of black plaits running over by the zip line. "Besides, there she is. See? I knew she hadn't gone far."

"Mhmmm, totally."

The caregivers were quiet for a while, watching their daughters run around. After a few minutes, Wednesday came rushing over with a delighted expression.

"Mama, a doggy!" She squealed, pointing over the fence. Weems frowned, about to explain that she couldn't call Enid that, when she spotted a woman and her young child walking a large golden retriever outside the playground area. "Look!"

All their heads turned towards them, making the woman notice and wave.

"Oh! Can we pet it?" Enid begged the women in front of her. The woman stopped to let her child into the playground, and was standing while the dog sniffed the ground. "Please?"

Marilyn nodded, "Only if the lady says it's okay."

Wednesday and Enid cheered as they ran over. Weems was about to drag her back but was too late as the girls waved at the woman.

"It's great to know they like dogs, huh?" Marilyn laughed a bit as she watched the pair pet the large dog. When she didn't say anything, the teacher turned her head to view the woman, "You good there, Rissa?"

"... yes. Just, I don't think it is the best idea for them to be that close to it." Larissa chooses her words carefully, trying to stop herself from snatching the girls away from the animal. Her eyebrows raised in alarms as the small gathering came towards her, dog included. "What are they doing?"

"They probably want to introduce us to the dog. Let's meet them halfway yeah?"

"You go ahead, I'm fine here."

Marilyn raised an eyebrow, but went after the girls. The headmistress suppressed a shiver as she watched her bend down and pet the dog, which eagerly wagged its tail.

"Wednesday, baby, why don't you come back over here for a moment?" She called. Wednesday turned around, stuck her tongue out and bent down to stroke the dog. Larissa didn't even have time to feel anger at the cheeky action, merely fear for her little darling.

Shoving all terror as deep down as possible, the 6'3 woman sprinted across the playground. She scooped Wednesday up onto her hip, holding her backwards as she backed away from the dog.

"Hey!" The little girl protested, kicking her legs uselessly. "What are you doing?! Put me down, Mama!"

"How about we let Enid and Marilyn say hi to the d-dog instead?" Weems tried to keep her voice calm, twitching as the dog took a step closer to her. "Hey, back!"

Wednesday stopped squirming, sitting still for a moment. The girl heard her caregiver stutter, shocking her a bit.

"Mama? Are you scared of the doggy?"

"What? N-No, don't be ridiculous sweetie." Larissa looked away. She felt a surge of emotions as she held Wednesday closer. Trying to regain her composure, she made their way back to the bench where she put the bags down. Sitting the girl on her lap, she placed her head on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry, baby, if you want to keep petting the dog, you can."

Wednesday shook her head, "It's okay, Mama. You can be scared about things too." She glanced behind her as she spotted the swings, "Play with me?"

Weems smiled, allowing the girl to get off her lap and pull her into a standing position. Marilyn gave a questioning look as she walked past the pair. The tall woman mouthing a 'later' to her.

Letting Wednesday pull her to the swing set, Larissa quickly discovered that by "play with me" her daughter actually meant "push me".

"Higher!" Wednesday squealed, kicking her legs. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the little bar in front of her, giggling loudly. "Higher, Mama!"

The caregiver put up with it. Anything to avoid the mutt dog. She glanced over at it, shivering slightly as she spotted Enid. She was crouched down in front of the dog, beaming at it as she scratched it behind the ears. The dog was in heaven, its tail wagging as drool dropped onto the ground from its open mouth.

Weems had to repress a gag as she turned back to Wednesday, continuing to push her. A few minutes later the dog had finally left the park, and Enid and Marilyn came back over to them, the younger of the two skipping happily.

"The doggy was so friendly! You should've come pet him, Willa, you would've loved him!"

Looking up at her mother as she swung back, she decided to keep the information that she was afraid to herself, for now. Wednesday called out to Larissa to stop the swing so she can play with Enid in the sand box.

Once both her feet were on the rubber mats that the playground was covered in, the girls raced each other to the pit.

"So... No dogs?" Marilyn asked as she sat on the bench with the tall woman. She handed her a juice box with a sympathetic smile. "You looked like you wanted to climb up the nearest tree back there."

"You noticed, I see." Larissa took a sip from the drink, frowning at the amount of sugar that hit her taste buds. "They are just too much for me to handle..."

The redhead laughed a bit, "And you can handle Wednesday and Enid? I'm sure you could handle a big fluffy-"

"Mommy!" Enid shouted, panting as she reached her hand out to silently ask for a drink. Wednesday took her time heading back over, "Thank you!"

"Do you want a juice box?" Weems as Wednesday made it over. The girl nodded, taking the offered box from Larissa, ridding her of the gross drink. She pulled out water for herself, taking a swig.

As they packed up to head home, the lady with the dog came around the corner. The dog barked to say bye to its new friends. Larissa shuddered as she quickly buckled Wednesday in, almost hitting the lady and dog as she peeled out of the lot.