"It's almost time, Linda..."
"I know, I know....this is exactly what I was afraid of, Malcolm."
I sniff all the new things scattered on the carpet. Little sticks that smell like wood. Tiny things that smell like rubber and sharp things. The little girl shoos me away from it all. But I keep coming back for a sniff. "These are mine, Charlie."
"Come 'ere, Charlie, ya' don't want that. Gives me hives jus' lookin' at 'em." The man picks me up and holds me. The little girl continues gathering the items on the floor. The woman is crying. "Aw, Linda, she's not even goin' till next year."
I want to lick the woman's face! What's making her so sad? Everyone is so sad nowadays! Cheer up! I wag my whole rump! The man sets me down. "Just seeing her with all her school supplies...these are our kids, Malcolm, what's happening to them? Just yesterday she was drinking out of a bottle..."
"So was I." The woman laughs a little. I limp away from her in case her crying gets out of control and I get soaked. The man hugs her. I trot over to the little girl and sniff around for more neat things.
"No, Charlie!"
"Hey, come here, Charlie." The man pats his leg and I walk to him. The little boy starts crying from one of the rooms and the man goes to find him. I follow! I trot happily down the hall and the man leads me to a crib with a crying boy. "Afternoon, Ross. Let's get ya' out of this an' get ya' somethin' to eat."
I smell something.
"Woah, Jesus...let's get that nappy changed first, mate."
**********
We're in the car. The backseat is filled with children and I sit in the front. It's much easier to see up here. The woman is driving since the man isn't here. He's gone again. He took his guitar with him. There are lots of cars out here. Some of them have dogs in them! I bark at them through the window!
"No barking, Charlie."
"No barking, Charlie!" I hear the children laughing. Are they laughing at me? I'll bark some more!
"You kids excited to see Daddy?"
"Daddy!" I hear the children speaking, mostly the little girl. I wish I could understand them! All I hear is my name. Charlie! "We're going to see Daddy!"
"And your Uncle Angus."
"Angus!" I hear the little boy speak. They're very excited back there! I almost wish I were back there with them! But there's so much to see up here! Trees and cars and dogs and people! I wag my tail and bark at everything! Hello, everyone! My name is Charlie! It's so good to see all of you!!!!
"Charlie, get off the dashboard!"
**********
The woman has me on a rope. The children are walking on their own. Sometimes I'd like to walk on my own. There's lots of people here. I try sniffing as many as I can before the woman pulls me away. "Stay close to me, kids, hold hands." I smell lots of smoke! I smell food and drinks! I smell....
The man! He's here!!! We're looking for him! I'm so excited, I'm going to see my human! There are so many people, I can't get through! Excuse me! Good dog coming through! Tiny children under foot! The woman gently tugs my rope a few times so I don't go too far. But I smell him! He's here! I can find him for her! She'll be so proud!
Finally the crowd of people isn't so thick. I can stop weaving around everyone. Someone almost trips on my rope! "Sorry, he's excited!"
I smell them! There they are! I crawl on the floor! My tail whips back and forth! "Brought the whole family, did ya', boy?" The man laughs as I lick his face! He's covered in wet salt and his fur is wet! Where has he been swimming? I could smell him a mile away!
"Daddy!" The little children pounce on the man and I'm booted off to the side! But that doesn't stop me! I shove my way through too! We attack the man! We found him! Good work, kids! I'll make dogs of you yet!
"Thought we'd drop by for a visit." The kids leave the man and run towards a much smaller man.
"Angus!"
The smaller man is tackled by the children. The man stands from the ground before I can lick him again and he kisses the woman. I wait patiently, knowing any second he'll turn his attention back to me.
"Charlie!"
I turn my head and perk my ears. My name is Charlie. I see the taller man and the man with the hat. But...where is the man with the blue eyes? There's someone else here. It's hard to tell them apart by scent. Everyone smells like salt. Even I do now. I decide to run and greet everyone. That way I won't leave anyone out! I run around the room and wag my tail! I slobber everywhere and sniff all their shoes! This is so exciting! They're all petting me!
"Mal, your kids are climbin' on me!"
"So hold still, then, Ang!"
My tail whips everyone's legs and I bark! The children are laughing and squealing and the smaller man is surrounded by them! They're trying to jump on him! I'll help! I stand on my hind legs and bark! I jump! The man laughs! He's happy I jumped! I'll try again!
"Come on, Charlie, Angus already has his hands full!"
"Charlie wants to play! We want to play with Uncle Angus!"
The smaller man is on the ground! Perfect, I can reach him better! I'll lick his face! I'll get him to open that mouth of his and stick my tongue right in like a good dog! "Easy, kids, he's jus' played a two hour show."
"No worries, Mal, I'm not completely washed out."
"They all love ya', Ang."
"I can see that, Brian." The man is so close to my face! I show him how wet my nose is! I sneeze right in his face! This is so much fun, we're all together again!!!
**********
"Angus sure got the kids tired out."
"Those kids an' Charlie got the man tired out....thanks for comin, love."
This isn't our bed at home. But it might as well be. We're all together again! The children are sleeping in a bed next to us. The man and woman are still awake. I'm still awake. I chew my leg for a while but I retire for the night. I lick my paws for a bit and end up licking the bed. It tastes like hundreds of people. It tastes like bubbles. It tastes like fancy spray. I cough. The man pats my back.
"Ya' alright, boy? How was the trip?"
"It went okay. The children both did fine but we stopped for several toilet breaks. Charlie included."
"Atta boy..."
I yawn so hard I let out a yelp. I shake my head and my ears flop around. The man pets me and I feel sleep coming on. I close my eyes and sigh the biggest sigh known to canine kind.
