eclipse

I Found Your Dog

Camila was on her way to work when she saw the sign.

She'd just stopped at her favorite coffee shop and was balancing her phone, her coffee, and trying to shove her change into her purse when she'd seen it.

"LOST DOG," was what caught her attention in bold at the top with a picture of a dachshund below it. She cooed, out loud probably, when she saw the picture, a thin little hot dog dog with puppy dog eyes (well duh) and a dog smile on his cute little puppy dog face.

Camila doesn't think twice before turning and beginning her search for the pupper in the park across the street.

It's a big park, and by the time she's gotten done with the main entrance area she's decided to call her boss and fake a cough, feigning sick and grab a copy of the paper (there's like two hundred of them around the park Camila notices) so she can have more information on the missing puppy.

His name is Dash, she gets that much form it as well as a phone number, a street address, and the owner's name, Lauren Jauregui.

The first park is pretty empty too, once she spends two hours making sure of that though she decides maybe she can buy some treats to shake and lure him out.

That's what she uses during the second park that's a five minute drive in no traffic from the first. She keeps her eyes on the lookout while she walks there, but she figures he'd more likely be in a park area.

She holds the flier up to anyone she passes and asks if they've seen the dog, and shakes a box of dog treats around any bushes, but she again, comes up empty.

She only realizes she's wasted like three and a half hours looking, okay actually four hours but whatever when she feels her stomach grumbling and decides a lunch break is fair, but as soon as she's done she gets back on her feet for another park.

She kind of wishes she'd driven to work that day so she could get to the parks quicker, but then again she wouldn't be able to scan the streets more easily that way. Plus then she might've like, not seen the dog sign at all and that would've been almost as shameful as the worst shame ever.

She's spent ten hours, visiting and revisiting parks, walking up and down the same streets, doing whatever she can before she finally remembers a park she hadn't checked yet.

It was in a weird area. I mean, who puts a children's playground in a neighborhood full of old people, right? Like maybe for their grandchildren but that's a waste of city money if Camila thinks about how many parks there already were before this one was built.

Nonetheless, she finds herself making the long walk and scanning the sidewalks for the pup, and damn her to hell and back, but what do you know, the doggo is waiting for her.

She sees the kid first. He's maybe eight years old and he's leaning under a park bench checking behind his back to make sure nobody is looking at him. When he meets Camila's eyes his go wide and he bolts up, running to join his friends again.

Then she sees him, Dash doggy.

He's curled up under the bench, cute as fuck and... eating a bagel with cream cheese?

"Dash," Camila calls as she slowly approaches not wanting to scare him off. "Here boy, here Dash, c'mere puppy," she calls softly until she's sleazing down in front of the bench.

He's surprisingly chill and once he recognizes his own name, crawls out and allows her to carefully pick him up.

"Hmm," she hums once she's walking, holding him in one arm and the bagel for him to finish up in the other, "easier than I thought," she notes, as if she hadn't just spent her whole day looking.