Cute Short Stories

The Dog Walkers -- Short Story 8

The Dog Walkers -- Short Story 8

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Grabbing the leashes from the marble counter top, I whistled for the dogs.

Barking, the three very different sized dogs ran from every angle of the house.

What were you all doing?

Hooking their leashes on, I grabbed the $40 bucks one of the housekeepers left for me, shoving it into my pocket before locking up and heading outside.

Winding down the driveway, I realized this was a long walk in itself.

Who needs this big of a house?

The George Family apparently. The family is an older couple and their 15 year old spoiled granddaughter Alice.

Every summer they leave for a month on a holiday, leaving behind their needy dogs. Their employees (3 housekeepers, a servant, and two gardeners) aren't expected to watch the dogs, allowing a teenager to scoop up the job.

When I saw the flyer, I thought it'd be easy. I love dogs and just about anyone can walk them. How hard could it be?

Extremely difficult actually.

The dogs- a wiener dog, poodle, and bulldog- tangle themselves up every chance they get. The bulldog Russell hates other people and Molly the poodle doesn't like Oreo (named by the granddaughter when she was young) the wiener dog.

It's a big mess.

Putting Molly and Russell's leashes in one hand and Oreo's in the other, I hit the sidewalk at the bottom of the driveway.

Taking a short cut through a small park, I tried to avoid people as much as possible because of Russell. He goes crazy. The first week, everyday when I went to pick them up, he would flip out. He's adjusting to me now.

I glanced around the park, taking in the scenery.

Molly began snipping and snarling at Oreo, who in return snapped at her. Russell took this as his chance to pull his and Molly's leashes out of my hand.

"Hey! Guys! Come back!" I whistled for them, but they kept running.

"Molly, here girl! Come here!" I ran with Oreo trailing.

"Russell, whose a good boy? Here, Russell." The two dogs got further and further ahead of me.

I couldn't stop running though, I had to catch them.

"Here, Molly. Russell, come here boy." I searched my pockets for treats as I ran.

"Who wants a treat?!" I saw Russell turn his head and skid to a stop.

"Here, Russ. You want a treat? Come on, boy." I wiggled the treat around in my hand.

Russell bounded over, his leash dragging behind through mud and puddles.

Oops. I'm sure one of the housekeepers can clean it.

"Good boy, Russell." I patted his head, throwing Oreo a treat too, "Now, where's Molly?"

Scanning the area in front of me, I caught sight of a white blur behind a tree.

"Gotcha." I muttered before taking off in another sprint.

The dogs seemed to be enjoying the run.

I was not.

"Molly, here girl." I tried calling again.

She raced out from behind the tree, turning away once she saw me.

"Get back here!" I screamed.

$40 is not enough for this.

"Molly! Come here!" I called one last time.

She had stopped running and now sat in front of a boy not much older than me.

"Molly, huh?" I heard him say, "No wonder you ran to me." He laughed, petting her on the head.

"Finally." I picked up her leash and threw Russell a treat to shut him up; only he wasn't barking. "Huh?" I gave Russ a weird look.

"I'm guessing these aren't your dogs?" The boy gave me a smile, making me forget about Russell.

"I'm dog sitting I guess you can say."

"I figured when she wouldn't come when you called." He laughed.

"I've only been doing it for a week." I shrugged, "Do you know them?"

"Sure. Why do you think Russ is so quiet?" The boy patted all three dogs. "I thought maybe you were the granddaughter."

"Oh, you know the George's?"

"I used to do this." He waved at the leashes, "this year I didn't though."

"Wait," I frowned, "You thought I was Alice? She's 15!"

"I.. er.."

"Do I really look 15?" I mumbled.

"No, it's just.. when I saw you from far away I thought maybe.. uh.." The boy shuffled a little.

Laughing, I told him I was kidding. I get it a lot. I do look 15 to some people.

"How old are you then?" He asked.

"Not gonna guess?" I pulled Molly away from him; she kept trying to lick his pants.

"18?"

"Do you think an 18 year old would be willing to walk a bunch of dogs everyday for a month?" I giggled.

"Okay, okay. 16 then?"

"I'm 17." I grinned.

"I'm 18." He laughed, "That's why I'm not dog walking this year."

"I'm Chloe by the way." I smiled.

"Jordan." He stuck out his hand to shake, realizing after that I had three leashes to hold. "Right..."

"I better go," I checked the time, "I don't think the housekeeps trust me much. They'll think I stole the dogs or something and believe me, I would not steal these dogs."

"But you'd take other dogs?" Jordan smirked.

"Maybe." I joked.

"I'll walk them back with you. I'm heading that way anyways." He offered.

"Sure," I grinned, "maybe you could help?"

"No way. I did my share of dog walking."

"Please?" I pouted.

"Fine." He shook his head, taking Molly's leash.

Once back at the bottom of the driveway, he handed her back.

"Thanks for taking Molly." I smiled.

"You kinda forced me." He shrugged.

"I pouted. You chose to take the leash." I laughed. "I gotta go though." Oreo whined at my feet.

"Right, uh, can we do this again tomorrow? I can meet you here or the park?" Jordan made a cute, nervous face, showing off his dimple.

"On one condition," He nodded, "we skip the chasing part." Grinning, Jordan agreed and left me to take the dogs home.

Maybe this isn't such a bad job after all.

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Author's note:

Okay, so I know this isn't much and it's short, but it's better than nothing. :)

As always, let me know what you think! :)