Hero the greyhound (Simon's Hero)

Hero the Greyhound (Chapter 18)

"'ere, Smellis" shouted Jecko who was leaning up against the wall outside the mini-mart on the High Street. Simon was walking River home from the park and hadn't seen his nemesis lurking outside the shop. He didn't want to risk the walk being ruined by Jecko's stupid comments so he began walking a little faster, hoping poor River could keep up with him. Now he was enjoying regular walks, his back legs seemed to have improved slightly. Lying on his bed for much of the day at the shelter meant his muscles weren't having to work and because most people had walked straight past his pen, in search of puppies or more obviously family-friendly dogs, he had long stopped bothering to get up and greet the visitors. It was such an effort to haul himself to his feet, he tended to stay on his bed because nobody had seemed that interested in him. Except Simon.

Simon had come back, time and time again, to visit his new black, silky headed pal. Simone had become quite friendly with Christian and Jemma and would have a cup of tea with them in the office while Simon excitedly put River's collar, lead and muzzle on him before taking him up to the field for a leisurely stroll. He would talk to River the whole time, which was unusual for Simon because, in school, he rarely spoke to anyone unless he was answering a question in class. Since winning the GK100, Simon had gained some 'street-cred' and pupils who once ignored or teased him would sometimes stop for a chat. Trouble was, Simon wasn't good at talking about nothing in particular and so they would soon get bored, trying to prise some social chit-chat out of him.

"Hiya Mr Clever Clogs" said Ellie, one of the girls in his class "you must have a huge brain to have remembered all those answers in the GK100. Did you cheat?"

"Cheat?" asked Simon, looking horrified, "No, I didn't cheat. Why would I cheat?"

Everything was black and white in Simon's world. Winning the GK quiz by cheating would never even occur to him; why would he cheat? What would be the point in winning the prize if he hadn't won it fair and square?

"Well" laughed Ellie, "some people think you must have hidden some answers up your sleeve or maybe done that thing where you write answers on your chewing gum, write them down and then destroy the evidence by eating it."

"Eat chewing gum covered in lead?" asked Simon incredulously, did people really do such things? How disgusting.

Ellie was getting nowhere fast with this conversation so she decided to go and practice the violin. Ellie was good at everything. She invariably came top in the exams, played the violin, sang like an angel and could chat with anyone about anything. How marvellous that must be, mused Simon, to be able to just strike up a conversation with anyone you happened to pass in the playground. He had been known to stand, staring at the ground when someone had tried talking to him about the latest TV shows or Nintendo games. He hadn't a clue and the other person usually just gave up and wandered off. Still, his mum had finally caved in and allowed him to bring River home for a visit. It had gone quite well until River had walked into the glass doors which lead from the lounge to the tiny garden. Simon ran to the doors and sat on the floor, stroking River's head for a long time, talking to him, soothing him and trying to make sure he was OK. Simone watched in wonder. Simon had never been so attached to anyone before. He really appeared to love this dog, he cared about him more than he cared about himself. He was so 'in tune' with River, she couldn't see how she could possibly say 'No' if and when he asked about adopting him permanently. He hadn't asked yet but she knew he would.

"Does it bite?" asked Jecko, sneering across at Simon from the mini-mart wall. He was obviously bored and had nothing to do and nobody else to annoy. "Why's it got a cage over its face?"

"Erm, no...it, erm he doesn't bite. Greyhounds don't, as a rule, bite humans. They are natural hunters and instinctively chase small animals running away from them but on the whole, I think they quite like us. He's wearing a muzzle in case we see a small dog or a cat or a squirrel or something he might chase." Simon carried on walking but Jecko wanted a closer look at River. Surely something so big and impressive couldn't belong to that little squirt. He started following them; Simon walked a bit faster but he could feel River lagging behind and because he loved the dog more than he disliked Jecko, so he slowed down and hoped the bully would soon get bored and go away.