Squirrel

 

The sunlight creeps across the floor.  I sigh and shift my body, bored beyond belief.

Finally she takes me outside.  I’ve been sitting at the French doors, watching the trees for hours!    She was doing her usual thing, sitting at the table.  She can sit there for a long time.  She says she is busy when she looks at me but I know busy and sitting is not busy.

Heaven for me is breathing outside in the fresh air and savoring all the smells.  It is a warm spring day when the earth is emerging from the snow pack. When I can smell the scent of the dirt and all those little animals waking up from hibernation.  Ah, sniff that divine odor.

What’s that?  A movement catches my eye, a slight rustle of the dried leaves; a flash of brown. It’s squirrel! I am off in a flash.  I get into a run and yank; I’m brought up short by the stupid leash tied to the railing.  The squirrel continues on his merry way, leaving me panting and frustrated.  I keep trying to get him, yanking at the post, maybe sometime I’ll get free to run and chase but not this time. 

I decide to give up and chew on the old bone which has lost almost all of its flavor.  It’s not as interesting as when I first got it with luscious bits of meat and the marrow.  That distracted me from the hunt of squirrel for quite a while but now it is not even a poor substitute.

Doesn’t she realize how much I need to chase squirrels?  I look at her, imploring her with my eyes; I whine; I vibrate when I see them and still she won’t give in to me and let me chase them.

When get to go for a walk, it’s on the road and she keeps me on a leash.  I sniff new places where other dogs have been. On high alert, I scan the trees and bushes for the objects of my desire.  Sometimes, I come to a complete stop, my body tense, listening and smelling the air.  I am good at not pulling; the tightness of the harness annoys me and I have learned she doesn’t like me when I pull.  If I come back to her; she calls me good and sometimes gives me a treat.  I always want to be good but sometimes those little devils, I mean squirrels, get my blood pumping and my feet scrambling and I forget all about being good.

After we go for a long walk, I get a little sleepy when I lay in my bed.  She goes back to sitting, claiming she has work to do.  I try not to nod off but my head starts to droop and soon I am asleep.

Then it happens, suddenly I am free and I run outside so excited.  I don’t know what to do first, my feet are moving and I give a little whine.  What’s that?  Squirrel! I’m off tail high, feet flying and just as I get to the tree, I hear “Polly, wake up!  Were you dreaming about squirrels again?”