Pearl rolled forward, sniffing every mailbox as if it held a secret only for her. Buddy stayed close to my ankle, his wheels thumping gently against the curb. “Will you look at yourself, then?
We were halfway down the block on our customary walk when Marlene walked outdoors.
She lives three homes down, a woman of 55 who always looks pressed and proper, as if she had somewhere important to be even while she’s standing in her garden.
Marlene was the neighbour who watched people via her blinds. Everyone knew that.
She pretended to be the owner of the entire block, and perhaps she was.
The neighbour who kept an eye on everybody was Marlene.
Marlene glanced at Pearl’s wheels, not with curiosity but with something bitter. She wrinkled her nose and constricted her mouth as if she were staring at something unpleasant or smelling spoilt milk.
Then she said it, loud enough that anyone close could hear. “”Those dogs are repulsive!”
My shoes scraped the pavement because I stopped so quickly.
My hands clenched on the leashes without me meaning to.
Her jaw contracted, and she wrinkled her nose…
Pearl glanced up at me, charming as ever, her ears twitching, eyes bright and trusting. Buddy kept rolling in place, his wheels whirling as if he didn’t comprehend why we’d stopped.
The poor creature was incapable of comprehending brutality.
However, I did.
Marlene crossed her arms and took a step closer. “This isn’t a shelter. People don’t want to see… that. Get rid of them.
Leave a Comment