Waking Up

6 - Loyalty

The minuscule sparrow turns its head left and right as it clamps its claws onto a branch of a lazy willow tree. Baby sparrows bounce their dime-size heads as they add to the melodies of nature. The tree's long, swaying branches adds to the cacophony of noise as rays of light shine upon a nest in a nearby oak, highlighting a basket full of four hatchlings hungry for food. 

When I open my eyes, the beautiful image is replaced by a pale white ceiling, the song by a gentle knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in," I say as the little boy sticks his head inside. Big eyes glance up at me and then down again.

He searches the carpet for something as he steps inside and stands with his back against a white dresser, his head tilted downward as if in shame.

"Is your mom awake?"

He shakes his head, his black hair releasing dust particles into the dim rays of sunlight.

"Good. She needs to rest. Do you need something? Are you hungry?"

"I was just..." He clears his throat. "I was just checking."

"Checking? For what?"

"If you were still here."

"Oh."

My muscles ache when I close the window, cutting off the icy breeze from outside. The ditch I dug up last night in the backyard did no service to my back and shoulders. Before I turn around, footsteps scatter. The little boy is gone.

Down the hallway, Blackie sits at the door of the room where the woman and the little boy slept. The door is cracked open, the morning sun peeking through. Blackie sits up to attention and cocks his head at me.

"What's up boy. Where is everyone?"

He whines and licks his nose, and then pushes the door open, and I take it as a cue to follow. Inside the room, the woman sleeps on a green upholstered chair with her feet up on the ottoman while the boy sits in a twin bed with Brownie snuggled next to him. Brownie sits up next to the boy. Goldie rises to her feet near the window. Blackie takes a position at the foot of the bed. All three pups stare at me with ears pointed up.

Blackie whines again. When I take a step to the window next to the chair, Goldie releases a soft growl.

"I'm just going to open the window and let some air in."

Goldie growls again.

I back away with my hands up. "Alright. I won't open the window."

"They slept with us all night," the boy says, his eyes concentrating on his hands.

"Yeah... they're a pretty loyal bunch."

"What are their names?"

"I don't know," I whisper as I pull over a chair to sit down. "I found them. Or, maybe they found me. I call that one Blackie. That one Goldie. And that one Brownie.

The little boy's eyes shoot up at me for a millisecond. "Those aren't good names for dogs."

"It made sense at the time."

"I would have chosen better dog names."

"Oh really? Like what?"

"I would have called that one The Golden Avenger. That one would be The Dark Ninja. And that one would be Captain Chocolate."

Precocious little kid. I wonder what names Luke would have invented. He always said that if we got a dog he would call it Otis. Just Otis and nothing more.

"Eli?" The woman rises from her chair and sits next to her son on the bed. "I told you not to speak to anyone."

I stand and walk to the door, trying as hard as possible not to look threatening. Goldie's nose finds its way to the woman's lap. She pets Goldie's head and sighs.