Janey pushed her arms through her yellow rainjacket and thought to herself not quite the start to my week off that I'd envisaged. Still, the plants will be singing with joy she reasoned and was pleased that it meant if nothing else, one less day she'd have to spend walking around her garden with the watering can. Now where did I last see my umbrella? That's the problem with living in England. For 51 weeks of the year you're tripping over the blasted thing but 1 week every year when the sun finally shows its face, it grows legs and is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it's flown to Benidorm for a well earned rest the poor old thing. Oh well hood up Janey old girl, be a Martyr.
"Come on Dog, walkies."
Dog being the dog's actual name. It was a long story she'd told many times and a precautionary tale as to why to not let a toddler name your family pets. You'd assume that Arthur the cat had fared better in the naming stakes than poor old Dog. You'd be wrong. Arthur was consigned to a life of gender reassignment, well in name at least. Not that Arthur was any the wiser. There were a few raised eyebrows when Janey had told friends that Arthur had given birth to a litter of kittens but once she'd reminded them that the dog's name was Dog they quickly accepted it and moved on without too much fuss or additional enquiries. Anything for an easy life Hey?
Thankfully unlike the umbrella the lead was at least where it should be. Dog however still wasn't where he should be. Janey walks into the lounge to see where he's got to and finds him lying in his dog bed. "Walkies!"
Dog looks at the lead, looks at the window with the rain drumming rhythmically on the pane and then back to Janey. Connect the dots mum, you've got to be joking if you think I'm going out in that.
Janey tries a stricter tone of voice "Walkies Dog!"
Still Dog gives her a look as if to say get knotted. You'll have to drag me if you think I'm going outside in that.
Janey refuses to be outsmarted by a dog. She bends over his bed and strokes him on the head. "It's OK Dog. You stay here and me and Mr Bear are going for a little walk," and she picks up his favourite toy and wiggles it in his face. "Walkies Mr Bear," then puts him up to her ear like he's talking to her. "Oh you want to go for a walk Mr Bear? Well you are a good boy aren't you. Let's go," and she does an about turn and starts to walk out the room. She glances quickly over her shoulder. Dog is giving her a look that says I'm not falling for that shit.
Janey sighs. "Fine. Looks like it's just you and me then Mr Bear," and walks to the front door, hangs the leash up, slides Mr Bear into the pocket of her rain jacket and slips her feet into her Wellington boots and is just about to unlock the door when Dog comes ambling up alongside her. "Who's a good dog, Dog? Yes you're a good dog, Dog," and she gives his head a little scratch behind the ears.
Once out the door Janey locks it shut and off the three of them go. Dog makes sure to mark his territory along the way and enjoy a good sniff, despite the falling rain. "Dog, for someone that doesn't like the rain you don't move very fast in it. We'd all stay a little dryer if you didn't stop every 50 yards."
Dog stops and sniffs, cocks his leg and carries on about his business. "Thank you Dog I'm so glad we had that little chat," and on they continued with their walk.
"Ohhhh silly me," Janey says out loud to herself, not to Dog, and laughs as she remembers the umbrella falling onto the living room floor boards giving poor Dog a fright before he'd decided to be a big brave tough boy and growl at the fallen object now laying crestfallen and stationary on the floor. "It's on top of the kitchen cupboards! Note to self." Janey gives herself one of those silly me palm slaps to the head and wished she hadn't, forgetting she had her hood up. Truthfully she should do it again for having forgotten twice now but thought better of it with her hand now partially wet as well.
Janey watched the rain drops scatter in a thousand directions free from Dogs fur as he shook himself violently from side to side. “When you can do that Dog, I don't know why you make such a fuss about coming out in the rain.”
Dog paid her no attention.
They walked up the hill, crossed the winding road which sloped up to the next village and now closely resembled a river on one side as the rain water meandered at pace to the bottom to no doubt form a large puddle at the spot where the drain was continually blocked with nature's detritus. Janey made another mental note to go back the way they came. Now in the heart of the countryside she lets Dog off his leash and he bounds off into the distance just in case Janey changes her mind. Very little risk of anyone else being daft enough to be out in this weather she thinks to herself. Not that she'd have had to worry, Dog didn't get far before he was happily sniffing around again and she'd soon caught him up. Spying someone at the end of the field she slips his leash back on and thinks OK so we were wrong about there being no one else daft enough to be out in the rain. Janey felt her heart warm as she came across the sight of a mum with two young children who were both standing in a small stream with their wellies on both looking like they'd won the lottery. A little girl of about 3 with a mop of thick curly blonde hair and a little boy, clearly older but probably no more than by a year otherwise he'd be in school. All the while being watched by a dog with thick black mud half way up each of its legs who was stood on the edge of the pond that the stream fed into keeping a close eye on the pair. Janey had visions of the three all sharing a huge bubble bath when they got home and felt a pining for years gone by. When her baby boy was still of an age where he too would think standing in a stream was the biggest adventure on the planet, or an age where naming the dog, Dog made perfect sense. The two women smiled at each other. “You're a good mum,” Janey tells the younger woman and gives her a little pat on the shoulder as she walks past, not stopping for fear of diverting her attention.
“Thank you!” The woman cries out. Janey looks over her shoulder and smiles and then she and Dog continue on their way.
Out of earshot Janey tells Dog “That was a beautiful thing to see wasn't it Dog? Children having fun and playing and not being stuck inside. Mum not worrying about their clothes getting dirty. Did you see the other dog, Dog? You could have jumped into the pond too. I wouldn't have minded. Would you like that on the way back?”
Dog stopped by a fence, sniffed, cocked his leg and told Janey exactly what he thought of that suggestion.
“Thanks Dog.”
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