Buster

Just a good boy looking for his owner-lady

They came to the hedge row. Poor. Rich. Young. Old. Men. Women. Wicked. Cruel. Good. Kind.

Not often, but now and again an animal would come too. Usually one that had been a pet.

Buster was one.

He was a dog.

He came to the hedge row looking for his owner-lady.

She liked to sit on the couch and watch shows and give him treats.

Buster would sit at her feet and watch with her.

There were two things at the start of the hedge row. They looked like something people made, but from rock.

Buster sniffed them.

There had been dogs there before.

He lifted a leg and peed on one, then on the other.

It was an important dog thing. Dogs needed to know who had been where.

Buster sniffed the air.

His owner-lady had been there too. She hadn’t peed on the stone looking things though. People didn’t do that. They peed in toilets.

Buster drank from the toilet sometimes. His owner-lady told him to stop, but he did it anyway when she wasn’t looking.

He wagged his tail. Thinking about his owner-lady and thinking about toilets made him happy.

Buster followed the scent of his owner-lady down the row between the hedges.

He sniffed the bushes on either side now and again just to make sure he was going the right way.

He remembered things as he went.

His mother. He was born with six other puppies.

The hedge row smelled like them.

He remembered when his owner-lady first picked him up. She put Buster in her car and brought him to her house.

The hedge row smelled like her car.

He remembered going on walks with her and barking at squirrels. Squirrels were naughty. They got into things they shouldn’t.

He would pee on signposts and fire hydrants.

The hedge row smelled like his pee.

He remembered gnawing on bones and burrying them in the back yard. He remembered burrying one under his owner-lady’s flowers. She yelled at him, but gave him treats later anyway.

The hedge row smelled like her flowers.

He remembered that his owner-lady got older and slower. One time she fell down. Buster tried to wake her up. He tried to help her, but she would not move.

Trucks came with flashing lights. Men with heavy boots came into the house. Buster stayed out of their way.

The hedge row smelled like their boots.

Buster remembered being alone and missing his owner-lady.

After being alone, the only thing he remembered was the hedge row.

He kept walking. It was dark, but there was a light ahead.

That must be where his owner-lady was.

He could smell her. He walked faster. His tail wagged more and more the closer he came.

Buster came to a door. It had a porch light.

The hedge row and the door smelled like home.

He barked.

The door opened.

“There’s my good boy. Come on in.”