The Travels of Zoe, the Wonder Dog
Chapter 5
The story so far:
James Dunning worked for the Record for more than 20 years. When his job was eliminated, he and his wife were forced to move in with her mother, who is allergic to dogs. James had no choice but to leave his mostly blind lhasa apso, Zoe, at the pound. He brought Zoe there before dawn and tied her to the entry gate. As the sun began to come up, a strange dog approached and freed Zoe from her leash. The two have set off toward adventures.
By Carrie Jacobson
Zoe. Original oil painting by Carrie Jacobson
The big dog starts down the road. Zoe can hear the dogs in the pound barking and baying and whining, and something in her wants to bring all of them along. But the big dog – her name is Kaja – knows that it would be too hard.
The road here is mostly dirt, with bushes along the edges, and deep green woods beyond. In the thin morning light, the two trot slowly down the middle of the road. Zoe sniffs the air. There are new smells – animals, a muddy river – and the scents of pine and dirt and the woods, scents she knows.
She follows the big dog mostly by scent. The dog has an unusual smell, and it is enough for Zoe. She doesn’t need to see well, as long as she can smell the big dog. They walk along, and the day grows warmer and brighter, and then, the big dog stops.
She listens hard, and then nudges Zoe toward the side of the road. They walk into the bushes along the edge of the road. The ground is wet and cool beneath their feet, and the shadows swallow them.
In a moment, a car goes by. The big dog waits until it’s gone, and its sound is far away, and nudges Zoe up and into the road again.
This time, they only get about half as far before Kaja cocks her head and turns toward the bushes.
The next time, they don’t even cover half that distance.
Dawn is turning into day, and if they want to remain unseen, they’ll have to take to the woods. Kaja knows what will happen if someone sees them.
Deep in her heart, deep in her memory, she has a sense of her mother and her littermates. It’s like a shadow, like the scent of a room just after someone has left. It’s something she can reach for but not grasp.
What she does remember is the pound. She remembers the cold floor, that it was always wet. She remembers curling in a heap with her brothers and her sisters, licking their faces and their ears, and playing. Milky smells, and soft warmth, and sharp teeth, she remembers all this. And she remembers being picked up, again and again and again, and then, one day, being torn from everyone she knows, and brought to a family’s home.
At first, it was good. It was great. She had a soft bed and the people paid attention to her, all the time. But one day, everything changed. The mother and father fought, all the time. They yelled and threw things at each other. They broke things against the walls. They paid no attention to her or to their children, and those children made Kaja’s life horrible. They yelled and threw things at her. They pulled her hair.
And so she left. It was the only home she’d ever known, the only home she could remember, but all she wanted was to leave. Somewhere, deep in her soul, she knew that humans could be kind. Humans could treasure her and love her. But not these humans.
So one night, they let her out to pee and she took off. She trotted into the shadows at the back of the yard and she kept going.
Humans drive in cars, she knows. And that means the two of them will have to cut through the woods. Kaja knows that there are creatures in the woods, creatures who could harm Zoe, but they have no choice. Kaja nuzzles the smaller dog and learns her scent, and in one moment, she feels the flash of memory – soft warmth, sharp teeth – and knows she will protect this little dog, no matter what.
Carrie can be reached at carrie@zestoforange.com
Tags: Carrie Jacobson
