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Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/108312
:short story Early Morning SARAH PAINTED A CONFIDENT picture in her designer tracksuit. With her honeystreaked hair swept up in a pony-tail, she jogged with meaning. As she jogged through the neighbourhood, contentment set in. It was for her, a form of meditation. She turned the corner and tripped. "What?" She looked down to see a small scruffy-looking dog. It didn't have a collar on and looked lost. Two brown eyes stared up at her. She glanced around the street. It was dead. She looked at her watch. It was 7am; too early to knock on people's doors. "I guess I'll just have to take you home," she said. She let the dog roam around her small courtyard. It relieved itself. "Oh, you're a boy." She said. Sarah went inside and filled an empty container with water. The dog lapped it up. She checked the time. 7.15am. She figured around 8am she would start searching for the dog's owner. "I have to get ready," she said to the dog, "I have work." She closed the back door and went inside. She peaked out of her lace curtains and could see the little dog sniffing outside. After her shower, she decided on a black pencil skirt with a crisp white shirt and black peep-hole shoes. She straightened her hair and smiled at the mirror. Lipstick and understated eyes and she was ready. She looked at the time. 7.50am. Sarah went outside and the little dog was lying down. His tail started wagging when he saw her. "Ok," she said. "Time to find your owner!" 116 | www. h e rmagaz i n e . c o. n z They walked down the street as an old woman clad in her PJs and dressing gown was putting out her trash. "Is this your dog?" Sarah asked. The woman shook her head. Curtains parted and muffled giggles followed from two little faces that were pointing and laughing at the little dog that was lifting his leg by their letterbox. "Come on!" said Sarah, mortified to be seen with an animal that relieved itself in public. At a block of flats, Sarah knocked on one of the doors. An elderly woman with wispy grey hair shuffled to the door in her pale pink slippers. "Oh, what a gorgeous dog!" the old lady exclaimed. "He's lost," Sarah said. "Any chance he might belong to anyone here?" "No dogs allowed here dear. Only cats." She said pointing at the bony black cat curled up on a chair. Sarah looked at her watch; 8.15am. "Phone the SPCA," said the old woman "They open at 10am. I used to do voluntary work there - until my hips started playing up." "Thanks," Sarah said. Back at her townhouse she shoved a few papers into her briefcase. She had an important meeting at 9am. The dog looked at her with pleading eyes. "I'll come back at lunchtime," she said. "Sorry," she added, "It's the best I can do." The meeting went exceedingly well. The team was impressed with her latest marketing strategy. At 10am Sarah phoned the SPCA and arranged to drop the little dog off at lunchtime. As she ate her chicken wrap on the way home in the car, some of the stuffing fell out onto her white shirt. Her lunchtime had been ruined due to the wanderings of some dog. When the little dog saw her, he greeted her at the gate. "It's okay," she said, "I'm home." He came up to her and tried to nestle into her legs. "I'm in my work clothes!" she said, backing away. The little dog looked hurt and lay down. At the SPCA the little dog was put in his own cage. On his left were three Rottweiler puppies. On his right a young Whippet dog. The little dog whimpered. "You'll be fine," Sarah said, realising she was convincing herself as much as the dog. She drove straight back to work. Although she was flat-out that afternoon, she kept thinking about the little dog. What if the owner didn't find the dog? Would anyone want a ratty-looking older dog? Didn't most people want puppies? Sarah decided to phone the SPCA at 2pm. No-one had called about the little dog. That night she found it hard to settle. Would he be warm enough in his cage? Would his puppy neighbours keep him awake? At work the next day, her mind couldn't help but drift to the little dog. At 10am she called the SPCA. Nothing yet, they said - but sometimes it takes a few days, they reassured her. She decided that if the dog wasn't picked up by the end of the week, she would offer him a home. It felt like a big decision. She was thirty-three years old and had had no dependants up until this point. She wasn't even sure she wanted children. She was