I take Charlie out to a nearby elementary school so she can play in the open fields when nobody is around. Usually its either very early in the morning when the sun is barely peaking over the horizon, in the afternoon when class is in session, or at night.
The field is separated from nearby houses by a fence that runs along one side so you can usually peer into the backyard of the homes.
As a frequent visitor of this park with Charlie, I have, on many occasions looked at these huge backyards with equally impressive homes with longing.
Only because I think to myself, “if I lived in a place with such a huge backyard, Charlie would be happy and content foreverrrrr.”
However, on this particular afternoon, a yellow lab appeared from one of the backyards and ran up to the fence, boisterously barking at Charlie.
Charlie and I had seen her before and so we both greeted her and said our “hi”s:
Charlie, sticking her nose through the holes in the fence, and me poking my fingers through the same holes to lightly touch her pink nose.
She usually disappeares after that but this time she decidedly wanted to stay.
I talked to her for a bit, saying silly nothings, and telling her she was pretty and all, but soon after, I was poked by charlie to continue playing fetch with her.
So I picked up the offending stick and threw it as far as my feeble arms could throw it.
All of a sudden,
Yellow (that’s her name for now) started to bark forcefully and whine at the same time. I’m no dog whisperer, but you could clearly tell from the longing in her voice that she wanted to play too.
And for the first time, I could see that for Yellow, the other side of the fence looked so much more greener at that moment. Charlie was uninhibited by fence, free to run wherever she pleased, while Yellow could go no further.
Filled with empathy, I decided to somehow conduct a game of fetch for both Charlie and Yellow.
I fished around for another stick, and when I found one, I threw Charlie’s and then immediately threw the second one into Yellow’s backyard so she can catch it and hopefully bring it back to me.
Somehow, this awkward game of fetch worked for a bit. Yellow would hobble on over like Labs do, grab the stick and bring it close enough to me by the fence, so I can squeeze my little hands through the holes to grab the stick and throw it back into her backyard again.
I was a little apprehensive about what the owner would have done if he/she saw a random asian girl, poking her hands in through his fence, and sometimes underneath it to throw random sticks into the backyard …but thankfully I didn’t get caught.
I even managed to play an awkward game of tug of war with Yellow, pulling a stick from one side of the fence as she tugged from the other.
When I decided it was time to brush Charlie because she had a lot of loose fur, we both sat down near the fence so Yellow wouldn’t be lonely.
So there we were, a funny trio of three, separated by a fence but still managing to keep each other company.
While I brushed Charlie, Yellow laid right up against the fence to be near the activity.
Afterwards they both ran up and down along the metal fence, playing with each other as best as they could. Charlie ran around in circles, dashing in and out while Yellow did the same but was continuously stopped by her boundaries.
Maybe, one day I’ll have enough guts to knock on the door and ask if Yellow can come out and join us on the other side.
You made Yellow’s day, I’m sure.
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