Downstream

Downstream


Reilly was fuming at the heat, at the half hour bus wait, at
the drivers honking their horns, at the fumes too. Joeseph was
watching Reilly, wondering if the shade of the bus stop was worth it.
Perhaps a spot over by a nearby store front would be better.

A dog, a mutt, came from the alley across the street to stand
on the sidewalk looking at the two men sitting at the bus stop. Cars
whizzed by at thirty five as the dog caught Reilly's attention. He
spoke without any real regard for Joeseph, the man just happened to be
there.

"Oh, looky here, a stray. C'mere doggy!"

Joeseph spoke for the first time since he'd sat next to this creep.
"Don't call the dog." he said. The dog perked right up. He did indeed
start across the street toward the two men.

The first car did brake and honk. Three more lanes to go for the dog
wearing a look you'd have given your mom when she called you to dinner.
Joeseph stood, then knew not at all what to do next.

Reilly called to the dog, "C'mon boy, you can make it!"

Lane two was clear, the dog picked up momentum with a bit of a trot.
Not quite like Lassie crossing a field, more like well, stupid and hungry.
Joeseph looked at westbound traffic, the two lanes yet to come on this
dog's travel across the street. Reilly yelled, "Yea! C'mon boy."

Solid cars, twenty at least. Joeseph muttered to this stranger beside
him, "You bastard." He'd never said such a thing to any stranger. He did
not have to think before he said this to Reilly.

Reilly stood and yelled, "C'mon boy, here we go!"

No chance in the world for this dog in the next lane. The first car
did not even brake, much less honk the horn. There was this thump. The
dog went downstream so to speak as the car in the fourth and final lane
braked hard to avoid him. Nope, hit him. This time there was not only a
thump, but a squeal from the dog as well. By now the animal had made the
sidewalk curb, but instead of directly across from Joeseph and Reilly,
it was twenty yards downstream.

Joeseph was horrified. So much so, that he could not think to sock
Reilly standing next to him. Reilly turned to look back in the other
direction where the bus was approaching their stop. The dog had made it
onto the sidewalk where it lay upon it's side. Two women nearby began
to scream. The bus pulled up.

Joeseph went up the twenty yards to the animal on the sidewalk. The
women stopped screaming. The bus opened it's doors and three people got
off. Reilly got on. When he kneeled next to the dog, Joeseph could see
the animal was still breathing. He did not know the bus he had waited
for the last twenty five minutes was there. He did not consider the creep
who'd caused this. What, could he do now?

The bus door closed after Reilly stepped up. The driver did not even
ask about what he had seen. The one woman led her screaming and now crying
companion down the street telling her to stop it, stop being hysterical.
Perhaps three dozen cars zoomed by as Joeseph knelt next to the animal
on the sidewalk. He never noticed the bus at all.

He could see it's chest rise and fall. The eyes then opened. This
great wash of joy enveloped Joeseph as he watched. He did something he
knew better than to do. He reached out to touch this dog on the sidewalk
with his hand. The dog leapt to it's feet and ran through a nearby parking
lot until it disappeared behind a Denny's restaurant. Joeseph's mouth
dropped open as he stood and watched the dog scamper away. After it was gone
from sight with amazing quickness, he turned to see if anyone else had seen
this.

A busy street, an empty bus stop. He walked partway after the dog, then
stopped, realizing it was long gone. When he returned to the bus stop,
it registered that the nasty man calling the dog was gone as well. Reilly
was in fact, a mile down the road looking at some gal's short skirt. Joeseph
sat. A full fifteen minutes passed before he realized he'd missed a bus.
Relax, he thought. Turn off your mind and float...



The End