Yellow

Ever-thing was gray. Gray gray gray and gettin grayer. I stood at the cabin winda lookin out at the woods the other side the creek. The creek, was narrow and winding and almost black it was so gray. I had waded through it this morn to git to the cabin and it was icy cold and fast. I drunk me a whole lot a that water. It wasn’t gray then. It was kinda silver, I spose.

I stood by the winda and watched the woods and ate stale Cheerios out the box. There weren’t no milk. Sometimes I had to stop chewing to listen but there weren’t nothin to listen to. I felt like that fella Cool-Hand Luke I seen in a movie. My legs ached somethin awful. I don’t know why I didn’t sit down. Maybe I just wanted to look out the winda. I was feeling alone, which I was, but being alone and feeling alone is two horses of different color. I know this because I’m alone a lot. Pretty much always, but I don’t feel it always. Not really. Not like this. I guess I could a pulled a kitchen chair up, set it next to the winda, but I didn’t. I don’t know why.

I said to the empty room, “It’s a gonna rain soon fo shore. Maybe even snow.” I looked around for the dog I didn’t have. I always wanted me a dog. If I had one it would a been waggin its tail at me right now. I went back to looking out the winda thinking about not havin a dog, and right then a dog walked past my winda and wagged its tail at me. It looked right at me and wagged its dern tail at me!

I went to the door and opened it up and turned on the porch light and the yard became all yellow light. The dog was yellow too and came up to me and I saw that it was muddy but it was mostly yellow. I stepped aside and in it came and we looked at each other in the gray winda-light of the little room. The dog looked like it was wet and cold and fat. I turned on the light by the chair that might a been someone’s grandfather’s chair and the dog just looked at me waggin its tail all happy like.

I said, lookin down, “I bets you hungry.” I said it kinda baby- high-voiced. I don’t know why I said it, dogs don’t speak English and this one didn’t look hungry atall. It looked fat and cold, and its tail was a goin faster now in the yellow table light. It had big brown eyes.

I didn’t know then whether the dog was a boy or a girl. All I knowed was the dog was yellow , and I called it Yellow. I said, “Come here, Yellow!” and we went inta the kitchen and I turned on the light.

I found a big old roll of paper towels hanging by one of them things on the wall and I sat myself down on the wood floor and started in dryin Yellow with them paper towels. Yellow liked me doing this thing, and licked me upside my face which made me laugh. They didn’t let me have dogs of course, but I figured I would stay in this old cabin with Yellow, and then I would have me a dog. I said, “You got yerself a goddamn dog, boy!” I was talking to myself, but Yellow thought I was talking to him, and it was a him, I saw that now, and he goes into overdrive lickin my face and waggin his tail. I said it a gain, I said, “You got yerself a goddamn dog!” I was just about as happy as Yellow was. Then Yellow heard somethin and stopped his tail. He kinda froze there with his head cocked. Then he beat it outa the kitchen and ran into the livin-room with his nails clickin the floor, and then I heard it too.

There was someone knockin on the door. I weren’t gonna open it for nothing and nobody, but then Yellow starts in barkin and jumpin around and I hears a little girl’s voice sayin’ “You got my dog in there!”

I said, “NO I don’t neither!” But she goes back to knockin on the door saying, “Please Mister. Give me back my dog!”

I said, I don’t have any galldarn dog, but I should a said I don’t have her galldarn dog cause Yellow was a barkin and pawing at the inside a the door, his tail, his whole body, all in a hoopla now.

The knockin stopped and the voice said, “Please Mister, do me a favor and give me back my dog. I know he’s in there!”

I felt like crying then. I didn’t know what else to do so I pulled the bolt back and opened the door and Yellow ran out dancing round the girl who mightabin twelve, just a bitty little thing in a red rain-slicker.

She looked at me with dark eyes and took Yellow by the collar even though she didn’t need to for Yellow looked more than willin to go with her without being tugged. She didn’t even thank me neither. I done her a favor and she didn’t thank me and now I didn’t have a dog no mores!

I went back in the cabin and sat down in that old grandfather’s chair and didn’t even bother to look out the winda. It was too dark to see now anyhows. I just sat for a spell in the yellow light, and then I heard the coon-dogs comin, a whole parcel of coon-dogs, but I didn’t care. I knew they would catch me. Them coon-dogsain’t atall like Yellow. Them dogs probably all named Blue.

-1000 Words-