Waiting

 Master’s been gone a long time. The Pup he left is grown now and is learning how to use his teeth. The Pup’s Dam has grown quiet and hides herself away, and strangers have come. They smell bad, like bile and drunkenness, and meanness. Mean people smell sour as if their soul was sick. Bad smelling, bad acting strangers that ruin what Master left and try to force the Pup’s Dam into mating. They forget that she already has a mate.

I’d like nothing more than to chase off those bad smelling strangers, but Master has been gone for more than a life time, and my body is too old to put fear into those bad men. Even if my body wasn’t so old, what could I do without Master’s permission?  If I bark or bite, if I try to chase these bad men off, then the Maids would yell at me and tie me up. Master shouldn’t have left, what am I supposed to do now that he’s gone? All I can do is wait, wait for him to return so that he can once again bring life into this house and tell me what to do about the bad men.

The Dam has done her best to keep the bad men away. For a while she would weave during the day, as I sat guard at her feet. She had said that when she finished her sire’s funeral shroud that she would then choose from one of the bad men her next mate. At first I was angry, how could she be disloyal to her mate that way? How could she even consider mating, and having pups with another man? To stop her from doing something stupid I would eat her yarn, chew it all up so it was unfit to weave with, but then I realized that it wasn’t necessary. It was all a trick, she never intended to finish her weaving. During the day she would sit and weave, me eating her yarn as she went, and at night she would pick at her work, destroying what she had completed so that she would never have to mate with another man. If it wasn’t for a nosy maid the Dam would have been able to keep weaving until he comes back, but the maid told on her. Told the bad men what the Dam was doing, and she was forced to stop and interact with the bad men.

The Pup has grown so much. When he walks through the halls and the fields I sometimes forget, and think that Master is back, that he is Master finally returned home. Yet as the Pup grows and look and acts more like Master, the Pups eyes don’t hold the same weight of knowledge that Master’s did. The Pup dislikes the bad men as much as I do, and slowly is trying his teeth on them. Every time that he talks back to the bad smelling men I hope that this will be the time. That this time he’ll do more than talk back but actually kick these bad men out, then I could bark and bite all I want. But there is only so much he can do when custom demands he be kind to guests. Master would be quite proud of his Pup. And now the Pup is gone on his own adventure to find news of his sire, hopefully he’ll bring his sire back.

I was young when he left, but I remember him well. A tall strong man, whose mind was always scheming, joking, and planning.  Master was forceful and harsh when he trained me, but also kind and gentle when we played. At night he would sit in front of the fire with his mate as she fed the Pup, and I would curl up on the floor to sleep. The house was filled with content when he was home.

Master has been gone so long, the maids and workers talk about him never coming back. Word was sent that he survived the war, but something has kept him from returning home.  They whisper how he’s dead, or found somewhere else to stay and make his home. But it’s all gossip, master is coming back, he has to come back. Before the Pup left, a stranger came to visit, a stranger smelling of the Gods, and gave us word that Master lived. The Pup and the Dam need him, and I’m waiting as well. Hopefully after the Divine Visitor’s words he will return soon.

Lifting my head I stretch to smell the wind, and my neck cracks and pops in protest because of its old age. I’ve sat here for years, waiting, holding my post diligently. The few times I’ve been forced to abandon my post are when the Pup or Dam drag me inside, or when nature demands it. Waiting for Master’s return has become the purpose of my life since he left. I no longer worry or think about chasing rabbits, swimming, running, or of making pups of my own. For years I have sat here on the front stoop waiting for his smell to be in the wind, signaling his return.

As I smell the air I catch a hint of something, something is different, something is coming.  The Pup’s smell is back, but he hasn’t found Master on his journey. Slowly I stand and go over to the Pup, greeting him and welcoming him home. As he runs his hands over my pelt I again catch a hint of that something. The something almost makes me think of Master but it isn’t quite right. The journey changed the Pup, he’s grown up finally. No longer a Pup, but a Man.

I head back to my post and begin my waiting once again. The stone is hard and I can feel the tension it causes in my old joints. As I settle down once more they creak and crack as I move. I’m half asleep when I hear a whistling coming down the path. I lift my head, smelling the air. Finally, finally it’s filled with Master’s scent. My tail swings—crack, creak, crack—back and forth in happiness. I go to bark, to announce his arrival home but I’m so tired, I’ve been waiting for so long. Instead I fall asleep, as Master climbs the stairs to his home.

 

 

 

Author's Note

This was an assignment for one of my classes. We were supposed to write a creative piece from a character's point of view from The Odyssey. I chose Odysseus' dog... hope you all enjoyed the piece.

Reviews

[Dana Kathryn]

Very good write..i like this very much :)