Short On Time [COMPLETED]

Waiting Outside

Ally twisted in front of the mirror, inspecting her outfit from all angles. It was cute without trying too hard...she hoped. When she glanced at her clock, she swore and scrambled into her closet, grabbing her easiest shoes to slip on. She avoided the mirror as she rushed out of her room, now terrified that her wrong choice in shoes had ruined the outfit she'd spent half an hour trying to make perfect.

She hurried down the stairs, her feet pounding on the wood. As she dashed into the kitchen, her brother glanced up from his bowl of cereal. It was an after-dinner snack that their mother found annoying but it was impossible to break him of. Ally snatched the dog leash from the hook by the back door.

"I'll take Dodger on his walk tonight," Ally said.

She whistled and anxiously look to the archway to the living room, waiting for the old toy Poodle to appear. Denny stared at his sister, a spoon full of cereal hovering in front of his mouth.

"But it's my night," he said.

Ally whistled again and called out to the dog, her voice tight with impatience.

"I know, but I figured I would take him for you cause you don't like doing it either."

Denny narrowed his eyes. "This is the third night you've done this. What's going on?"

Ally let out a breath as Dodger ambled over to her. She bent over to click the leash to his collar, conveniently avoiding her brother's eyes.

"No reason. It's a nice night, I felt like doing it."

"No it's not. It's hot outside."

Ally tugged Dodger to the back door, desperately needing her brother to stop asking questions. As she snagged a small notepad and pencil off the counter and got the door open, Denny straightened.

"Did you change your outfit?" he asked.

Ally escaped into the night with Dodger, leaving guilty truth behind her in her lack of an answer. The heat poured over her as she rushed across the back lawn onto the sidewalk.

"Dodger, we have to hurry," she encouraged the dog.

Fear trailed her as she urged the dog into a jog. A jog of his advanced years was not something he cared for. The jog lasted for two blocks before Dodger refused to be rushed along. Checking her watch, Ally swore again, picked up the dog, and broke into a run.

She didn't care how she looked, hauling butt down the sidewalk with the dog she was supposed to be walking clutched in her arms, she couldn't be late. Because if it wasn't tonight she didn't think she'd be able to convince herself to do it again.

When they reached a block of houses where the homes were more spaced out with patches of lawns lining the front and faced a park, Ally came to a stumbling halt. She lowered Dodger to the grass, hot and panting. Well she was, Dodger looked well-rested. When she stood upright, she turned to the pale blue house with a single light coming from a second-story balcony and paused.

At the dead silence, her heart sank. She was too late. She'd worked so hard to look good - which now was ruined because of the run - all for nothing.

But just as she felt herself wanting to collapse to the grass in disappointment, she heard it. The soft strains of a chord being strummed on a guitar. A grin broke across her face.

A warm tenor voice started singing.

"You gotta help me
I'm losing my mind
I keep getting the feeling
You wanna leave it all behind
Thought we were going strong
Thought we were holding on, aren't we."