Riding to Vanity Fair

A Black Rose

My eyes wearily open to stare at the new numbers on the clock: 7:30. Well, at least that means I got some sleep.

Mary is still resting in my arms. Such a peaceful little baby...

I don't want to rouse her. I carefully slide my arms from around the sweet sleeping beauty, succeeding and quietly making my way downstairs.

So...now what?

I'm the only one awake. It would be a little rude to wake up Mary, especially when she looks so, so precious in her golden slumbers.

I suppose I could start on breakfast...make life a little easier for sweet Mary. Just some toast, I don't have it in me to do anything complex.

But as the thought was leaving my mind, a strange sound came from outside the front door.

I halted all further intentions and put my ear up to it. What could that noise possibly be? Scratching, perhaps? Who would scratch at a door? Unless...

Wait, didn't Nancy specifically say to you that...

"Rose scratches at the door daily waiting for you to return."

No. She didn't.

Rose isn't like Martha. I love her, but she's just not Martha. No dog of mine will ever compare to her. And I refuse to believe that she followed me here.

She's just a dog. She probably can't catch this mysterious disease. She needs to go back, for Nancy's sake, but I can't deny that I've missed my Rosie. I don't want to let her go...not yet.

I sigh and open the door for her. She barks and jumps on me, nearly knocking me down.

"Shh...you need to lay low, Rosie. Mary can't know you're here."

She tilts her head to the side.

"Look...you can stay. I love animals too much to kick you out. And you're clearly too happy here...but let's move this outside, ok?"

She barked in agreement. "Shh!"

She eagerly scratches at the door from the inside. I push her paws off of it. "Hang on, Rose. I'm getting it."

It's a chilly morning, but it feels great to be outside again. It almost seems like I haven't seen the sun in years.

I sit down in the tall, dew covered grass, finally having a sense of bliss. I breathe in the scent of the morning mist and sigh in pure joy, something I haven't felt in far too long.

"Mamunia, mamunia, mamunia, oh..."

I fully relax into the dewy blades, closing my eyes and spreading my limbs out like a cat. I swear, I could have fallen back asleep. And I would've if it wasn't for Rose licking my hand.

I chuckled. "I wish I had a ball or something for you, Rose. I see you're quite energetic."

I sit up and find a stick. Her eyes lock onto it, no matter where I waved it.

"Oh, I see what you want..."

She jumps around. "Ok, Rosie! Go!"

As soon as it leaves my hand, she runs over to it and catches it midair.

"Wow, good girl!"

Aww, this reminds me of when I used to do this with Martha. Good times, good times. She even helped me through that stressful time when I ran away after I was so stressed with the Beatles' breakup. Such a sweetheart; I miss her beyond words...

Honestly, I wonder with the amount of stress I'm dealing with now...no, I can't...