Over the Wall: A Collection of Short Stories (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Day 24: Patches of White

Note: This is sort of a short one and the ending kind of sucks but I hope you guys like at least some of it :)

The dog was black with patches of white. She held him under his belly in both her arms as she stomped through the snow. He stomped along beside her with his hands buried in his coat, wondering how in the hell he got there.

She, Abigail, Abby, was not speaking to him. She hadn’t spoken to him since they found the dog a few blocks back. He hadn’t meant to make her mad but he didn’t understand why she needed to help this dog. They were already late and now they were going to be really late and he didn’t like that. She knew he didn’t like being late but she was doing it anyway and he couldn’t find a way to stop her.

They were on their way to his parent’s Christmas party, they were walking the five or so blocks from her house, when they saw the dog shivering in the snow. Abby hadn’t skipped a beat. She had raced over and scooped up the dog and decided to take him to the animal shelter. The animal shelter was at least a half hour walk away and he had wanted to take it to the nearest house or something, they couldn’t take it to his house, his mom was deathly allergic, but she stuck her jaw out and just started walking. He had no choice but to follow her.

Abby had always been very stubborn, ever since he had met her when they were in the third grade. She had had pigtails then, with red bows, but she had worn jeans instead of dresses like the other girls and had been the boss of the playground

One day she went up to him during recess and stopped in front of him, arms crossed and her jaw stuck out like it was now. She glared up at him and he looked down at her, scared even though he had a good three inches on her. She could always scare him no matter how much shorter than him she was. They had about a seven inch difference now but she was terrifying through and through.

Abby had found him in the playground for a very particular reason. She wanted a friend. But being a very unusual girl who did not like dresses or pink, she didn’t fit in with the girls. She also did not get along with the boys because she was not a boy.

But she noticed that he, Ben, did not get along much with the other children either. They didn’t particularly not like him but they left him to himself. So he was her perfect friend.

Her hair was no longer in pigtails but it was still as curly as ever. It was wet from the snow and falling over her shoulders and under her coat and he watched it as they walked. He needed to to suppress the urge to grab the dog from her arms and drag her to the party.

Why do I care so much about this stupid dog anyway? He thought. It’s just a dog, what’s the big deal?

Maybe it was because she was doing it just to piss him off. The house near where they found him was lit and the people had a car, they could have at least given them the dog or they could have easily given them a ride at least to the animal shelter, if not to the party after.

They could have also walked the rest of the way to his house and she could have waited outside with the dog while he got the keys to the car. He suggested that. They just couldn’t bring the dog inside. It wouldn’t be hard driving no matter who took them or what car they used. The roads had just been paved. His suggestions did not make her happy.

Instead she declared that they had to walk the long way to the animal shelter themselves. She would not be distracted from her mission and she had practically bit his hand off every time he tried to make another suggestion. So now they were just walking and he was missing out on the pies his mother had spent all yesterday and today making. All for some dog.

They were about halfway to the animal shelter when Abby suddenly stopped and turned to him.

“Are you going to be pissed at me all night?” He stopped as well and looked at her in surprise.