Roadside Affection

Duncan and I had a little disagreement over direction this evening after our walk. It was a cool night, the first in a month, the skies were very low and the wind, leftover from last night, was blowing hard, catching the drops of rain from the afternoon storm, pulling them from the grass and tossing them in our direction. Neither of us had eaten and so we turned into the apartment complex and started down the road toward home. I offered to swing by the long grassy lane between two buildings to hunt for bunnies. It's a prime spot, especially on a cool night like tonight but Duncan wanted only to stand in the middle of the drive. I tugged on his leash and he pulled in the opposite direction, actually leaning away from me, his body angled away. "C'mon, Dunc," I said, and tugged again. When he refused to move I offered to take him home, the direction his body was pointing but again he refused to budge. A Land Cruiser idled up and stopped while I pulled on the leash some more. "Duncan, come!" I said, dropping my voice into its lower register, The Papa Voice. Unfazed, he looked away. I pulled again and looked up at the driver, offering a shrug and an apologetic smile. She waved and laughed back, content to watch the show we were providing.

I knelt down next to him. "C'mon, buddy. This isn't cool." He refused to look in my direction, staring instead at the grill of the waiting SUV. "Duncan," I said again, deep and loud and frustrated. "Let's go," and just as I moved to stand, reaching out for his collar to pull him out of the way, he turned quickly and licked the tip of my nose, wagged his tail and trotted away, leaving me stunned but smiling where I'd been kneeling.

Sometimes when you just want to kiss someone you'll do anything to have the chance.