The Dog Park

The Dog Park

If you're looking for wham bam thank you ma'am, that is great! However, that is not this story. It's slow. It's sweet. Sometimes just getting to the juicy parts are wonderful, but sometimes characters need to become real...that was my hope with this tale. Hopefully the ending was worth the wait?

For it being the middle of October, it was unusually warm, which was fine with Hannah. Living in the Midwest was not ideal, but she was slowly learning how to cope. Originally from Arizona, Hannah had moved to the Chicago area about ten months ago for a position at a university. She knew that getting her doctorate in Victorian Age literature was not going to open many doors, so she couldn't be picky with what doors actually did open. So, when the University of Illinois in Chicago called her, she had to accept. Not only was it a good school, but the position allowed her the flexibility to conduct research and write.

While she enjoyed her new position, she missed the mountains and hiking with her dogs. People in the Midwest liked to say that they went hiking, which baffled Hannah because there was nothing to hike. Apparently, going for a walk on grass paths was equivalent to hiking. Hannah could only shake her head. She was not about to correct anyone and possibly come across as a snob. She also missed the weather. She had no idea how people dealt with the humidity; it was god awful. However, the snow was worse. So there it was- what she missed from her old life: the weather and the mountains. How pathetic. Granted, there was her mom and younger brother, but that wasn't saying much. Her brother was literally living in a van somewhere on the west coast. Her mom was a nurse and dated every widow who walked out of the hospital doors. Hannah had very few friends. People were never Hannah's priorities; school was, which was why she had her doctorate and two published books. She was not even twenty-nine.

Who she did love were her dogs. They had adapted to the Illinois weather much better than Hannah had. Indiana and Vlad were a Golden Retriever-Yellow Lab mix and brothers. Since moving to the Midwest, Hannah, Indiana, and Vlad spent a lot of time at the dog park. Hannah found that the housing in Chicago did not allow for large yards; so for her boys to run, she had to take them to the park. Luckily, she found a place inside of a nature preserve that was fenced in and allowed dogs to be off their leash.

Hannah knew everyone at the park: Zoey was a cute husky; Niko was a boxer who could run for hours; Lucky was a German Shepard who wore a military vest; and of course her favorite was Bella who was an adorable chocolate lab puppy. Who did all of these fur babies belong to? Hannah could possibly identify their owners, but she had never talked to them other than to learn the dogs' names. She would talk to the dogs without any issue, but she really had no desire to make small talk with the humans.

"Come on, boys!" Hannah hollered for her babies. In order to get out to the nature trail, she had to go through a fenced off area. Vlad and Indiana apparently got distracted by a cute, little poodle. "She isn't interested in either of you," Hannah joked. "Let's go."

"Oh, come on Mom. We want to play with the nice poodle," a voice said behind her. Hannah jerked her head quickly, for she had not heard anyone walk up near her. "I apologize," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you. I thought you could hear me. Lord knows if not me, my boy Hank." As the man said that, a large great dane came running up to Hannah. Most people would be afraid of his sheer size, but there was not a dog that Hannah did not love.

"Oh my goodness," she said as she rubbed the massive dog's head. Hank was a black and white great dane with floppy ears and perfectly soft fur. "You're such a lover boy," Hannah said as Hank enjoyed his ear scratches. Apparently Vlad and Indiana noticed mom giving another boy attention, so both of them came running to sniff out the stranger.

"Are these two brutes yours?" the man asked.

Hannah had hoped this old guy was not using his dog to strike up a conversation. She was a dog person- not a people person. "Yep. This is Indiana and that is Vlad." She pointed to the brothers.

"Indiana and Vlad? Those are interesting names for dogs. Most people go for Spike or Max."

"Well yes. I suppose so."

"However," the man began, "if you were a movie buff, you would know that Indiana Jones took the name Indiana from the family dog. His real name was Henry. But I am sure a young, pretty woman like yourself wouldn't know such a random piece of movie trivia. Or quite possibly you just like the state of Indiana, which would actually be more surprising."

Hannah about fell over. "You are literally the only person who has ever said that! That is exactly where I got his name from. I'm not a huge movie fan, but those are my favorite. It only made sense that I named my little man Indiana."

"And Vlad?"

"Vlad the Impaler. I was obsessed with Dracula when I was younger. I thought Vlad was a little more subtle than Dracula." While Hannah was impressed with the man's knowledge of Indiana Jones, she had had her fill of small talk. "Well, I better get these two running. Thanks for the chat." Hannah walked the opposite direction from where the man had come from. "Let's go boys." She didn't even wait for the man to say goodbye, or nice to meet you, or anything that cordial people typically say.

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A few days had passed and Hannah was able to go back to the dog park. As she and the dogs were walking the path, a familiar face showed up. "Hank!" she said with excitement. "Look boys! It's your friend, Hank." She really thought nothing more of it as the three dogs ran together and played. Hannah kept walking. She knew her boys would catch up. After a few minutes, the dogs were nowhere to be found. She started yelling for them. "Vlad! Come here boy! Indiana! Let's go! Come on boys! Where are you?" As she moved further down the path, she saw Hank's human. "Oh man," she thought to herself, "I hope he doesn't talk to me again." Hannah kept walking, trying to avoid eye contact with the man, which was probably why she didn't hear the dogs running behind her.

Hank crashed right into the back of Hannah's legs, which caused her to fly forward. She put her hands out to brace her fall, but it did not help when the one hundred and fifty pound dog toppled on top of her. Hannah laid on the ground trying to catch her breath. Indiana and Vlad ran over making sure that she was okay. Once they realized she was still breathing, the trio took off again.

"Fucking son-of-a bitch," Hannah held her knee. Hank's owner came running over.

"Holy shit! Are you okay? I promise! I will beat Hank tonight and make him go to bed without dinner."

"Oh don't do that." She was holding back the tears. Not only was she embarrassed, but her knee hurt like a mother fucker! "It's my fault for not paying attention." Hannah tried to stand up, but it was more of a struggle than she had anticipated. "How the hell am I going to get my ass to the car?" she thought to herself.

"Can I help you?" the older man said?

"No. No. I'm fine. Thank you."

"Really? Because you don't look fine. Listen, I know a thing or two about bummed knees. Let me at least help you up." The man extended his hand, and Hannah set her pride aside and took it. Once she was standing up-right, she tried to limp her way back to the gate.

"Oh for the love of god woman, just let me help you." He put his shoulder under armpit and the two of them made it back to a picnic table. "Sit. Let me look at this thing. Just don't argue, okay? I'm not hitting on you. I'm not playing hanky panky. You could sue me and Hank. He could become human-less." Hannah chuckled at his lame jokes. She also agreed to let him look at her knee.

"I'm Hannah," she finally said.

"Thomas," the man said as he examined her knee. "Good news is that the kneecap is not dislocated. Bad news is that I have no idea if you tore a ligament. I don't feel anything towards the back, but you will need an x-ray or MRI."

"How do you know all of this?" Hannah asked as she pulled her pant leg back down.

"I was a medic in the army for twenty years. Two tours in Afghanistan, one in Iraq, and that's all I'm allowed to share, or I will have to kill you for knowing too much." He laughed. "I'm kidding about that last part. I was just an average medic. Nothing fancy."

"Was? What do you do now as a civilian?"

"I am a volunteer fire-fighter. Help where I can. Sometimes I go to the elementary school down the street and do traffic duty. I go where I'm needed. How about you, Ms. Hannah?"

"I teach at UIC. Victorian Literature. I write. I research. Nothing as generous as you."             

"Nah. I disagree with that. Reading. That's important stuff. I read a lot in the military. Not so much in school, believe it or not, they did have books back in my day. Not stone tablets."

"Oh really? So you say you've read some books? Let's hear them?" And that was how Thomas got Hannah to lower her anti-human wall and talk. They sat on the bench and talked about titles, authors, story lines, and of course- dogs.

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As the days passed, Hannah would "run" into Hank and Thomas. Due to the bummed knee, she was a little slow moving for a while; so she and Thomas would sit and talk while the dogs ran around and played. Hannah enjoyed his company more than the average human. She couldn't say that he was like a father because she didn't have a father or an uncle or really any male role model actually. He was just a kind human.

"Will you still come out here when the snow falls?" Thomas asked one chilly evening.

"Possibly. We did it a few times last winter. I don't like the mud or the wet stinky dog smell, but my boys sure do love the snow. How about Hank?"

"Hank and I are kind of wimps. We like it above forty."

Hannah was surprised that she felt a tug of disappointment. "Well yes. That makes sense. Being from Arizona, I'm not a real fan of the cold."             

"Are you a fan of coffee?" Thomas asked.

"Well, yes. I drink it every morning."

"Could I take you out for a cup of coffee some morning? I know I'm old enough to be your grandpappy, but I was thinking just to keep in contact. That's all. I'm a perfect gentleman. And to be honest, Hank put me up to this. He would not be happy if he couldn't see his new pals all winter long."

Hannah laughed. "First- I don't think you're quite that old, Thomas. And second- I don't want to upset Hank. Coffee would be good. Ya know what I just realized? We've been meeting out here for weeks, but we don't have each other's numbers."

"Well we can't schedule coffee if we can't get in contact, can we? Give me your digits, and I will plug them into my phone."

"Digits? Did you just say digits?" Hannah was laughing again. Most humans don't make her laugh, so this was unexpected.

"Are you making fun of an old man, young lady?" Hannah and Thomas continued to tease about digits, age, and being a grandpappy; however, by the time they left the dog park that evening, they had each other's cell phone number and a date to meet for coffee before Hannah had class on Tuesday morning.

When Hannah got home from the dog park, she fed her boys and made a light dinner for herself. She was sitting at her computer writing an article about Queen Victoria and the shift in conservative prose during her reign. A real page turner. Her phone buzzed. Hannah never got next messages unless it was from a student explaining how she was going to miss class due to an "emergency." She was happy to see that it was Thomas.

T- Good evening, Hannah. Thomas here. I'm just testing out text messaging. Making sure phone numbers work.

H- Smart thinking. This is Hannah. Number is correct.

T- 10/4. LOL. That's military talk.

H- I actually knew that.

T- I'm glad we have the numbers correct. I hope you're having a good evening.

Hannah liked that someone was texting her. She found herself wanting to talk to this man even if it were about military jargon.

H- I am. Are you having a good evening? What are you and Hank up to?

T- I've asked Hank now twice to do the dishes, but he's a lazy brute. So here I am doing the dishes, the laundry, the dusting...and what does he do? Lays on the couch. I sure hope Indiana and Vlad are more helpful.

H- LOL. Sadly, they have more in common with Hank. I'm writing an article about the shift in prose during the Victorian Age. Exciting, huh?

T- I would be the first in line to buy a copy. Hell, I'll buy two.

H- It's an article. No book this time. I will send you a copy when you can't fall asleep.

T- I enjoyed the books you wrote. I didn't know pretty much anything about Victoria or England or literature.

Hannah almost fell out of her desk chair. They had only been dog park buddies for maybe three weeks and he read both of her books? Both? Her own family hadn't read her work. She was touched. Surprised, but touched.

H- You've read my research? No one reads those. I don't know what to say...

T- It's not everyday you meet a famous author at the dog park.

H- LOL. I'm not famous.

T- When you become famous, I can say to all the other seniors in the old folks home "I once knew that author. She's beautiful and smart." LOL.

H- Thank you, Thomas.

Hannah's heart jumped a little. Of course, he was just being a kind, older gentleman. I am sure he treated all young women like they were his daughter or niece. However, it made her smile that not only did he read her work, but he thought she was beautiful. The two of them continued to text each other about books, current events, and dogs. Always dogs.

T- It's getting late. I apologize that I kept a brilliant mind up so long.

H- No worries. Sleep and I are not really on good terms. LOL.

T- What a coincidence- neither are we. But I'm an old man. That's common.

H- You're not that old. (Emphasis on that) LOL.

T- Thank you my dear. GN

Monday rolled around, and Hannah only had one class, so she was able to take the dogs to the park afterwards. She was hoping to run into Thomas and Hank, but they didn't show up. More and more she looked forward to talking to him. She was excited about coffee tomorrow. Was Thomas becoming an actual friend?

H- The dog park was cold tonight. Vlad and Indy missed Hank

T- Good evening, Ms. Hannah. Ya know, Hank tried talking me into going, but these old bones just don't like the cold.

H- I don't blame you.

T- I'm looking forward to coffee tomorrow. Are you still free?

H- Of course. I'm looking forward to it as well. Did you put out any fires today? Or rescue cats from a tree?

T- LOL. No cats. No fires. It was a quiet day. A few fender benders. Did you change the minds of young people?

H- Oh yes. LOL. Your day is much more action packed than mine.

T- Ha. I've not seen action in years.

H- Oh?

T- Oh. Shit. I apologize, Hannah. That was crass and rude. Total guy slip.

H- Thomas. It's truly okay. I'm not a little kid. You don't have to be so proper with me.

T- You're practically a little kid and you have a PhD in proper. Helloooo Brit. Lit screams PROPER.

H- Professionally- proper. Personally- not proper.

T- Good to know. Then you will excuse an old man for saying that your text messages are the highlight of my day.

H- Are you ever going to tell me how old you are? I'm sure you're not more than 65.

T- We're not friends anymore. 65? Really?

H- HAHAHA. I'm kidding.

T- Take that down a decade. You'll be closer. Besides, a lady never reveals her age or weight.

H- Good to know. I won't reveal either of mine!

T- You're a legal adult, right?! Ha

H- By a decade

T- Oh lord! I may be arrested during coffee tomorrow.

The two continued to text; however, this time the minutes turned into hours! Hannah learned that Thomas had two children in their mid-twenties. Military life and civilian life did not mesh well, so when the kids were little, his wife decided to get a divorce. Hannah could never understand why a woman married a soldier, but then got a divorce because her husband was too much like a soldier. Sad. Thomas said that he saw his children on a regular basis. While they were not the closest, they didn't blame him for being gone. Maybe that was why he volunteered at a school- to experience the little kids he missed out on. Hannah did not ask about that though. She also learned he loved Mexican food and Italian, and of course, so did Hank. He was born and raised in Chicago, and anything south of I88 was considered "The South." Hannah found herself laughing like a giddy school girl.

H- Thomas! It's after midnight.

T- Wow. I didn't realize the time. Do you want to move coffee?

H- Not at all. I was simply saying that we've talked for over three hours.

T- It felt like 10 minutes. I enjoyed the chat.

H- Me too. I should go to bed, so I look like a decent human tomorrow and not a zombie.

T- You are nothing less than spectacular.

H- Thank you!! Back at you. GN

That Tuesday morning Hannah found herself wanting to look good. She blow-dried her hair and applied some light makeup. Thomas had only ever seen her at the dog park, which consisted of hats, gloves, and skanky jeans. Hell, he even saw her all muddy and dirty after the dogs knocked her down. Hannah wanted to look nice for a change. Her dark auburn hair fell to the middle of her back. She typically wore it in a ponytail while at the park, but today she wore it down. She wore a blue vest over her form fitting henley style shirt. Her dark blue skinny jeans accentuated her long legs and curvy ass. She slipped on cute boots and headed out the door. On the way to the coffee shop, she was giddy. She finally had a friend with whom she wanted to spend time with. While this was a foreign concept to her, she was excited to see where this friendship would go.

When she walked into the small cafe, the strong aroma of coffee filled the air. She loved that smell, and it instantly made her smile. However, her face lit up when she saw Thomas stand up at the sight of her. She walked over and gave him a quick, friendly hug.

"Good morning, pretty lady," he said.

"Hey Thomas. Have you been here long?" Hannah responded while she took her jacket off and hung it on the back of her chair.

"Nope. Just a few minutes. What would you like? This is my treat." Hannah was a simple girl, so she asked for the house blend with a splash of creamer and a blueberry muffin. Within a few minutes, Thomas was back with their breakfast.

"Thank you. Next time though, it's on me."

"I'm glad you think that there will be a next time." Thomas smiled at Hannah, but this time he held his gaze. "You are quite beautiful, Hannah. I mean I knew seeing you at the dog park, you were cute; but wow. I never realized how green your eyes were or how long your hair was."

"Okay. No need to make me blush. Thank you though." Hannah wanted to tell Thomas that she thought for an older man, he was very attractive. She loved his salt and pepper hair and his goatee. His eyes were hazel, and the slightly crooked front tooth gave him character whenever he smiled. He had a great smile. For some reason, she got shy and didn't reciprocate the compliment.

"So tell me about this teaching job you have at UIC. That is one of the best schools in the state. You have to be a seriously smart woman to get a position there."

"There really isn't much to tell. I've always been a book nerd. While other girls were going to prom or parties or doing whatever, I was at home studying. I can't say that I had a bad childhood. My brother and I were close for the most part. He got into some trouble early in his college years. He decided that he was more of a free spirit- whatever that means. I didn't want to end up like that. So I studied. I read. I got scholarships and worked my way through college. I wish I had something more interesting to say, but I literally read and write about books and past literature. It's redundant."