The Littlest Wingman
He'd always wanted a dog.
When Joey was little he had been allowed to have fish. They were easy pets. Cheap, small, could be kept in a bowl. They were the only kind of pet his mother had been willing to transport through twenty seven houses and fourteen countries. A young Joseph Wilson had seen the world, and longingly watched what seemed to be every other boy his age play with a dog.
About a week ago he had been out for a walk, still getting a feel for the space around his new apartment, and he passed by a dog walker tangled in a mess of leashes being near to dragged down the block by her charges. He stopped to help her free herself before she fell on her face and 'talked' with her for a few minutes while scratching the ears of an immensely affectionate Bernese (pleasantly surprised to be handed a phone number scribbled on a scrap of paper for the first time in a decade at that).
It occurred to him by the time he reached the grocery store that there was absolutely no reason that he couldn't have a dog of his own now. He had his own place, no cause to move an obscene distance every few months...
He'd texted Donna as he browsed the pasta aisle to see if maybe she'd like to come on a dog-finding expedition with him, and although she declined she suggested J.D. as accompaniment. Joey had only met her once or twice at group functions but she seemed nice enough so... dog shopping with J.D. it was.
He nudged the doorbell to the tower one more time, glancing back at his car and hoping he wasn't too early.
When Joey was little he had been allowed to have fish. They were easy pets. Cheap, small, could be kept in a bowl. They were the only kind of pet his mother had been willing to transport through twenty seven houses and fourteen countries. A young Joseph Wilson had seen the world, and longingly watched what seemed to be every other boy his age play with a dog.
About a week ago he had been out for a walk, still getting a feel for the space around his new apartment, and he passed by a dog walker tangled in a mess of leashes being near to dragged down the block by her charges. He stopped to help her free herself before she fell on her face and 'talked' with her for a few minutes while scratching the ears of an immensely affectionate Bernese (pleasantly surprised to be handed a phone number scribbled on a scrap of paper for the first time in a decade at that).
It occurred to him by the time he reached the grocery store that there was absolutely no reason that he couldn't have a dog of his own now. He had his own place, no cause to move an obscene distance every few months...
He'd texted Donna as he browsed the pasta aisle to see if maybe she'd like to come on a dog-finding expedition with him, and although she declined she suggested J.D. as accompaniment. Joey had only met her once or twice at group functions but she seemed nice enough so... dog shopping with J.D. it was.
He nudged the doorbell to the tower one more time, glancing back at his car and hoping he wasn't too early.