AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My mom was still going on about the necessities. “And that’s why you should always have an enema bulb on hand. It has more uses than you’d think, and if you need it, you really don’t want to have to buy one in person.”
Oh my, what did I miss?Time to change the subject. I told her about the mandatory first-time pet owner’s class, to which she was thrilled.
“Dolly is really going to open your world up.”
We talked for a while more until she agreed I needed to get on with it because Dolly didn’t even have a bed yet. She made me promise to send her a picture of what I purchased the moment I got home.
“Wait, Katie DON’T HANG UP!”
I was halfway setting my phone down when I picked it back up, giving a pet on the head to Dolly, who looked very concerned at the hollering. She would learn soon enough that this was very normal behavior.
“Yes?” I said with a laugh. “It’s not like you couldn’t have called me right back if I did hang up?”
“Okay, fine. But I want to show you my flowers outside!”
I agreed because they were truly spectacular. She walked outside with her camera shaky, and I could see the neighbors were sitting outside in their lawn chairs. “It’s a beautiful spring day!” She exclaimed. “I’m showing Katie the flowers.”
She’s having a full-blown conversation with her neighbor, Kathy, so I have a minute to absorb the images.
There were multiple clusters of fat roses on thorny vines in red, pink, and coral. From the looks of it, she had just laid fresh mulch and cut her grass. I could smell the picture, and it was a heavenly combination of aromas.
I remembered when we moved to that neighborhood, one of those heavily power-lined communities near the freeway. It was nice, though, because a few school friends lived on my street, and then some more just for the summers out of custody agreements. We would ride our bikes all day and night, getting popsicles at the corner convenience store and drinking out of the hose. Sometimes, I would have a group of girls for a sleepover at my house. We would dress up, pretend to do our makeup like pop stars, and sing along to their CDs. We wore hair scrunchies as accessories and had a two-ponytail minimum. Boy bands were the only talking subject, of course. My mom would always have some kind of craft project for us to do, like painting terracotta pots or making critters out of modeling clay.
Once, one of the girls’ mothers called while we were painting the terracotta pots. My mother answered the phone, her hands full of the paintbrushes she was cleaning for us so we could try different colors.
“Hello?” Her voice was rushed but friendly. “Oh, hi, Kimberly! Yes, we're here, her hands are full- she’s doing her second pot right now.” The mother must have heard wrong because she then demanded to speak to her daughter.
“Hi, Mom. No, what do you mean, am I smoking?” All eyes turned to my mother. “No… we arepaintingterracotta pots.”
CHAPTER 4
CANINE CAPERS
“Okay, I’m back,” my mother flipped the camera back to her face.
“Can you show me the camellia tree?” I knew I had to get off the phone, but the weather there looked warm, sunny, and rejuvenating, and I missed it.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” She asked as she showed me the towering tree with stunning white blooms covering every inch. It was taller than their house. “We have the tree trimmers scheduled for next week. It’s getting awfully close to the power lines. I’m afraid the neighbors will petition to have it cut down if it takes down the power again. Though I still don’t know why Barry was so upset about that—he has a generator, after all. How am I supposed to know his robotic toilet paper dispenser doesn’t work on a generator?”
I laughed at the memory. “It’s breathtaking. Where’s dad?”
“He’s watching the game. Too bad he’s missing out on this gorgeous weather.”
“Tell him about the dog, will you?”
“Of course, I will. Well, you better get on with it, Katie. Dolly needs her things.”
I quickly agreed and said I’d be in touch soon.
I looked at the list for Dolly:
Carrier
Small breed food (brands listed)
Harness, collar, and leash
Name tag with contact information
