I was the first downstairs, as usual. I had already told Paul to wake up, but he liked to snooze for a few more minutes before he had to get up to go to work.
I made coffee and heard him stumble down the stairs. "Good morning hun," I said as I gave him a kiss on his stubbled cheek and gave him his cup of coffee. His green eyes were only half open and his brown hair was a sleepy mess. I continued making the lunch for my son, Max. As I was nearly finished Paul grumbled a few words in his distinct manner before leaving the house.
I had a cup of coffee myself as I watched the morning news and smoked the first cigarette of the day. The first one was the second best, the after dinner cigarette had it beat by far though.
Soon it was time to wake up Max, so I went upstairs and shook him ever so lightly. "Good morning honey, it's time for school," I said with a smile. "Mommy, I don't wanna go!" he replied. "You always say that Max, and everytime you come home from school you loved it. So, no complaining and get moving."
As soon as I dropped of Max at school I returned home and let Caesar the dog out in the yard so I could start doing laundry. When I finished and grabbed another cup of coffee I went out in the yard to see what Caesar was up to. It had been too quiet and that usually meant he was up to no good.
I looked all over the yard but he was nowhere to be found. He had a habit of escaping, only to return all muddy or wet or both. I decided to go outside and look for him, he couldn't have gotten far.
It was a warm sunny day so it was nice to stroll about the neighbourhood, even though Caesar was nowhere to be found.
On a hunch I decided to go look in front of the house. There was a man sitting against a tree in the sun, seemingly enjoying the warm weather and the slight breeze. He was petting a dog that looked awfully familiar.
Caesar had never taken a liking to any stranger before, so it was quite an odd sight to behold.
I called him a couple of times but he didn't listen. What had this man done to my dog?! "Excuse me, that's my dog you're petting!" I yelled.
