That turned dark quickly. Instead , his name was pronounced with the French accent on the first syllable and the ‘i’ sounded like ‘y’ and it came out a bit like ‘Gheesam’.
“Not very, . ” She turned around and stared at him with those big, dark eyes of hers. “It’s what happens after that is so much more interesting. A guy I was dating fell through the ice, and they pulled him out later that day. I visited him in the hospital and after a while I realized something had changed and he wasn’t the same person anymore. He was never the same again.”
She turned around and glared at him for a moment.
“That’s when I started wondering about my destiny, . Why is he the way he is now? What will it be like for us?”
She paused and looked at him with that same hard look.
“The only thing I was ever taught about that is that there are people born with the gift to communicate with animals. It’s called ‘pet talking’ and some of the people who talk to animals, can command them to do things that are very difficult for normal humans to do. There are people who can make wild animals, like wolves and bears, do what they want.
“My Dad was a hunter and I saw what a knife and a gun can do to kill a live animal, so it didn’t seem natural to me that people could talk to animals. I didn’t believe that you could make a dog say ‘down’ until I was 10.
“I thought that one day I’d get to know someone like that, like your mom, but it just didn’t happen. Every once in a while someone has come to me for help, and I’ve been able to do what they wanted by talking to them.”
She stared at him for a minute and then opened the door, and looked back at him.
“You could be part of a future generation of what my parents started, with someone who doesn’t know that my gift isn’t very unusual, and might believe that you’re the special one I’ve been waiting for. Now, isn’t that better than marrying someone who doesn’t like dogs?”
She walked to the bathroom and he followed her through the door.
“You can sleep in here if you want. I’m just going to give you a blanket for the couch,” she said with that smile.
“Thank you,” he said, and she turned around and began to walk out of the bathroom. He looked at the shower curtain and noticed how the blue was so brilliant, almost neon. He stepped in front of her and held up the blanket for her to see, but she just stood there staring into the shower.
“You’re not going to like this, but it’s the rules here and I can’t make an exception,” she said.
“Okay,” he said and turned around and looked into the shower. “What do you think I’ll do?” he asked and stepped in, facing away from her.
“You’re the one who didn’t like the idea of a dog, so I’ll give you one.”
She switched off the shower.
“If you can talk to a dog, you can talk to a wolf, right?” she asked. “Since you’re part wolf, it doesn’t make any difference to me if you talk to him.”
“Wolves are bigger and stronger than dogs.”
She walked into the bedroom and handed him a white teddy bear with her initials embroidered on the chest. She went into her closet and came out with two t-shirts and a flannel and set them on the bed.
“Put on the t-shirts and sleep here in the living room, on the couch. I don’t let my dog out to the dog park this time of year, so I’ll keep him in the garage, until it’s over 100 degrees and he’s hot enough to spend the night out. I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight if I don’t have him next to me. Then tomorrow night, we’ll start again,” she said.
“Are you gonna have to give me the blanket every night?”, he asked, as he started to put on the t-shirt.
“We’ll see how it goes. I’ll come in about midnight and I’ll just ask you if you want the blanket, like you wanted the dog,” she said, as she looked at her watch.
He got into the flannel and looked at the clock. It was just after eight in the morning.
“I guess I better get started, if I’m gonna take care of this guy in one night. He must be really tired. I’m going to need to ask him if he wants a shower before I put the blanket on.”
“No problem, go take a shower and if you can talk to him, I’ll leave the blanket for you in the living room,” she said. “Just don’t turn on the light. If he’s feeling comfortable and everything, I’ll leave a light on, otherwise, don’t use any lights.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll come get you about 10,” he said. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She was right, the dog was sleeping on his side and he was breathing like it was the middle of the night.
“I need to get you up for a second,” he said, and reached over and patted the dog’s head. “We gotta get outta here pretty soon, okay?”
He walked back to the bedroom and took off his pajamas, hanging the flannel on the back of the bedroom door. The dog laid on the floor and was staring at him as if to say ‘what’s going on?’
“Oh, you’re already up, I can see that, but you probably know what’s about to happen anyway, and you probably wouldn’t want me to wake you, so let’s just get in the shower and go talk to the dog for a minute. I’ll let you know about a blanket and a pillow in a little bit,” he said.
He took the bathroom key and got into the shower. He started the water as hot as it would go and turned around to see the dog sitting on his haunches with his ears cocked at him, like a watch dog. The hair on his back stood straight up and he was snuffling and snoring.
“We’re on a schedule here, you know. I have to eat, and you have to take a nap and I have to get ready for work.
“It’s not going to be easy. I’m gonna try to talk you into a place where there’s nothing to be scared of, but I don’t really know how much longer I’m going to last, so I’d rather save the stuff about my parents for some other time.
“I’ll get some breakfast for us. It’s gonna be a while before I’m really awake and you’ll be a bit thirsty after being in the water. I don’t care about much else and I’ll go through this with you as fast as I can.
“We’ll do it again in the morning, so you better be pretty good about waking up. You’re gonna have to take a nap, but you should still be a pretty good sleeper. Try not to dream and I’ll be back to get you at about 11. Stay there until then.”
The dog gave him a little smile and let out a yawn.
“You’re gonna look funny without a tongue,” he said. “Now, what am I going to do with you?”
He walked into the living room and looked out the window and saw the dog walk out into the grass and lie down.
“So, the dog’s the one you can’t talk to and now you’re taking me out to the living room to put my pajamas on? That’s really not very nice. You’d better get a grip, pal, ’cause you’re gonna need it,” he said to himself.
He walked back to the bedroom and put the pajamas on. When he finished, he put on a shirt and walked out into the living room with a look of sheer exasperation on his face. He looked at the dog lying on the rug and shook his head, and then walked over to a stool and sat down with his legs dangling. He let his hands dangle over the stool and closed his eyes.
“Oh, I don’t like this, buddy,” he said. “I can see that you can understand what I’m saying, so tell me what’s going on?”
He let his head sink back down onto the stool and lay there, letting his eyes close for a moment, but nothing happened.
“That’s all right, you don’t have to tell me right now. Let’s go get something to eat,” he said and stood up. He picked up the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders as he walked back to the bedroom.
She was standing by the couch waiting for him and
