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 Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 8:09 pm
The sun was warm, the birds were singing, the air was fresh... Lilith grinned, a perky bounce in her step as she made her way along the paved paths. The park was beautiful as always, or at least, it seemed to be to her. Now foul stench in the air, no sounds of fighting or arguing or anything else that might ruin the good mood. Nope! No vibrations of masses running - although she had been caught off guard by a group of marathoners one weekend, nothing of this sort this time. Just a nice, peaceful walk through the park~
A sudden, brief, tug on the harness handle, accompanied by an enthusiastic bark, unleashed a giggle fit from the brunette as she paused to pet her companion's head. "I know, Raja, I know. It really has been too long since we got out." Her voice took on a harsher edge towards the end of her sentence, snorting in a most unladylike fashion. It'd taken a good bit of convincing to get the staff of her new school to let her go out and about on her own. Sure they offered to let her wander around the town with an adult, but having an escort was so... kiddy. At least she was able to appeal to her parents, and after some odd amount of phone calls... here she was! Free at last~!
The light breeze of the day played through her hair, teased the multilayer skirt wrapped around her hips and entangling her knees. Blues and purples, her mother had told her, ranging from dull to vivid to soft pastels, it matched the light blue tank top she wore - again, other sources told her the color - with gold beads outlining flowers here and there. Various gold bracelets and charms jingled together on her wrists, charms catching the sunlight. A black cord choker with a simple white ghost pendant and a gold chain with an equally simple gold star wrapped and hung from her neck. Simple, light, comfortable... and the sounds were music to her ears when joined by the sounds of her Mary Jane's tapping against the pavement, the clinking of the harness and the golden retriever's panting.
How long had they been walking? First from the school, then a good ways into the park - a relative straight line in, till they got better acquainted with the layout of course... huh. Bit of a hike. Not bad, but still. They deserved a break. Directing them towards the side of the path, she quickly felt her walking stick bump into an obstacle, ears ringing with the familiar sound of the pole striking wood. Again the girl and dog paused, this time for her to feel along the arm of the structure, then to the seat... yep! A bench!
"Alright girl, time to take five." A happy bark, and Lilith eased herself into her new seat with a relaxed sigh. With the large dog sitting beside her feet, it didn't take much of a stretch for her to lazily scratch Raja behind the ears, tangling her fingers in her short, soft fur. Ah... a lovely day indeed. "Maybe the city's not so bad after all," she mumbled to herself, playing with her sunglasses. "Just takes some getting used to, I guess."
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 12:52 am
Another outing at the park was just what Skip needed. School had been draining both physically and mentally. There was all that homework, quizzes, tests and projects. Then you had things like baseball practice on top of it all. Uggh. It was just too much sometimes! Not to mention all of the drama that went on between the students. There was always something; it's high school, after all. Yes, this was the perfect place to just put that all behind him. A place where he could just relax and be himself without having to worry about anything. Heck, if he could live at the park, he probably would.
It was a bark that brought him back to reality, the sound of his dog's voice snapping him to attention. Skip had slowed down, it seemed, while he was thinking about the park. While he lagged behind, the blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel had gone on ahead, barking to let his owner know to pick up the pace. Silly Skip. He always brought up the rear at some point. "Okay, Babe. Okay! I'm coming. Keep your collar on."
Not much had changed in the park. Actually, it seemed to be just a normal day there. After coming to the grounds on the same day every week, one got to know the schedule of the other park regulars. That was just how things went. The parents had their kids in tow, screams of laughter and the crunch of small pebbles coming from the playground. Couples walked along the walking paths with their fingers laced together. A few joggers here and there jogged on past, their steps in tune with the music they listened to through the earbuds of their iPods. Even the popcorn vendor was there just inside the entrance to the park like he always was to sell his wares! Yep, everything seemed to be in order, except for one small thing that caught the boy's eye.
Someone was sitting at their bench - a girl and her golden retriever that Skip had never seen before. The winds of change were in the air.
Instead of asking them to move or finding another spot like a normal person would, the Meadowview boy walked on over with his dog at his side. "Nice day, isn't it," he asked, permitting himself to glance down at the dog at the girl's side. Golden retrievers were loyal companions to have, and quite a popular breed of dog. It was quite refreshing, actually, to see a fellow dog enthusiast. Skip didn't know many kids his own age who had dogs like he did. "You have a beautiful dog, by the way."
When he looked down again, his eyes widened in surprise. Babe was examining Raja by getting up close and personal. The Cavalier was so close, in fact, that his nose was almost touching the retriever's. What a goofy dog! It was obvious Babe didn't know the proper protocal or etiquette when it came to meeting other canine companions. Oh, well; he'd learn the hard way now so Skip could teach him later. Regardless of his dog's manners toward Raja, there was something good that was coming out of this. If their dogs became friends, perhaps it was a sign. Maybe he and girl would become friends as well. Now all he had to do was wait and find out.
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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:24 pm
Amongst all the passerbys, Lilith didn't take much notice of approaching footsteps, not even when the accompanying sound of clicks from a dog's nails reached her ears. It wasn't like she was the only one who'd dare walk a dog through the park, after all. But when a voice greets you through the darkness and never ending vines of noise, you can't help but look towards it, even if you know you'll never see the source. It was a habit she'd maintained since before she lost her sight, though it seemed to make people less jumpy when talking to her, so bonus points?
A boy's voice, sounding like he was somewhere around her age range. He sounded nice. "Yes, it is," was her lame response, before biting the inside of her cheek. That sure sounded like a welcoming greeting... "There was no way we could pass up the chance to see the park, not when it's so beautiful out." There we go! She even smiled slightly at her own personal joke thrown in there, before his next words made the smile widen.
"Thank you! Raja's too good to me, she spoils me really- oh?" She paused, feeling her companion's head dip down from under her hand. Behind her legs, she could feel the golden tail was beginning to sway this way and that, turning up a small breeze. The sounds of sniffing registered in her head, and, carefully, she let her hand slowly drop down following Raja's neck, then muzzle... oh, indeed!
"You have a dog, too," she grinned without thinking, forgetting this would have been an obvious fact to anyone with sight. "What kind?" She didn't dare pet the other in case of offending the owner or risking the dog's temperament, but rather pulled her hand back to Raja's neck and straightened to let the canines continue their greeting. The golden retriever herself let out a small bark, tail swinging faster over the ground as she pulled on the harness to lower herself more to the other dog's level. Lilith chuckled - Raja didn't have a mean bone in her body. "Seems they like each other."
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:44 am
"It is beautiful out, isn't it?"
He loved days like this. They were the best. Sunny days with just the right amount of clouds in the sky, and when the temperature wasn't too hot or too cold. Everything was just right. These were the days that made coming to the park fun and exciting! Granted, the boy would still bring his beloved dog to play even if it was cloudy (or sometimes even in the rain), but those days were different - more gloomy. Days like today were the ones where a person wanted to soak in as much of the sun's rays as possible, Skip included.
Babe stared at Raja for a few more moments, taking in every bit of this strange new dog, before turning his attention to Lilith herself. He blinked at her, head tilting off to the side and ears perking up. She seemed familiar to him, and yet she didn't all at the same time. Perhaps it was the sunglasses? Yeah! That was it; she wore sunglasses like Skip! For good measure, and to show that he wanted to be friends, the Cavalier gave the girl's hand an affectionate lick. She seemed gentle and nice enough.
"Isn't it obvi-..."
Skip was just about to ask whether or not it was obvious what breed his dog was, but then he stopped himself. If it was obvious to her, then she wouldn't have asked. Blinking, he allowed his eyes to go from Babe to Lilith and then back again. There was something he didn't catch right away upon first sitting down. Just now, however, he saw it. She was wearing sunglasses, not because of a particular liking for them like he had, but for another reason entirely: Lilith was blind.
"Babe is a blenheim - red and white - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel," he informed her, reaching down to scoop his canine friend up off of the ground. "Would you like to hold him or pet him? You can, if you like."
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:56 am
The day was beautiful, and low and behold, there was even a nice conversation to be part of. The sun was shinning bright and warm, the park was peaceful and lively and all around wonderful - her opinion of the city was beginning to increase.
She had divided her attention between the dogs and the boy, though was slightly diverted more towards the canines when the sweet newcomer licked her hand, grinning as she felt some of its soft fur brush against her. You had to love dogs. They were so friendly, such good judges of character. Loyal, loving... truly amazing creatures.
And probably better at paying attention than she was. When the young man started to speak, she froze, waiting for when he would start being overly polite and make the quickest getaway he could.
But... he... didn't?
She listened to his description, letting a picture form in her mind. She knew spaniels were smaller dogs, smaller at least than Raja, and from feeling even briefly the feel of the soft, short fur was able to get a reasonable idea of his possible appearance. "He sounds adorable," she told him, not finding a reason to censor her words to hide her lack of sight. When he offered to let her pet or hold him, she did however decide to play it safe and hold back the surge of excitement she felt. "I'd like to pet him, if that's alright." This, however, was not just directed towards the owner, but the dog as well. Never would she be one to demand something of an animal - not when she's experienced just how much personal will they can possess! Not like humans her butt...
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