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 Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:50 am
“Woooooo.“ Schatzie yawned heavily while he waited just beyond an old cypress tree. Alois sat on a bench perched just beneath the tree, separated somewhat from the bustle of young children in the park, and read of the stacked books by his side. Schatzie recognized this behavior from earlier times, though he did not know whether he needed to stay near his owner or if he could wander afar. As he started to stray, Schatzie continually looked back to his owner for clarification until Alois gave the sign for free leave, and leave he did.
At first he simply trotted through the short grasses as he enjoyed a short breeze to cool his body. He watched some of the small humans playing with disinterest, and chose instead to sniff around the base of a nearby tree for the marks of many a dog past. He, too, added his scent to the mix by lifting a leg and relieving himself in full view of some of the other dogs. They, too, received no attention from the aloof German Shepherd.
No, instead his attention drifted toward one of the small woodland creatures that still saw fit to comb this land, and immediately Schatzie shot off toward the beast. Small and well-fed though it was, the squirrel sported an enormous bushy tail that twitched and puffed with the ceaseless chattering of the angry creature. Schatzie paid little heed to the protests and streaked after it at a clip, heavy on the heels of the squirrel with every intent to snatch it into jaw and crush it for lunch. None could stop him now in the heat of the chase - not even his owner at an urgent call. Fast tailing his pray, Schatzie rounded the long path toward the nearest tree. The squirrel made a beeline for it, but Schatzie did not slow.
A human strayed into his path and Schatzie did not adjust speed or path. His mind now centered wholly on the squirrel, and he hardly noticed when his large body knocked into the pedestrian and sent them off-balance. He didn’t care. He had a squirrel to catch, and —
up a tree it went, never to be caught again. Schatzie whined plaintively and pawed at the thick bark. Schade, his owner would say, if he were paying attention.
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 6:23 pm
Horace liked this park - it was typically quiet and nice for long walks. He felt like he'd lost a lot of his hobbies during, and the year he'd been in Ashdown had been filled with all kinds of free time he had no idea how to fill. His job liked it, thought; he was able to be on call quite a lot, even if they didn't need him too often. He made a turn. Suddenly something large and solid slammed into him. Horace tumbled over, his muscles freezing. If he could seen himself in the third person, he'd have agreed he looked quite comical - a stiff board creaking and falling. Once he hit the ground, he stayed there and did not move immediately.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 4:22 pm
Alois spared a cursory glance from his book and sighted the lone casualty immediately. „Hmm,“ he hummed to himself in survey of the carnage. So Schatzie knocked one over. Did you kill it, boy? Or is he stunned? After placing a bookmark against the page, Alois closed his book and set it aside, atop his black bag.
He stood then, brushing natural detritus from black jeans, and strode his few leisurely steps toward the fallen boy. Fingers of both hands pressed together at the tip while he looked to Schatzie’s first victim. „Got in the way, did you? Don’t take it personally. He doesn’t like to give up on his chases.“ He paused, looked to the dog, and snapped his fingers. Schatzie approached almost immediately.
„His name is Schatzie. Now, do you need a hand?“
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:28 pm
Horace groaned and picked himself up off the ground, ignoring Alois' less-than-enthused offer of help. He could be falling off a cliff and elect to struggle bus upwards rather than take someone else's hand. "Or you could teach your dog not to run into people. Or leash him." He said, arcing an eyebrow. "He's obviously somewhat well trained." Horace leaned his weight onto his left foot and winced. He'd managed to twist the damn thing.
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2016 5:31 pm
Alois frowned at the boy, and placed his bone-thin hand atop the dog’s crown. „There’s training a dog and there’s bred instinct. German Shepherds have a prey drive that is not easily overcome, and, in some conditions, shouldn’t be trained away. But I suppose it’s always easiest to just blame the owner.“ He examined his nails and picked away at the slow buildup of detritus beyond the nail bed.
„Next time try not to wander in front of a dog.“ He scratched the head of his dog, who responded kindly to the attention. The tongue rolled out, and with it came the rhythmic panting of a happy pup in warm weather conditions.
Alois sighed through his nose as hawkish gaze searched the boy. He winced, and judging by the way he hobbled (much like a dog, Alois thought in amusement), he incurred a little more than a bruise. Lips pressed into a thin line. Liability issues, medical expenses, and dog penalties came to mind for the act. He thought of witnesses and words against words. „Something happen to your foot?“
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 7:46 pm
Horace could just about feel his eyebrows trying to rise so high they took flight and ascended to heaven. "There's a difference between training away the predatory instinct and training them to run around things instead of through them." Sighing, he hobbled over to a convenient bench and sat down, leg stretched in from of him. "Y'know, I was on the path. The path made for humans." He began to roll up his pant leg and see what kind of bruising there might be. His ankle felt weak and it hurt, but since he wasn't screeching in pain, it was most likely not broken. At Alois' question, he looked up. "My ankle? Why - you gonna compensate me?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 12:13 pm
Alois shrugged, his head tilting temporarily. „He knows to give people space. He probably just didn’t see you.“ If you’re going to act like he busted your a** and whine about it, be my guest. But don’t expect me to feel any empathy for you.
„Look, blame it on the dog and his owner all you want. I’ve forgotten how sue-happy Americans are…“ He offered a stiff glance at the boy, a scowl. Alois started for the path and paused once he was upon it. His glance passed this way and that, down both the long ropes of road as they coiled about the forest grounds. After humming to himself, he motioned to his dog, who looked to him for command.
„Schatzie, entschuldig.“ The command came gutturally, and spared no room for complaint. Snapping his fingers, Alois pointed to the boy as he sat on the bench. The dog soon raised himself, trotted over, and seated himself before Horace with brown eyes centered on him. A paw came up, bent at the wrist.
„He’s apologizing. Well, as much as a dog can. Shake his paw if you want. Schwamm drüber.“ How do they say that in English… Wipe it away?
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 9:44 pm
Horace sighed. This guy was an a**. At this point, he didn't expect the sort of social niceties normally given, but still, they would have been nice. That was why they were called niceties, after all. It took two seconds to apologize, to soothe feelings, feign a bit of caring and that was it. "I bet you're fun at parties," he said. If the parties were held at Hot Topic and contained a 'no fun allowed' section. Then the dog in question (Murder-dog, Horace had affectionately dubbed him in his head) came over on command. Dogs didn't apologize, he wanted to say, but he took the paw and dutifully held it for a moment. "Did I say I would sue? s**t, it was a joke, dude." He leaned back and shrugged. "You know, you would lose if I did, anyway. I just need a moment and then I'll limp back to my car. Unless you wanna be my crutch." hetzerei just noticed i ******** up the quote originally - sorry!
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:26 am
“Quite.“ He waited for his dog to finish and return to him. The side of his fist pressed to a thick birch tree.
„Anyone who makes jokes about suing automatically declines assistance.“ Alois shrugged, a single shoulder reaching upward with the c**k of his head. „Why take chances? As soon as I’d touch you, you could call it assault. Zere’s zat second charge, next to what… Irresponsible dog ownership or somesing? Come on Schatzie, let’s stop wasting our time here.“ He beckoned to the dog, who just as happily turned from the stranger to follow owner back across the forest paths.
„Ta-ta,“ Alois offered in passing, and brandished the peace sign as he walked. He disappeared into the woods shortly thereafter.
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2016 11:38 am
Well, Horace guessed, not everyone he met could bother with being nice. He hoped he didn't run into them again. How much did it cost someone to say 'sorry' and ask if someone was okay? Couldn't take a joke, didn't care about his dog smacking into people, all-around great guy.
Horace didn't bother calling out to Alois as he left, instead testing his weight on his ankle again. He'd leave in a bit, when he felt up to it. Horace sighed.
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