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Charlie sipped his apple cider from his thermos... He stood at the bus stop in a big poof of a blue coat, wearing a long, navy blue scarf. His mocha colored hair flipped up strangely. He had rushed out of the house that morning without bothering to dry it after he washed it. His mother didn’t see why he bothered drying his hair at all half the time, anyway. “What kind of 16 year old boy does?”

He spat out his gum and waited. And waited… and waited some more, and then when he didn’t possibly think he could wait anymore, he got to thinking. Where was that retarded bus? Why hadn’t it come to the curb yet? And more importantly, why was he the only one waiting for this mystical school bus? He peeked down at his wrist watch. “7:30.” He read. “Same fucking time I read when I woke up. Great. Just great.” He kicked a wayward rock across the street, watching it bounce off a fire hydrant and go careening into a yard where a neighborhood dog sat. He looked at Charlie, and Charlie looked at him. He knew what the dog was thinking, and he didn’t like it. He turned quickly and started walking. And just as he suspected, he heard barking.

“Oh shit.” It seemed as if the dog just saw him as a ‘stranger’ and wanted to follow him. He turned around and looked at the dog, which bounded up and stopped when he realized that Charlie had. He looked up and cocked his head. Whining piteously.

“Great… don’t you belong somewhere?” He grumbled, feeling like a complete loser who was talking to a dog, for heaven’s sake…the dog whined. Its hair was dark, curly, matted. It looked like it had been out digging in the mud or something. Charlie hissed curse words as he ambled along the sidewalk on the way back to his house. “Bus” and “dammit all” were audible. The dog wagged his tail as if to say, ‘you’re kind of funny, I like you.’

Which Charlie didn’t notice because he was way too busy moping. The coldness of his apple cider irritated him, his broken watch just pissed him off, and all in all, the kid wasn’t too happy to be late for the bus. It just meant he had to ride his bike. The dog behind him barked, as Charlie entered his driveway and opened the garage door using a remote attached to the outside, and grabbed his red mountain bike.

Just as he was about got on his bike, he looked up to see the bus passing his house. A rush of all things unholy filled his lungs and just as he was about to explode profanity, the dog leaped up on his chest and licked him right square in the mouth.

“Aarrrgh!” Was all that came out, and the dog resumed his sitting position. Charlie whipped his mouth furiously, and stood their, looking at the innocence that was ‘dog.’

And all he could do was burst out laughing.

“Frooooooog!” Came a call. A little girl Charlie had seen playing in the streets before came running. She was wearing a purple coat and what appeared to be a dress underneath. She had blonde curls, she looked about 8 years old. “There you are!”