Gen 1 Ch 2: Welcome home

Waking up, I became aware that my bed didn’t contain just me alone. Quickly opening my eyes, I found that the big fluffy dog I let in yesterday was peacefully napping in my bed. Imagining how horrified my mother would have been to find an animal in her own bed I mused whether to chase the pooch off, but he looked so sweet that I couldn’t bring myself to do that. After all, yesterday the animal looked terrified of everything, so I thought it deserved some rest.

Making my way to the window I looked outside where I planted things yesterday. It wasn’t clear whether the plants were coming in well yet so I knew I would have to head to the library and read up on what I could do to improve the likelihood of their positive growth. After all, there were many things I still didn’t know.

When I moved here, I intended to research plants and soil. Looking at my old lab station I shook my head. I just didn’t have enough experience with plants at this point to actually find out anything new, it seemed. I found this idea somewhat sad. Oh well, all the best things required patience—that much my parents taught me. I could now heed that way of thinking and make what I could of my time.

Eating some cereal, I was startled out of my thoughts by a friendly whimper. The dog woke up and was now seating next to me and looking at me with those soulful dog eyes. They say cats are good at begging, but really, dogs have had the monopoly on emotional manipulation for ages. I just couldn’t say no to that face and gave the pooch more food, like yesterday.

That was something else to ponder—the dog didn’t have tags, so unless it was microchipped it was homeless. I wasn’t sure if I was ever planning to have a pet, but I wasn’t going to turn an animal out on the street, if it had no place to go. At least for the time being, I decided, the dog would stay with me. I’d have to get him a bowl and some proper dog food in town.

I supposed that was the downside to my current place—I bought a house that had a large plot of land attached, but unfortunately it was quite far from all the necessary places in town. Since I haven’t brought a car with me, this was turning out to be somewhat inconvenient.

After finally getting to the center I wondered if I could check out the local places a bit more. The bookstore, as always held a lot of allure for me but much as I wanted to check out new releases, I still didn’t have much money, so library it was today.

Settling down in a comfy chair at one of the tables, I allowed myself to become engrossed in the latest gardening chronicle. Many people don’t care much for non-fiction books, but I’ve always adored them. I always wanted to know more about how things worked, especially if they were nature-related.

I probably spent a good hour reading the book; I’ve lost the count of time. However at some point I heard yelling in the neighboring hall.

Whoever yells in a library? For very good reasons, libraries require patrons to be quiet. Making my way towards the noise, I recognized Celeste, the fisherwoman from yesterday, giving one of the other library patrons a very loud piece of her mind. Both she and the woman looked pretty upset.

“At least I haven’t stolen money from my own son, so there!” yelled Celeste and maybe the fight would have continued if the librarian didn’t show up and quiet both of them down.

Heading away from the woman, Celeste saw me “Oh, hello Simon! How is your day?”

 

“I’m doing pretty well, I suppose. Is everything alright with you?” I inquired about her argument.

“Oh, I’m doing pretty well too, at least for someone who apparently has no soul” she smirked.

“Ah, one of those people” I realized the argument must have been about Celeste’s hair color. I never understood why people believed that crazy rumor, that gingers have no souls—to any sane person, it was just nonsense. Celeste, didn’t seem to have taken the offense seriously, though, despite raising her voice.

“Don’t mind us, she’s just dumb!” Celeste laughed. It was a good sound, that I found myself wanting to hear more of. I wondered if she had a boyfriend. She probably did. “So, how is your garden coming up? Did you start planting yet?”

“Oh, well, I’m not sure, to be honest. It just has to grow now. I guess I’m just trying to find out more of what I can do in the meantime.”

“You could go fishing!” she offered merrily.

“True, I could, and probably will very soon. If I can save up enough money, I’ll buy a telescope as well” I laughed.

“Oh, that’s pretty neat. You’re interested in astrology?” Celeste inquired.

“Oh yes!” I remembered fondly spending nights looking at the night sky. “It was one of my favorite pastimes as a child.”

“Cool, I’ve always wanted to try my hand at it. Someday, maybe! Well, if you ever need advice for gardening tips or fishing info, feel free to give me a call. Here’s my number by the way. I’d love to chat, but I have to head out now!” she gave another charming smile and left, with me just starring after her like an idiot.

So, ok, I didn’t have much dating experience, despite having a sister and a cousin who seemed to know more about such things than I did. In school, I was always the one with my nose in a book or focused on research and never figured out how exactly to interact properly with the girls in my grade. It didn’t seem that important to me, to be honest. Maybe there just wasn’t the right person back home to make me care.

I definitely enjoyed Celeste’s company. I only talked to her twice, but she had a really easy-going manner that really put me at ease about things. And she was really pretty.

Realizing that I still had other errands to run, I headed off to the store, to buy some groceries and dog food. Thinking this might be a good place to start, I asked if any of the customers talked of missing dogs. The clerk’s response was negative. The only missing dog was one that has run off from the pound the previous day. He gave me their phone number, so I could inquire about the details.

I immediately dialed their number. It turned out my furry visitor was their missing dog, indeed. She got terrified of the vacuum cleaner during their cleaning hours and ran off. It seemed like the animal was in fact homeless. They told me I was free to bring the fluffy girl back to the pound and gave me the address.

Heading home, I wondered if I should. Sure, I wasn’t really planning to get a pet, but sometimes the best things in life came unplanned. I would have to think the situation through.

Of course, my arrival home made up my mind completely—the dog was waiting for me by the door, like an old friend. There was no way I was sending that sweet scaredy creature back to the pound.

“Well, dog, looks like you’re staying here.” The dog panted happily. “Now what should we call you?”

She looked like a big fluffy white bear. “How does Ursa sound?”

In response Ursa just rolled over and happily pawed at me. “Well, welcome home, Ursa.”