Dog Days
Written by Nickin Alexander
Concept by Madhu Jayaraman
Dad wakes up early.
Mum usually sleeps in because Mum don’t work that much anymore. But Brother and Big Brother, usually wake up a little later.
I like seeing Dad in the morning. He always sits next to me with his bowl in his hand.
I usually just get some scratches and watch as he sips his brown water.
It’s weird because when we go to the park and I sip on the brown water where the rest of the guys play, I get sick and feel a little weird. But when Dad drinks it, he seems to be more awake?
I dunno…maybe it’s the bowl he drinks it from…he holds it with a handle, not like my silver one…his one is a different colour that I don't know…it kinda looks like a darker version of the sky…like when the big light just starts to come out and the sky goes from black to that other colour…that’s the colour of Dads bowl.
Mum comes down in her jacket…it’s kinda like mine, but hers has sleeves…mine just sits over my back.
Hers is a weird colour though, not like Dads bowl, but not like my one either. It goes down to her knees and is all fluffy…. She always has frizzy hair to go with it and yawns when she sees me. She doesn’t pat me though, Dad does that till he finishes his brown water.
Then Mum comes in with some cereal.
She gets it out of a big bag in the garage…I see it all the time when I’m in there while it’s raining, but it doesn’t open when I try…I guess it only opens for Mum and Dad and my brothers.
The cereal is brown like Dad’s water, but they don’t put milk in it like they do for the ones they eat from the box. I reckon my one is special coz no one else eats it except me….which I feel pretty good about. Their ones look alright too….but mines pretty yum so I don’t think I wanna try theirs.
She watches me eat while she puts water on the little trees. She seems happy to do it, I kinda feel happy watching her….one time I tried helping though, and she got kinda mad.
I mean I know the water from me is kinda yellow, but it comes out the same way her water comes out of that long thing…I mean I guess mine smells a little different…but still…what’s the big deal?
My brothers come down next, they’re both quite tall and we have the same colour skin. Big Brother’s always is in a rush…he moves around quickly and shouts. I think he wants to go out and play real bad…not as much as Brother. He’s pretty slow…sometimes he comes out with his bowl and sits like Dad.
When Mum goes to work he usually disappears for a bit and then comes back all sweaty and ready to take me out. We walk in the sun for a bit and he keeps me company with that rope thing. I hate it, it clips onto my collar and sometimes it twists and turns. Makes me real itchy…
It’s okay though…I get to walk with him. The air is nice and I see others like me.
Especially at the park.
There’s like all these play things we can jump over, and Brother watches me with all the other mums and dads. I have a couple of friends there, we just spend most of our time running around and chasing each other.
Sometimes I look back over to him and catch him smiling with the other mums and dads. I dunno why but that makes me happy…
We usually go to the lake after, I’m always tired so I like laying on the grass with him and watching the ducks pop up and around us. Usually, I’d chase them because they seem like they wanna play…but sometimes I just like to watch them for a bit with Brother. He smiles when I chase them…
He doesn't laugh much anymore. I notice that when he’s alone.
I try make him laugh…go for a run and look back.
Sometimes he smiles. Most of the time he watches but his eyes seem like they're looking through me.
I get sad coz of this sometimes...
Sometimes he comes down late at night and sits next to my house. I barely have to open my eyes but I can tell it’s him.
He talks…I don't really understand what he’s saying…but I still try and listen… I hope he knows that.
Mum makes him laugh though. She always scratches his head and gives him the same hugs she gives me.
I see Big Brother tease him as well, which I find quite funny.
He steals his shoe and hides it in my bag of cereal sometimes. Brother gets mad but I think it’s hilarious.
Big Brother sometimes sneaks me other food as well. He’ll give me a bit of his banana…or if I’m lucky, a bit of his steak.
I love steak.
I like Big Brother…he never gets annoyed with me…so I muck around a lot with him.
Sometimes he lets me into his room and we take naps on his bed when no ones around.
It’s nice.
Dad caught us once.
He wasn't happy. I tried to tell him that we were doing nothing wrong, but he still was pretty mad.
Brother thought it was funny.
I don't get it though?
We lay around on the grass all the time….and if I had enough room on my bed, I’d let them nap with me?
I dunno…maybe coz it’s upstairs…I’m not really allowed up there.
It doesn't bother me much though…I prefer being outside on the grass. Sometimes, if it’s sunny, Brother will come and join me when I’m laying down, and he’ll use my body as a pillow and we’ll watch the clouds go by…it’s great.
I like that type of stuff…and I know he does too…he smiles a lot more when we do stuff like that…watching ducks and the clouds and stuff…
That’s when I feel happiest…
