No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology by Elizabeth Knox (black authors fiction TXT) 📕

the stairs in her usual getaway, he moved inside the dark house and turned in for the night.

Chapter Three

“Well look who’s here early today,” Leo greeted the Pomeranian as he stepped outside with his mug in hand. “I know someone must be missing you girl.” He eased onto the top step. When he was settled, she climbed onto his lap and stretched out. She didn’t move a muscle while he rested his hand on her back scratching her neck as he finished off the coffee. Then, just like every other visit, she jumped and ran away with no looking back.

As the day went on, he went about his normal routine. Each time he passed the window and glanced outside; the dog seemed to always be in sight. Finally, about noon, he opened the door and she ran inside the house and straight to the couch. Jumping onto the cushion, she turned and flopped onto her belly.

“Come get a drink, then we need to find your home. You can’t stay here. I live alone and that’s not going to change.”

He set a small bowl of water on the floor in the kitchen as he had done before. While she lapped up the water, he searched for something he thought appropriate to feed her. Finding nothing much, he decided on a slice of lunchmeat. He squatted next to the water bowl and pinching off pieces, he fed them to her one by one until she devoured it all and sat looking up at him.

Leo stood staring down at the excited furball, weighing his options as what to do. Suddenly he nodded and walked to his bedroom closet. Coming back to the kitchen moments later with a backpack, he scooped up the dog and placed her inside. Zipping it closed enough to keep her inside but leaving a hole large enough she could see through, he slung it over his back and grabbed his keys and motorcycle helmet.

Locking the house door, he raised the garage door and threw a leg over his motorcycle. The ride to the store to meet his friends usually took only eight minutes. Today it lasted nearly twenty minutes as he stopped at each house on the way. He despised small talk with people he didn’t know, but luckily most he encountered today knew enough about him they didn’t attempt to stall his venture to find the owner. There was a total of seven houses on the road. His and six others. Only one sat further up the mountain past his home and he knew it was empty. Had been for some few months now. So, he stopped at each of the remaining five homes and learned no one had seen the tiny creature before.

Reaching the store, Leo parked his bike and strolled into the building. The front of the store hosted a small seating area to the left of the door. Moving past that, customers reached the counter where they made their purchases. The back two-thirds of the store held shelves filled with grocery items and necessities. He entered no further than the chairs where he and his friends met weekly. They were an odd bunch to anyone outside the group. Sam as the oldest, who walked with a cane and at times needed assistance. Henry, at the age of sixty-eight was beginning to gray around the edges to match his gray beard. That left Tom and Ryan. They were each in their forties, same as Leo.

Carefully taking off the backpack, he placed it next to his feet as he dropped into his chair.

“What ya got in there?” Tom asked from across the heater.

Leo chuckled and reached down, unzipping the bag completely. The little pale orange head popped from the bag igniting gasps and laughs from the five other men.

“So, you did get a pet. Good for you,” Tom congratulated.

“Oh no. She’s not mine. I’m hoping someone here knows where she belongs.”

“Looks like she belongs to you,” Ryan noted when she wiggled from the bag and jumped into Leo’s lap.

“She keeps showing up at the house, but no one on the road knows where she came from,” he was explaining when a young woman walked up.

“Oh, how cute is that. She’s adorable.”

Leo glanced at the woman then returned his focus back to his friends, not acknowledging what the woman was saying. After a hesitation, she turned away and left the general store.

“You do realize that woman was hitting on you, don’t you? That little powder puff could help get you women,” Ryan teased him.

Leo sobered and looked around the faces. “Don’t need a woman either.”

“Just like you don’t need a dog?” Henry corrected. “You know, I believe this is the first time I’ve witnessed you arriving here without that scowl you keep.”

“What would I do with a woman around?” Leo asked.

“Son, if you’ve forgotten that, you have a bigger problem than any of us can help you with,” Sam said with a chuckle.

“You know what I mean,” he snapped. “How do you know you won’t wake up in a nightmare and attack the person beside you? What happens when they sneak up on you and something triggers?”

“Well, for me, my wife is very understanding. It’s something you have to work on. I admit at times it’s not easy, but we’ve all been through tougher times than that,” Ryan explained.

“Plus, my canine therapy has helped tremendously,” Tom added. “I actually have fewer episodes.”

“I do just fine,” he told the group and averted the subject away from himself.

Before heading back home, he scanned the aisles for dog food. This small store was more of an old fashion general store. It had a variety of necessities one may need but no one thing was supplied in abundance. He happened into this place when he moved here only to keep from the larger chain stores in town. He hated the crowds of the larger stores and avoided them at all costs. One day the veterans were meeting and