Buzz - chapter 3
Stanley waited for the familiar lurch of the truck moving but didn’t feel it. All he did feel was his roommate shaking, almost as fast as he was. He risked a tentative peek out the window and saw the park with its expanse of green grass, trees, all the rocks he’d marked as his own. What he didn’t see was an angry circle of dragonflies. He sniffed and smelled something sweet and salty. He followed his nose to his friend’s face and proceeded to lick the water leaking from her eyes.
She still clenched the shifter with one hand, ready to jam the gears in place and race away. With the other she cradled Stanley to her chest as he licked her face. Normally she’d make a show of warding him off. This time she didn’t. She sat frozen, the only movement her eyes darting left and right, scanning the horizon.
The buzzing was gone for now. The only sounds left were her pounding heart and the the old man rumble of the truck’s engine. She loosened her death grip on the shifter and concentrated on her breathing. Stanley finally got his fill of her sweat and tears so she let him go. He hopped to the passenger seat and put his little paws on the door and his head out the window.
“It’s a good thing those dragonflies disappeared, Stanley. I forgot your window was still open.”
Stanley sniffed at the air. If he’d been a classicist, he might have made a joke about Denmark because something sure was rotten in the park. He whimpered and took his paws off the window. He spun circles in his seat, the universal sign for, “let’s get out of here.”
She saw Stanley spinning in his seat. “We sure don’t want to drive all the way home if you need to use the bathroom, do we?” she said in response to the universal sign for, “I’ve got to pee.” She took a few deep breaths and patted Stanley on the head to calm herself more. Then she turned off the truck. It sputtered twice before dying and she thought it was about time for a tuneup. Stanley yipped excitedly as she turned to open her door.
The dragonflies were back.
