I slowly open the back yard gate and peer down the alley. The alley looks empty, but Mama said that it was time. I step into the alley without letting go of the gate. I lean as far as I can into the alley, without letting go of the gate. And suddenly there he is.
I let go of the gate and begin to run. I run past Wally's yard. I run past Jefferies' yard. I run past Bobbie Moore's yard. I am very far from home. It is scary, but exciting. There is a dog in one of the yards. I can't see him because of the fence but I can hear him barking. It is scary but exciting.
Then I look up, and there he is. He is smiling and his arms are wide. I take a leap and he scoops me up. He kisses my face. He kisses me on the eye. The stubble of his beard picks my face. We are laughing. He's happy that I came.
He carries me high on his arm. I can see the dog now. He is still barking and jumping against the fence. Nothing is scary anymore because we are laughing.
We come to our own back yard. The gate is still open. I look into his eyes. I'm not supposed to leave the gate open. But he is still laughing and swings me down to the ground while he closes the gate.
Once released from his arms, I can run to the house and announce to everybody - "Papa's home".
3 comments:
That barking dog belonged to the Moore's. He was a Spitz breed and his name was Whitey. I did not like that dog, he bit me once. Some kids used to bang on the fence to make him bark louder, I never saw thie point of doing that.
Beautiful memory!
Boy, am I jealous! I did get the swig of beer tho, when he sat down in the kitchen to talk to Ma.
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