Morning all. It is time for the morning writing prompt. The coffee is brewing and it is time to shake the brain awake. So while we wait for the coffee to be ready lets set those timers and see what we come up with.
I like Colin. I don’t know what story I would tell, but I do like Colin.
Thursday, March 14th: “Let me get my shoes.”
“Let me get my shoes,” Colin said feeling resigned. He tried not to sigh. How many times had Blinkers escaped his brother’s grasp in the last month? He lost count. ‘At this point I think we might want t let the dog escape. It certainly doesn’t want to be with Mike.’
Still Mike looked at him with wide eyes and a pleading expression. So Colin got his shoes, Slipped them on his feet leaving the laces dangling and hoping that he could get back soon enough to get a few more hours sleep before he had to be awake again.
They walked into the back yard and Colin could see the back gate was open. Colin looked at his brother. “Did you leave the gate open?” He tried to keep the accusation out of his voice but teas welled up in Mike’s eyes anyway.
“I forgot,” Mike said. Colin nodded.
“You have to remember to close and lock the gate or he will continue to get out,” Colin said.
Since colin didn’t appear ready to yell at him, Mike smiled. “But then we will just find him again.”
“If you lose him because you’ve left the gate open again then you will have to find Blinkers on your own,” Colin said.
“I know,” Mike replied. He didn’t believe him and at this point Colin couldn’t blame him for not believing him. Anytime Blinkers ran off, Colin helped search. While he wasn’t terribly fond of Mike. They were brothers through marriage and while everyone liked to think of Mike as young and innocent, he was only six months younger than Colin. He just had a baby face that let others think of him as younger. It had gotten him out of trouble more times than colin could remember.
He stepped through the gate and left their small fenced in yard for the woods on the other side. Truth be told, Colin was out her because of Blinkers. The small dog of mixed and often debated parentage had a wild streak that meant he wanted to explore the deeper woods. As there were several larger animals out there who might not mind a Blinkers-sized snack, Colin felt obligated.
He was certain that one day Mike would leave the gate open and Blinkers wouldn’t be coming back. Colin couldn’t stand the thought of leaving the dog to his fate and so he searched. He knew the time spent here would make him groggy at both school and work, but it had to be done. He couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t search for the little guy.
‘Which is what Mike counts on when forgetting the gate,’ Colin thought. As he thought about it, he realized that Mike wasn’t with him. He looked back and saw that Mike was retreating back into the house now that Colin was searching.
He sighed. Again, this was nothing new. Colin called for the little dog and in the distance heard a sharp bark. Colin pushed forward. He found Blinkers at the base of a tree, barking at whatever was up it. Colin could see nothing and managed to coax the dog away. The two of them returned to the house.
Ten til Midnight 