A Dream of a Hug

by Tricia Knoll

I wanted to tame the feral gray dog, that one that scampered through the neighborhood streets.The one impossible to approach. The one for whom I carried a leash.  After days of offering enticements, I saw that the man who slept in the plywood shack around the corner from the taco stand had made a truce with the dog, left a bowl of kibble on a ledge, and water. That gray dog accepted him, waited nearby, sometimes let him touch her. The man was a puzzle, a not-very-lush blonde beard, clothing that needed some washing or mending, a thin woman who came to visit him but not often. An aura of kindness that did not speak. One morning I stepped out on the balcony of the motel and he walked up behind me, put his arms around me. I felt like a teenager, soothed by a first touch, brought home. With my eyes closed, I leaned back and he gave a slight pressure to the embrace. Once then perhaps ten more times. When gray dog barked three times, he walked down the stairs. I saw him again with a group of people including the tired woman on the picnic bench near the taco stand. I offered to pay food for them all. He waved me off, gave me a taco and handed one to the dog.