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Companions by Emily Rushing
“Man, I wish I had a dog like Noah,” Charlie said. I glanced over at my fluffy mutt, his black folded ears flapping as he trotted happily beside us. His tongue was rolling over his bottom lip, flopping with his movements, and his tail was high in the air, wagging softly. “Why?” I asked. “He’s adorable!” “Dumb as a post, too.” “Elliot!” “What? He knows it too, don’t ya, bud?” I replied, looking over at Noah and scratching behind his ear. He huffed and leaned into it, tail wagging harder and mouth splitting open into a dog version of a smile. “Elli, that’s not fair.” “Says who?” “Me.” “Well, nobody needs your opinion anyway.” Charlie nudged me playfully with her shoulder, and I scoffed. We continued walking deeper into the oak woods in a comfortable silence before she spoke up. “How’d you get Noah anyway?” “Found him digging in a trash can,” I answered, patting his back. “He kept coming back so my sister and I put food out. He started eating that and one thing led to another and voilà! The idiot is ours.” “You really shouldn’t talk about him like that.” “Truth hurts.” “Elli.” I rolled my eyes. “If I had a pet, I’d—” “Baby it?” I interrupted. “What? No!” “Don’t lie to me, yes, you would! You already baby Noah.” I raised my voice to a higher pitch. “Hey, baby, oh you’re so sweet, yes, you are, oh, you deserve some bacon, don’t ya? Aww, yes, you do!” Charlie crossed her arms. “I don’t do that.” “Yep, and birds don’t fly, and Noah doesn’t like swimming, and The Blues Brothers isn’t the greatest musical of all time, and—” “Oh my lord, shut up,” Charlie said, shoving me. I grinned and elbowed her back, and we
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