The Traveling Adventures of the “Lizzies”, by Carol Daugherty
Continued travels of Lilly and Izzie, aka The Lizzies.
The girls woke to cool, crisp air and noises…lots of noises. Horns were honking, tires were moving over pavement, whistles were blowing, and the people were clip-clopping along on the sidewalks with their solid, leather-bound shoes. Where were they? And the smells!!! Whoa! So many smells! Pizza, doughnuts, pasta and sauces! Smells of other dogs…lots of dogs! Were they at a zoo? Izzie stretched out on the clean sofa and jumped to the floor. The room they were in had a hollow sound to it; there was no carpet, so nothing decreased the sound. And there were plenty of sounds and smells to get both of them excited. The sounds and smells were coming, mostly, from the window; but they were too small to jump up and look out. Izzie liked looking out of windows. A windowsill to rest her nose on was her special happy place. She was afraid to jump up to it as she sensed she was a bit too high up in the sky and might fall out of it. Her “person” had left quickly, and she was not sure what was going to happen next. She found her leash on the floor near the couch, that Lilly was still lazing around on, and she nuzzled it a little hoping to get someone’s attention. Then, happiness! Her person had come back and was walking up to her! Very slowly, it seemed to Izzie, her person bent and picked up the leash. She also reached for Lilly’s. With both leashes attached and both girls ready, along with their person in tow, down they scrambled for the doors that led out to the busy, smell-filled place! Be careful of the doors, Izzie seemed to say to Lilly, last night the door caught Lilly in it and she whimpered. But, today, Lilly seemed to know the routine and rushed through before the door could close her in. They burst through to the outside and the sunshine! The smells and sounds, that seemed so condensed in the room, came at them from so many directions that they both got tangled in their leashes just trying to decide which smell or sound they would run towards. Finally, their person got them untangled and headed off in a semi-singular direction. The girls’ excitement was too much, and they tangled several more times before they got to their destination. Their person stopped at a little building on the sidewalk and got coffee. The girls were immediately wrapped up in the delicious smells of bagels, fresh toast, bacon…yes! Bacon!! Then their person was walking them away toward a crosswalk. Izzie did not want to leave the bacon smell and Lilly was interested in the milk smell from the baby in the strange, wheeled cart going across the road. Their person had to push and pull the girls to the other side before untangling them yet again. With coffee in her hand, their person took them across one more street and then SUNLIGHT!! And GREEN GRASS!!! Oh my! The girls were so excited! They leapt onto the solid rocks and rolled in the fresh grass and smelled new smells…like a garden and a field. Central Park was everything a couple of country dogs could enjoy. There were squirrels and birds and lots of other dogs. Children were laughing and playing, and the girls stopped for a moment, missing their little friend at home. After several hours of playing chase and enjoying the warm sun, their person took them back to the upstairs rooms and they jumped onto the clean couch. They stretched and yawned, curled up into a ball and fell asleep; dreaming of new adventures in this place called New York City.
Selah
God bless you,
-Carol