Bright Moon Read Free

found Maria
playing fetch with three of the medium sized breeds. Duke’s ears
rose in interest and he showed no signs of aggression, so Clara
dared to take him over. He wagged his stumpy tail happily as the
larger dogs rushed to greet him. “Good morning, Maria,” she said.
They watched the dogs become acquainted. Maria was young, only
seventeen, and attended the same high school as Dynol. She had dark
hair and golden bronze skin. She always wore bright colors and had
an electric, happy energy. “Have you met Duke?”
    “I have, he seems an excellent candidate for
adoption, don’t you think?”
    “I hope so. I hate it when they don’t find a
home.”
    “He will, he’s very pretty,” Maria pointed
out, her dark eyes sparkling. She leaned toward Duke and stroked
the silky soft, wavy hair on his ears. Involved with the other
dogs, he scarcely noticed. “Why don’t you adopt him?”
    The topic was an ongoing one between them.
Every other person employed at the shelter had adopted at least one
animal, if not more. She laughed in response and shook her head.
“If only I could.”
    “Why don’t you try? Your dad wouldn’t say no
if you took Duke home. How could he?”
    “Maybe in a few months we’ll be able to have
a dog, but I don’t think now is the right time to bring it up
again.”
    “Well, he can’t say ‘no’ forever.”
    Clara bit her lip and nodded, holding back
the truth of the matter. Her father would never allow for any kind
of pet, no matter how she begged. Her mother had been severely
allergic to dogs and cats and the subject would only awaken fresh
pain in him, pain that would drag him into the pit of depression
which he struggled to climb from.
    “I had better finish with Duke,” she said
and tugged at the leash to pry him from the small pack. A path had
been constructed around the perimeter of the property when the
place was remodeled. It was not a very long path and the chain link
fence surrounded by tall shrubs made for dull scenery, but the dogs
never seemed to mind. She tried to ensure each animal she exercised
went at least four laps around. True to her word, she hurried to
help with the larger breeds after returning Duke. Most of them were
oversized, undertrained, hyperactive puppies that nearly tore her
arm from her socket after she managed to slip the lead over their
heads. Lunch break was upon her by the time she finished.
    In the frenzy of the morning, she’d
forgotten to pack the usual peanut butter and jelly and opted for
fast food instead. When she returned to work, she found Mark’s
truck absent from the lot and felt a stab of disappointment. The
time came to clock out and she hated how she missed his friendly
smile and cheerful goodbye to close the day.
    Her car miraculously survived the trip home,
but it seemed her day would go from mediocre to worse. Her house
key normally hung on a ring at the lip of her purse. The leather
band that held it in place was completely torn free as if it had
caught on something without her noticing. What was worse, her
father might not return from work for a few hours. A thorough
search of her car produced no key and she was deliberating her
chances of finding it at work when her dad’s car rounded the
corner. His vehicle lurched angrily into the driveway, nearly
colliding with her car.
    “You parked too close to the middle again,”
was the first thing he said while stepping out.
    “I’m…sorry,” Clara said, trying to bite back
agitation. “Bad day at work?”
    “Can’t a man come home and find his parking
space clear? What are you doing out here anyway?”
    “Nothing, I was just...looking for my house
keys.”
    “Don’t tell me you lost them again?”
    She was nervously twisting her hair around
her finger by this time, trying to keep her cool. “My bag tore,”
she said and held up her purse as evidence. “I looked in my car,
but they’re not there. I’ll check work in the morning.”
    “Why don’t you keep them on the