Echo

just remember to dive under the covers and pull down the netting. No one will be the wiser.” The whole gang headed for the sand, Scotty pushing the carriage over the scrub weeds till they reached the tiny beach. They were alone except for the closest mansion about 500 feet down the beach. They were within distant eyeshot of the mansion’s deep-water dock, with two yachts docked, one a monster, for sure. Scotty doubted anyone glancing their way would be able to tell what kind of dogs played on the beach, let alone how many. If approached, he would scoop up Echo, and deposit her into the carriage with little Mimi, who languished, ostensibly recovering from an injury. The ruse gave all of them a small precious sense of freedom.
    Penny loved jumping in the air after the gulls, never getting close but convinced she was keeping them all safe from the noisy wheeling birds. Mimi watched, glassy eyed and complacent from the carriage as Echo and Scotty chased Barney around the edge of the water, jumping and playing games of doggy tag. Echo loved being it , riding on Barney’s back as they chase down Penny and Scotty. Scotty kept his eye on them all, laughing at their antics or tossing a blue rubber ball for them to scramble after.
    From out of nowhere came this high pitched scream from the mansion with the yachts, followed by the sight of a miniature chocolate furry bullet streaming toward them on the beach. The bullet was being chased by a young girl yelling frantically for it to stop. How a tiny ball of curly brown fur could keep up the pace in the hot sun was unbelievable. It danced like a ping pong ball, bouncing from one dog to another to Scotty to Echo where it stopped, panting and staring, its dinky brown paws flush on the sand, its body, prone like a sphinx. Scotty scoped up Echo, depositing her in the carriage with Mimi, grabbing the water canister as the furry bullet’s pretty mistress flopped down on the sand next to it.
    Scotty poured some water for their furry guest. He sat on the sand, joined by Barney and Penny.
    “Thanks for the water, Ted gets carried away sometimes. He loves to show off for people. I’m Chloe. You a dog sitter? They can’t possibly be all yours.”
    “Yeah, there all mine. What kind of shrimpy mutt is Ted?”
    “He’s a Shih Tzu/teacup poodle. Six pounds, with a one hundred pound personality; pure alpha. Teddy, come here.” Chloe hung her head shaking it sorrowfully as she watched Teddy climb up Penny’s back as she lay in the sand. He was so tiny, fifty five pound Penny seemed unaware that he was there as he made his way up to her ear where he straddled it, proceeding to mate with the ear.
    “I’m Scotty Preston,” he said watching the spectacle in front of him. “We live over on Mango Lane. You live here?” Pointing to the mansion with the deep-water dock, Scotty saw her nod.
    “What’s in the carriage? You got a kid here?” Getting up, Chloe turned to the carriage. Scotty beat her to it, adjusting the netting.
    “No, that’s just Mimi, she’s a Shih Tzu too; a puppy mill rescue. She can’t walk right now. She’s recovering from a spinal operation. This helps me get her outside so she can be with us.” Chloe looked in.
    “Let me see. Oh, she looks like a little skunk. That’s so sweet of you.” Scotty grabbed the handle of the carriage preparing to run. Chloe sat back down on the sand. He relaxed and joined her, appraising her athletic build.
    “You must be hot. Isn’t that terrycloth? It’s okay if you want to take off your shirt.”
    “No, I’m good.” Chloe and Scotty talked for another hour or so. Scotty felt comfortable with her, common ground easy to find. He sensed a loneliness in her that felt familiar. She was the first teenager other than Kane he had spoken to in almost a year. Even though there was a four year age difference, he felt comfortable enough to swap cell numbers, noticing she sure wasn’t hard to look at. He wished he could be smoother with the ladies, but he needed a lot of practice before he could set his childhood complexes aside.
    “Maybe you can come visit me at my house. We have monkeys, what do you think of that? They don’t belong to me, they belong to my Uncle. He looks after me when my dad is away. My mom’s dead,” she said, wiping an unexpected stray tear. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
    “No, Chloe, I get it. It’s ok. My mom died too, about a year ago. My sister and I still aren’t normal yet either.