Member-only story
Because of the dogs, I know there is a God.
I live on a lake.
I live on a lake in the deep South.
Every night I walk around the lake.
The pain in my joints is unbearable some nights.
Every step is a struggle, yet
I never miss my walks.
I am an old man;
I am a tired old man;
I am a tired old man with not much time left.
Eighty-eight if I make it to the next.
I walk the lake because it is all I have.
No family,
No wife.
No children.
No grandchildren.
My dog died, too, long ago.
I walk the lake for connection.
Most people do not connect with this old crooked man.
The pretty ladies want no part of me.
The children run from me.
I think my cane scares them.
Mine is a sad, lonely life;
The life of the elderly…
I walk the lake for the dogs.
The dogs look at me.
If I bend down, the dogs acknowledge me.
