A Short Story

The idea for the short story below arose during an hour long train ride in peak hour towards home.

Sarah stared out the fast moving train from her window seat as the train sped away towards suburbia, leaving the brightly lit tall buildings, trails of cars stuck in traffic and grim looking commuters on the station platforms. Outside, the scape rapidly changed to show less dense, shorter buildings, more frequently interspersed with large tall trees. It was 7:30pm and she was glad to escape the office after a horrible long day. Her boss had demanded ten different things from her at one time, and she had skipped lunch working on a particular report only to be finally told that it was no longer needed. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the thought of returning home to Jack. She couldn't wait to snuggle in bed with him, telling him about her day. He was so understanding, and was always so patient to listen. She had dated other men who, at her first breath of starting to whinge had always changed the topic and talked about sports, or beer. So shallow!

Jack was different. He is her best friend, the only one who could calm her when things do not go according to plan. She could drop all inhibitions and be totally herself around him, something she could not do even among her closest girlfriends. He was good looking too. Often, when he stretched in bed, she could not help but admire his sleek and well toned muscles. People always turn to look at him when they went for walks together at the park. She would always return their looks with a totally contented, happy look of her own. Jack was all hers.

The loudspeaker in the train announced her station. The train slowed to a stop and she quickly stood up, exited the stomach of the train and walked the short distance to her house. As she fed the key into the lock, she was already smiling. "Jack darling...! I'm home!" At the sound of her voice, Jack bounded into the room with his tail swishing furiously, happy to see her. "Woof"!