created by andrew chung

epoch 2

dog mai afternoon: chapter 7

"bobby, this is may, my pet dog."

"hello may, so what do you want to be when you grow up?" a laugh track goes off.

"bobby don't be silly, dogs can't be anything when they grow up."

"of course they can nikki. they can be happy, can't they? dogs are always happy. they get food whenever they want. they can sleep all day. and best of all, they can pee and doo-doo wherever they want too!" the laugh track continues.

"bobby, you know what i meant. anyway, may's so happy all the time that she even makes all the other dogs happy. she's even happy when i'm not around. so why would she care about what she'll be when she grows up anyway. if she's that happy, nothing else matters."

"but that's exactly why she should want to be happy when she grows up. she should hope she'll never have to look for her own food, stay awake all day, or pee and doo-doo in the same bucket every day!" the laugh track follows along.

"oh bobby."

"oh may." the laugh track persists in the background.

"mai..." he mumbles to himself with his eyes staring blankly at the tv. he turns to his left toward his open window. the sound of crickets echo into his bedroom and the darkness envelops the streets. he moves to the window and kneels in front, with his arms crossed on the sill. the stars remind him of kafa's eyes. they sparkle against the darkness all around them.

he hears loud thuds approaching his room. he turns toward it, and finds his father lumbering in the doorway.

"do you wanna starve now?" his father's voice rumbles.

in the kitchen, he quietly sips his soup at the dinner table. his dad slouches in the chair adjacent to him, watching the tv resting on the counter. he eats the soup to its last morsel, and looks up at his father. "dad, why can't you be happy?"

his dad is taken aback, and he turns to him. "what in the hell kinda question is that...?" he hesitates for a moment and finally replies, "when you're my age... you'll see."

all the boy can figure is that he probably will never see. because here will always be better than anywhere else.

epoch 2 chapter 6 | joe dreamer | intermezzo