David Paul Nixon: The Website

Dog Monologue

The days are longer now, there’s not much going on. It’s a lovely sunny day and I’d love to go out and lie on the lawn. But no, I’m going to lie here in my spot by the window. Dad walks past outside occasionally, I shout hello, but he doesn’t hear me.

I’m getting old now; I’m not so much for all this excitement and running about. I put on a bit of a show for the masters, they like a bit of that old fetch stuff, but I’m too tired for that now. I can’t keep it going for long.

It didn’t used to be like this. Everyone’s deserted me. Mum used to walk me almost everyday and not just to the woods over the road. Sometimes she drove into town and sure, I’d have to sit in the boot for an hour or so but when she got back she’d take me along the stone-edged river. There were always lovely new smells to explore there. I love Mum, she gets cross sometimes, tells me to stop following her, but I love her, she’s everything to me. And now she’s gone.

Dad still walks me up to the pub at night, he feeds me crisps and then I go around and meet everyone else and they feed me crisps too. But it’s a long way to go and I have to hide from all the young ones these days, I don’t have the energy to play with them anymore.

How could she leave me? Her and Dad don’t like each other anymore, and now she’s abandoned me here with him.

Oh and there’s the young one who’s started to walk me instead. He doesn’t give me any crisps. He’s okay I suppose, he’s always in his own little world; I wish he’d cheer up. Doesn’t he understand that I get so tired? He just wanders around for hours.

Life’s just not the same without her; sometimes she used to come back. I’d jump for joy – like I was young again. But she didn’t stay for long and each time she went it broke my heart all over again.

Even the young one has left now, he comes back occasionally. I like it when he does, even if he does eat all the crisps. But Mum has stopped coming back now. I don’t think I’ll ever see her again.

I can hardly even be bothered to bark at the birds that trespass on my lawn. No one’s here to listen.

Oh how could she leave me?

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