Rex and Dottie

You know, I've always hated trains. Hated them! From the time I was a young pup, I just couldn't stand them. The noise. The smell.

Did I mention the noise, by chance? That ear-piercing "chugga-chugga - creeeeek, chugga-chugga-creeeeeek, screeeeh, chugga-chugga," is something I could have lived a thousand lives without ever hearing quite happily.

Yet. somehow, I ended up on one of them, a train.

It was about 14 years ago, give or take and there I was, chugging right along in what seemed to be a cargo car.

It was a wide open space that smelled like a mixture of old straw, remnants of excrement and feet. Oh, and a hint of diesel. There were three seats, the standard type you'd see in a passenger car, just large enough to fit two people each almost comfortably.

I must have fallen asleep because I don't remember getting onboard. I had no ticket. I wasn't holding onto anything and I had no pockets.

Why on earth would I ever get on a train?

The last thing I remember was taking my usual morning walk with Esmerelda, Ezzie for short. We went down Main Street, across to Euclid Avenue and through the park, the one with the huge splash pad for the kids. Then, nothing.

Well, nothing until I woke up and found myself on the train.

I panicked, I remember that. I remember furiously looking around at my surroundings, desperate, so very desperate to make sense of them. I was shaking, maybe not visibly, I don't know. But I was sure shaking on the inside. My throat was dry and my heart was racing. I opened my mouth to cry out, but nothing would come. Nothing.

A woman approached me, she was young, younger than Ezzie, with thick dark hair and blue eyes. She was dressed very smartly, with a crisp blazer and a tailored skirt. They were both black. She smelled like flowers and coffee.

She spoke gently to me, placing her hand lightly on my shoulder. She told me it was okay, that I was on a train to the city. She gave me a drink of water.

I drank it down in a flash! And with my throat properly lubricated, I promptly asked for more. She happily obliged.

I calmed down a little, but I still felt strange. It's very unsettling to find yourself somewhere and have no idea how it happened. I mean, if I'd been out with the fellas, having a few too many, as guys often do, I could have understood it. But, I'm not that kind of guy. It's water or nothing for me!

The train continued to chug along, and the woman eventually went back to sit down. There were two other women, one very tall and the other not quite as tall, but somehow larger than she really was. She had a huge smile and a loud, melodious laugh that filled the entire car.

She kept looking back at me, peeking really, like she didn't want me to notice, but she really did want me to notice, if that makes any sense to you. Then she'd turn away, back to the other girls, and giggle.

She had piercing green eyes and a short little pug nose that suited her perfectly somehow. I learned that her name was Dottie. I thought that was a funny name for a girl. I still do, but then again, who am I to judge?

Dottie giggled and giggled and peeked and peeked. I heard her going on and on to the others about my dreamy brown eyes and wavy dark hair. That didn't surprise me, I'd always had pretty good luck with the ladies. I was always the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. I'm not bragging, mind, it's just a fact.

After about an hour of me just sitting there, still confused, but resigned to my fate, at least as far as being on the train went, Dottie summoned up the nerve to approach me.

It was pretty obvious she wasn't accustomed to approaching guys like me. She giggled, her eyes shifted, from the floor to the windows and back to the floor. She looked anywhere and everywhere but directly at me.

She looked back at the others, then back toward me and smiled and said, "Well aren't you the handsome one?" It was cute. I think she was showing off for them. I think she thought she was flirting with me.

I didn't say anything. I just smiled. I knew in these situations a fella can't do any good by speaking. Best to keep quiet. Besides, after this journey to god knows where I had Ezzie to get home to. We'd been together for several months and I loved her. She'd be waiting for me,

Dottie started to sit down on the floor beside me when all of a sudden there was a loud crunching sound, followed by that horrible screech that sounds like the sparks of metal scraping metal. Then a thud that knocked the poor girl over and right on top of me.

I yelped. She was heavier than she looked. Or it could have just been the force that made it seem that way.

She righted herself quickly and apologized. She asked if I was okay. I was. She stroked my hair, smoothing it where she had landed.

Something in the air shifted. Suddenly I was very nervous again. The train was moving much faster than it had been. Not only faster, but backward. I could hear the other girls saying something. It was incomprehensible, garbled, frantic.

Dottie must have felt it too because she wrapped her arms around me, clinging to me for dear life, sometimes stroking my head, sometimes stroking my cheek.

She kept repeating, "We'll be okay, right? We'll be okay."

I had no words. I couldn't say we'd be okay, I was terrified myself. The train seemed to keep picking up speed as it retraced the track it had just travelled. I was so scared! I could have peed myself right there and then. I didn't. That'd been rude and certainly not helpful.

Soon, we were careening backwards, out of control. I really had to brace myself to remain seated. I moved over to the side of the car and braced myself against the wall. Dottie followed me and as soon as we were seated again, she gripped me tight around the chest.

It's funny, what a guy focuses on in moments like that. It's amazing what becomes important. At first, all I could think about was my Ezzie. But somehow, the way Dottie held me, the mix of tender concern and abject terror in her eyes drew me to her.

Suddenly, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and I knew. I just knew. I felt an overwhelming sense of protection, a desire to do something, anything. I would have gladly died that day if it meant saving my precious Dottie.

I looked into her eyes. She looked into mine and we both knew.

Another loud thud. This one sent us all flying as the train stopped in a violently abrupt 100 - 0 in 10 seconds kind of way. My head hit the wall all the way in the back of the cabin. I wailed! It hurt.

Dottie banked her knee on the same wall. She banged it up pretty good. It swelled instantly and she cried. I couldn't do much to help but kiss it. She seemed to like that. I wish I could have done more, but you can only do what you can do with what you've got at the time.

When all the confusion was over and we were ready to leave the train, she asked me if I wanted to go to her place. I figured, "why not?" There was something happening between us, and besides, I was hungry.

I never left.

But today, I have to go. I don't really want to, but I'm awfully tired. Dottie and I have had a great time together. I love her more than anything. We did all kinds of things, travelled all over, walked on the beach, snuggled on the couch and watched movies. Just life stuff.

But now that has to end. I'm at the doctor's office. Dottie's here, she's rubbing my head. She's crying. I'm trying to make her feel better, but none of my usual tricks are working. No wonder, I'm just so very tired.

I haven't been feeling well lately. I'm an old fella now. Dottie told me that the doctor, they call him a vet, is going to give me a needle, and then I'll go to sleep and I won't feel bad anymore.

I'll miss Dottie, but you know, it turns out I don't hate trains after all. I found the love of my life on a train, so they can't be that bad.