It was hard to believe that this was summer. But maybe because summer held a different meaning to Alison. Summer had always been waiting all day for the ice cream truck to come by, scraped knees, sun burns and catching fireflies outback late at night. Now summer was this completely different thing. Everything was completely different. And not the good kind of different either. This is the part where someone tells Alison it's called growing up and that it's inevitable. But that'll be followed by her arguing she was grown up and refusing to admit she was still a kid. Had someone told her growing up would've been so boring, hard and different she would've never welcomed it.
Her feet barely touched the ground as she swung on the swing set slowly. Even if the weather had been horrid today Alison still would've came to the park. It had been on her to-do list ever since they moved here and she kept pushing it back as things kept coming up. Her dog, Bobby Mc Gee laid in the shade under a tree not to far from her. He was a Siberian huskie and people always asked about the name. Alison liked it when people already knew the name came from a song title by Janis Joplin and didn't have to explain herself. Bobby Mc Gee was her dog, not the families, and it was her responsibility to bring him along whenever she went to the park. The dog park wasn't that far from there but Alison preferred the playground hands down to the dog park. At the dog park she would worry if the other dogs wanted to pick a fight with Bobby Mc Gee (who despite his size was a wimp) and in the playground she just had to keep an eye on him.
Keeping an eye on him was easy, or at least Alison thought so. Sometimes it was a funny sight to see. A small girl, leading along a large white dog. People teased the dog was walking her. But Bobby was a very mellow dog that only got excited every now and then. No one else was at the playground at the time. Because of the hot weather everyone must of been at the beach or at home in air conditioned rooms. Alison kept cool in a white t-shirt, blue jean shorts and her usual pair of black high top converse. She heard a rustle of leaves some feet away and turned her head to see a squirrel. How she forgot that Bobby's natural instinct was too attack furry little creatures I don't know. What is true is that at that moment Bobby sprung into action and ran off in the direction of the squirrel. Bobby, of course, was followed by a tired Alison. Why didn't I put his leash on him. All she could hope for was the squirrel finding a tree and Bobby giving up. Stupid squirrel, maybe he does deserve Bobby to eat him. I mean if I were a squirrel and there was a huge dog I obviously wouldn't sit there. Jeez. Random thoughts like those shuffled through her mind as she continued to give chase.