EMILY ROSE MILLER
Short Story: Point of View
Emily. My Emily. She is mom. She is mine.
Sometimes she leaves. I hate that. I wait for her, but she is gone for so long. Sometimes I howl by the door, waiting. Then she appears! Keys jingling—I always know. It’s her. Because the way her keys jingle in her hand. As soon as I see her, I run! To get my favorite thing and share it with her. I know she. loves to play with, me, so I bring her my ball to make her happy. If she’s happy, she won’t leave me. My blue ball. Favorite bouncy blue ball. When her Chacos are on, she will leave. I get melancholy when she. puts on her Chacos. Sometimes it takes her a long time to leave after putting on Chacos—many hours. But she will leave eventually, with those shoes.
But sometimes she gets her blue flipflops. Then I know she’s going into. The backyard. And then we can play with my blue ball again. When she sits in the creaky wooden chair in her room, lacing up her tennis shoes, I know we’re going for walkies. Or she is going for walkies. Sometimes I don’t get to come, in which case I wait for her by the door. Waiting. If I don’t sit by the door, it probably won’t open, so I’d better wait. And her hiking boots! I love her hiking boots! Then we go to the mountain and go for hikies! Which usually turns into carries, because she has to pick me up and carry me because my legs are too short for huge obstacles, like pebbles and sticks.
Oh! Also! She has a specific smell. If I lose her, I can just follow the smell. She thinks she’s tricky, but I always find her. In the end. She will throw my toy and I run to chase it, but when I return she’s gone. She’s teleported! I knew it. We’re playing! Hide-and-seek! I drop my toy and forget about it. I run! To find her. So easy. Her smell is bullseye. She hides under the blanket, she hides behind. the door, she hides on top of the washer—this one takes me a while, because I can’t see up there. But I know she’s in the laundry room. She throws my toy, again, and I chase. When I return, I find she’s teleported again. Sneaky. I forget about my bouncy blue ball and set out on the hunt.