Palaios sat in the backseat like he always did, hidden behind the tinted windows and on the floor of the van. His brown German Shepherd eyes darted from my hands on the steering wheel to the rain battering the windshield. Neos, the Siberian Husky sitting in the passengers seat, groomed his grey and white fur, looking his best as always. He didn't need to be sitting straight-backed, displaying his magnificent fur coat, because pedestrians could see him clear enough already; pasted on the side of the van was a photo of him wearing a cop-hat, in mid-stride, chasing a criminal. Overlapping the image were the printed words: Dog Police.
Our unit had worked hard tonight; we had taken care of three separate cases of attempted burglaries. Palaios had performed well, and had managed to chase down every single suspect. However, Neos always outshone him. Neos was always present to perform some sort of last-minute, heroic act that would nab the criminal for me. Sometimes he would even act out of impulse, something that him and Palaios were trained never to do. But it just got the job done.
Suddenly, my radio sounded: "We have armed-men in the bank on Jun & Ior Avenue, we need you there now. Over."
Fear gripped my heart, and while my brain was frozen, my hands automatically engaged the turn signal necessary to make it to the bank. Not only were armed robberies the most dangerous for the Dog Police, but the bank at Jun & Ior was rumored to be one of the most difficult areas to chase down criminals.
I turned around and saw Palaios, looking tired as ever, begin to stand up. His weak legs were shaking and the bald patches in his fur stood out more than usual. Even Neos seemed lethargic as he gathered himself for the task ahead. Mystery surrounded the new case on Jun & Ior; would Neos break the rules again to finish the job? Would my two dogs even survive the operation? We all felt slightly burnt out after the three cases we had earlier, but we still had some energy left in store.
Watch out Junior Year, the Dog Police are here!
Interesting post, Vinay! Quite a departure from the contemplative posts you've offered so far. Now you've got me wondering whether you're embarking on a National Novel Writing Month project, or whether you've taken on an unusual after-school job, or...
ReplyDeleteI loved this post, but I, too, am confused. I think I'll just choose to believe that you're Dog-Batman, because that would pretty much be the best thing ever.
ReplyDeleteBasically, everything in this story is parallel with my high school career so far. I think I made those connections too subtle and non-apparent.
DeleteAfter you explained that this was a metaphor for your high school experience, I definitely spotted the connections. But also, I really enjoyed your detail and description, I could really see you having a career in short stories or novel writing! But hang in there, only a little more than a week until Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI was a little confused while reading, but I read all the comments and it suddenly made sense. For some reason, this seems to be like me in calculus. I'll have no clue what we're talking about or why we do it that way, and then all of a sudden - WHAM - I suddenly understand how and why.
ReplyDeleteNice usage of connections, but I think that in this case, the connections were a bit too subtle to catch on right away to.
I agree with Bryan, this post made more sense once I read your comment. After I reread it, I was able to catch the parallels. I especially liked "Jun & Ior" being junior, I did not catch that the first time through. Good job.
ReplyDelete