Rain, snow, sleet, or hail\u2014every day, at precisely 7:30 a.m. Michael takes Goldie, his golden retriever-german shepherd mix, for a walk. Every day at 8:55 a.m. he arrives at work, checks his email, watches the large windows for customers entering the used car lot where, for the last 40 years, he\u2019s sold minivans to families with sticky-fingered toddlers, sport cars to retired men with bald spots and dropping testosterone levels, even a few RVs and a handful of motorcycles. Every day since his wife died, for dinner Michael microwaves a frozen dinner\u2014meatloaf or chicken tenders or lasagna, shares his scraps with Goldie, then takes her for another walk at precisely 8 p.m. Every day, by 9:30 p.m. he\u2019s drifted off to sleep, Goldie curled up by his feet. Every day until today.<\/p>\n
Today, at 7:30 a.m. when Goldie whines to go for a walk, he lets her out into the yard, and sits at his kitchen table staring out the window. When 8:55 a.m. rolls around, he\u2019s still wearing sweatpants, watching the local weather channel, swearing when the weatherman announces an incoming cold front. Today, he is jobless.<\/p>\n
First, Michael couldn\u2019t find the car keys. A couple would want to test drive a Subaru Outback and he would grab the keys for the Ford Focus instead. Then, Michael couldn\u2019t find the cars. He\u2019d finally locate the correct key, but when he went into the parking lot, he\u2019d wander around the lot, in the winter weather, customers trailing behind him. Finally, what sealed his fate was when he started to lose the checks\u2014big, fat checks. His boss, a young guy who had fewer years of experience than Michael had wrinkles, fired him without so much as a severance check.<\/p>\n
Michael looks at himself in the mirror. \u201cYou\u2019re not old,\u201d he says to his graying hair and crow’s feet. \u201cYou are not losing your mind,\u201d he says to his slate eyes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Michael\u2019s grandsons climb, jump, and tumble in the mall play area. Michael\u2019s daughter, Danielle, sits next to her father on a bench nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow have you been, Dad?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah? I worry about you. Since mom\u2019s been gone you\u2019ve\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGoldie and I get along just fine. We get plenty of exercise and eat healthy dinners every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, but it would do you some good to try something new. Meet some people. Maybe a card club at the community center?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCard club? No way. That\u2019s for old geezers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danielle sighs then hands a water bottle to one of her sons. \u201cAnyways, how\u2019s work been?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh. Uh, it\u2019s been\u2026 great!\u201d Michael says with too much enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I sold two cars just today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s great, Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next morning, Michael\u2019s body wakes him up at 7 a.m., despite having no alarm set, despite having no job, despite it being Sunday morning. When Goldie whines for her morning walk, Michael lets her out into the yard.<\/p>\n
Michael looks in the mirror. \u201cYou\u2019re not getting old,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not losing your mind,\u201d the Michael in the mirror responds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to do something different today, Goldie\u201d he says as he lets the dog back inside.<\/p>\n
Michael gets dressed in his typical work outfit\u2014dress slacks and a button-up shirt. After 20 minutes of searching, Michael locates his jacket and keys, gets into his car and starts driving.<\/p>\n
He finds himself following a route, as if by memory, but it\u2019s not to the dealership. Where is his car taking him? He ends up in the parking lot of a church. He used to go to this church with his wife sometimes, before she passed away.<\/p>\n
Inside, the service has already started. Michael slips into the back row, into a plush seat, not like the pews he was used to. The music is too loud. The preacher is boring. But two rows in front of him, Michael spots a woman. She\u2019s about Michael\u2019s age, and she\u2019s holding a chihuahua. The chihuahua is gray around its mouth, with cataracts on its eyes, wearing a bedazzled collar and a pink tutu.<\/p>\n
After the service ends, out in the foyer, Michael introduces himself to the woman. \u201cHello, I\u2019m Michael. I was watching your dog during the service. She\u2019s so well behaved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, Michael, I\u2019m Bernadette and this is Princess. Yes, she especially enjoys the music.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a dog too. Her name is Goldie.\u201d<\/p>\n
After some more small talk, Bernadette asks, \u201cWould you mind holding her for a little bit, while I use the restroom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly,\u201d Michael replies. Princess sniffs his hand then settles into his arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrincess,\u201d Michael whispers into the dog\u2019s ear. \u201cCan I tell you something?\u201d<\/p>\n
Princess licks his hand three times. Michael takes that as an affirmative gesture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got fired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Princess\u2019 ears perk up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting old,\u201d he whispers. \u201cI\u2019m losing my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nuzzles into his arm, and Michael pets her head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rain, snow, sleet, or hail\u2014every day, at precisely 7:30 a.m. Michael takes Goldie, his golden retriever-german shepherd mix, for a walk. Every day at 8:55 a.m. he arrives at work, where, for the last 40 years, he\u2019s sold minivans to families with sticky-fingered toddlers and sport cars to retired men with bald spots and dropping testosterone levels Every day since his wife died, for dinner Michael microwaves a frozen dinner. Every day, by 9:30 p.m. he\u2019s drifted off to sleep, Every day until today. Today, he is jobless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":18641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","writer-bethany-jarmul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18638"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18642,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18638\/revisions\/18642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}