This short segment is the following installment of an ongoing internet series. The first part of this story is:
The Lord of Two Lands.
* * *
It was a beautiful day in Central Park. There were certain hours designated for when an owner did not have to have their dog leashed. This was not such an hour. So Aaron was kept on a leash no longer than six feet, even though he calmly walked beside Thomas, not giving any kind of problem whatsoever. In fact, Thomas was worried just a little because Aaron was behaving too well. As a dog, Aaron was behaving so well during the walk---keeping a steady and calm pace next to Thomas---that there was even a mildly annoying bit of slack in the leash.
The park was not full. It was a weekday. To be sure, the park had its patrons. Old negroes playing chess. A young woman in a tank tops briskly walking, checking her pulse on a smart watch. A couple leisurely walking their dog passed by, and the latter sniffed and growled at Aaron. But he kept his composure and remained the abnormally well-mannered dog that he was. A breeze of fresh air rolled down from the sky and gently shook the tree branches. A few stray dandelion seeds blew across their path, and a black butterfly with blue spots flapped across the path. It was a perfect moment to be in that exact spot.
A short distance away stood a hot dog vendor. He looked directly at Thomas and Aaron, and he maintained a restrained smile on his unshaven face.
“Need some lunch?” the man asked. “You and your little friend, there?”
Thomas looked down at the dog, and Aaron nodded his head quietly. They walked over to the man who seemed just as ordinary and forgettable as any other man. Tom took a pretzel for $2. But then the vendor said:
“Nothing for your friend? Maybe a polish sausage?”
Aaron nodded quietly and compliantly to his human companion. Wide-eyed and nervous, Thomas hesitantly said he’d take one. He took it plain with nothing on it. After the vendor handed it to him, Tom just stood there hesitantly, confused about what he’d do next. The vendor said:
“Don’t worry about it, buddy. Just give it to him. I won’t say nothin’.”
And so Tom did. He squatted down and put the hot dog in Aaron’s mouth, letting him bite it piece by piece. He wouldn’t just place food on the ground. Who wants to eat off the ground, after all? And if it were true that Aaron was once a man, it’s likely he appreciated the courtesy of not being treated like the animal he was. The vendor was fully invested in watching this. Smiling, he looked over his cart at the gentle dog and sniffed.
“That last one’s on the house.”
“Are you sure?” Tom’s eyes winced with suspicion.
“Yeah, it’s okay. He looked hungry.” The vendor smiled, nodded, and stepped back. Then, looking down, he breathed in, and cleared his throat. “Say, fellas, I think you might wanna head over to Cleopatra’s Needle over that way. There’s a fairy ring growin’ over in the shade over there you might be interested in. Your friend, here, might wanna take a nap in the middle of it.”
“What?” Thomas stood up straight very quickly. He looked down at Aaron, then back at the vendor, then to the tree line in the distance, and back again to the vendor. “You’re telling me my dog’s going to sleep? Did you just poison him?”
The vendor stood aback, his hand on his heart. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how many years it took me to get a license to do this? Look, you two looked like you were in a tough spot, and I offered the free advice. And the free sausage. Here, have a free soda on the house, too.” The vendor handed Thomas an icy cold can of Pepsi. “You better get over there, though. Before some kid or a bum kicks all the mushrooms down.” He lifted his hand and pointed north. Another pedestrian stopped and reached in his pockets as he grabbed the vendor’s attention. Aaron started walking, and he gently pulled the leash taut, leading Thomas away from the hot dog vendor.
They walked about fifteen minutes until they finally came to it: Cleopatra’s Needle. That’s what the locals called it. But for Aaron, it was something much more---for this was the very obelisk where he lost his humanity at the hands of a sorcerer. Aaron’s stride slowed down, and he was afraid to approach the monument. Thomas tilted his head, looking at the ancient structure.
“So, this is the place where it happened,” he said.
