Mondays

She hated Mondays.

Nathalie invested all her effort to just open that last box of cereal, but it just got too much. In a second of silence, she just stood in the kitchen, in her clothes she’s worn for two days in a row, staring blankly into space. It was time to look again in the newspaper for a sign of hope.

Her hope disgusted her. In a grimace, she put down the cereal box and threw it back into the dirty. white cupboard in her broken-down apartment.

Still, at least she had a roof over her head…

Managing to drag herself slowly out of the kitchen, she was tempted to get back into bed, staring at it from the doorway. So warm, so comforting, to be hugged forever. It felt like being loved my caring soul, like she mattered to someone…

No, not again. It was a false sense of security. Today is the day. Today, I will take a shower.

It was her first achievement of the day, the warm water washing off all the dirt that accumulated. Even being able to turn the handle made her proud as she turned the tap to finish her shower.

Wrapping herself in her towel and drying herself off of course required great effort, but she did it.

As a reward, she made her way to her battered sofa, and sat there to recover from the strain. It tired her out again, but a small smile crept up to her face.

Before she knew it, she was out of the door, dressed in her loose jeans and t-shirt and an old German army jacket her late father left her. He wouldn’t have understood why she was so proud, but she didn’t care, she knew how much work it took.

She was ready to around stores again, printed resumes and cover letters stacked neatly in her folder, asking for any kind of work.

However, her celebratory mood soon changed when she saw how wet and hard the rain fell.

“Great” she thought…her thoughts becoming as dark as the rain clouds above her.

“I….I…I have to be strong…it’s just rain…”…sadness became anger but then acceptance. But, that anger drove her, drove her hard enough to go back inside and grab the damn umbrella.

“You’re not getting me today.” She shielded herself with the umbrella held high towards the rain and opened it up, her weapons are ready to take on this hard world.

After the fourth retail store, she was beginning to lose hope of finding any work, she was losing energy fast. Her legs were bending with the weight of her body and emotions. She was becoming physically sick from the strain of having to put on a smile and hiding her desperation.

Her stomach was grumbling and not out of hunger did she decide to enter the 7/11, but to continue to fuel her body for this pointless endeavour.

The lights flickered in the store, and it was completely quiet. The clerk barely interested, was reading the latest issue of the newspaper. It was colder here than outside, and Nathalie was eager to warm herself up with a coffee and chicken sandwich. One thing that did bring her joy, was that she could easily come here for food instead of putting in the effort of making her own.

Her body was leading her now, as she automatically took out her card to pay and left the store, the hot beverage soothing her cold hands, and the smell of a simple chicken sandwich overwhelming her nostrils. The rain started to subside, and the darkness started to clear.

Everything was wet and uncomfortable, but the jacket kept her dry and warm. Her hunger overwhelmed her and putting the coffee down at the curb right outside the store was as far as she got. The ripped open the packaging of the sandwich with her teeth and indulged in the sweet sandwich, she made the effort today, she really did, but, somehow it just didn’t feel good enough…

Suddenly, she heard a loud crack, like plastic being dragged over rough pebbles. It was still too dark to see clearly, but the lighting from the store helped identify a shadow in the corner of the parking lot. Her first thought something must have washed off from the rain and she walked over, curious if it was something of value. It was then that she saw, right near the bushes of the parking lot, a suitcase, attached to a small creature. A dog. No…a puppy. It stood completely still, sitting in a puddle with wet fur.

“Hey little guy…” she cooed and slowly, carefully walked up to the poor, wet Dobermann whelp. It wagged its stumpy tail and immediately licked her hand.

She could see he was not well kept, his nails were long, his fur a dull color, the eyes large and weak. The leash he was wearing was the complete opposite: a tough black, shiny leather that he dragged behind him with much effort. Nathalie was upset, there was no name tag or any way to find out who to contact. Breaking off a large piece of her sandwich, her hunger was overshadowed by pity for the poor pup. He licked his lips and gobbled up the piece, completely forgetting he had his strong, sharp teeth to chew.

Hoping to find any more information, she turned her attention to the suitcase, the puppy happily jumping up her legs to thank his new friend. The casing was solid black with a smooth silver lining and opened without a sound. There were papers, a small black notebook and business cards.

“Arvington Real Estate”…”Karen Santos”… Nathalie assumed the pretty smiling woman on the front of the card was the owner.

“Thank god I have credit on my phone little guy…”. The pupper looked up at her, barking happily.

She still kept her Nokia phone with her, it wasn’t a smart phone as everyone has, but it received and made calls, all she needed for now.

After a couple of rings a tired voice answered:”…Hello?”

“Hi, is this Karen Santos?...I found your number in a suitcase and –“

“Oh you found my suitcase! That’s so amazing! Where?”

“I’m at the parking lot at the 7/11 in Zetland.”

“Look, I just got home, can you hold on to it for around 20 minutes? I’ll be there soon!”

“Alright…”

A little taken aback, Nathalie wondered now if the puppy was hers. She looked down, he was still sitting obediently at her feet, but his rapidly shaking tail gave his excitement away.

It was nice playing with him, throwing rocks and branches and see him chase them. She never had the time to play with all the dogs individually at the shelter. He had so much energy but was light compared to a healthy, muscular body she knew Dobermann puppies had. Licking and biting her hand, she laughed, this puppy needed attention and a lot of patience.

Her eyes were suddenly blinded by high beams of a white Mercedes, slowly moving towards her. Shielding her eyes, she took the puppy in one hand, and the suitcase in the other. A woman walked out, the same one on the business card, her eyes fixed on the suitcase. Her look did not reflect the sunny disposition on her card though as a stern look came across her face.

“My suitcase…wait…you looked into my suitcase…didn’t you…”

“Well, I…I had to, I had to get your business card, didn’t I?”

The woman was silent for a moment:” Did you look in the black book…”

Nathalie didn’t know what to say, she was getting worried. This woman became very intimidating in the few moments they met.

“…I….uh…”

“Look…”…she looked Nathalie dead in the face, walking right up to her.

“This is just business…so just hand me my suitcase and my dog…I’ll make it worth your while.”

Begrudging by how close the woman was now to Nathalie, she handed her the suitcase and the excited puppy.

Carrying both gently into her car, the woman seemed to just disappear into the passenger side of her car. Slowly but elegantly she came out, holding something in her hand.

“…Here…see it as a little reward for finding my dog.”

She handed Nathalie a large wad of cash. This was more money than Nathalie ever saw in her life.

Speechless, Nathalie just stood there, putting the cash nervously in her pocket, afraid anyone saw what she was carrying. Paranoia set in: what if someone saw her? What would they think just happened? Before she could even process, the car drove out of the carpark into the dim light of the sun setting.

“Go fetch!”, the Jack Russel Terrier couldn’t keep his eyes off the ball, he was such a good fetcher, why didn’t anyone want to adopt this guy? Nathalie wished she could take them all home.

She knew all the dogs at the shelter, their personalities, the huge amount of love they had to give.

Nathalie couldn’t help but smile when the supervisor told her the animal shelter received an anonymous donation of $20,000 Dollars. She couldn’t spend the money on herself, she already achieved so much on her own, she wanted to earn it herself.

With luck would have it, her passion for the animals was recognized by her supervisors and hired her part-time. She has her dream job and doesn’t have to dread Mondays anymore. However, the bed still has its hold on her on most days.

Leaving the terrier to play on his own outside , Nathalie continued cleaning his kennel. “Milo” made quite a mess but Nathalie wasn’t bothered by these things anymore, a new, light energy had taken over.

She heard rapid footsteps and could tell her supervisor had something to tell her.

“Nathalie, can you make room for another?”

She was holding a leash, around the corner a small Dobbermann puppy biting the end of it.

“A lady couldn’t care for him anymore, god I’m so sick of people getting puppies and dumping them on us…”

Nathalie looked at the puppy, his little stump wagging as he tugged on the lead, letting out a playful growl.

“All good, I can take him.” Nathalie smiled, as she held the puppy close to her, and laughed as he licked them bit her right on the nose.