Mother Of Dragons

Next morning at eight, Vello arrives on his bicycle. He knocks on the door.

An early morning ride before work, David? asks Vello. Oh, hello Katherine! What are you doing here?

Mother stayed over, says David. She had a rather unsettling experience. Her dog died in the back of a Ute and then disappeared.

You left out the most important part, David, says Katherine. The dog shit.

Vello is intrigued.

Was there something wrong with it? asks Vello.

It was dead, replies David. That's what was wrong with it.

I mean the dog shit, says Vello. Forgive me if I am being obtuse, but it sounds perfectly normal to me. A dying dog, the sphincter muscle relaxes......

Yes, but then, says Katherine, where is he?

Aha, says Vello, you assume he is alive. I therefore intuit that the dog shit was perfectly normal.

It was, says Katherine, but I don't assume anything of the sort. What is normal anyway? Runny or hard, brown or yellow? Bristling with feathers? It depended on what he'd been eating.

What had he been eating? asks Vello.

Nothing, says Katherine. He was ill.

I wonder if there is a dog heaven? says David. Perhaps he is up there right now.

Oh yes, says Vello. Up there. Playing with his little friends. What was his name?

Porky, says Katherine, stiffly. And he didn't have any little friends.

David and Vello collapse into spasms of disrepectful laughter.

........

Nine o'clock. Lily unlocks the door. Jetty Surf is open for business.

Three customers come in.

But they are not customers. They are Arthur and Sweezus and Belle.

How are we all today? says Lily. Looking for anything in particular?

Yes, says Arthur. My old shorts. I left them here yesterday.

Oh, you're that guy, says Lily.

Dude! says Sweezus. She remembers you!

And you're that other guy, says Lily. I remember you too. You were with your granny.

That wasn't their granny, says Belle. It was Katherine Hume. Mother of Dragons.

Woah! says Lily. Awesome!

Just kidding, says Belle. But you shouldn't make assumptions. Especially on International Womens' Day.

Fuck you, says Lily.

That's better, says Belle. Now tell us, did you find Arthur's shorts? They were orange.

Orange? says Lily. Maybe once. Yeah, we did. We threw them out. There was a phone in one of the pockets. And a gold coin. I'll get them.

She goes out the back. Comes back with the phone and the coin.

Arthur looks sulky.

No bandages. No bamboo sticks. No once orange shorts.

The phone rings.

Aren't you going to answer it? says Lily.

Everyone looks at the phone.