Sunset

The trees that hemmed in the yard to the back of the farmhouse rustled as the wind blew its way through them, cooling the two men who sat there, rocking back and forth in their chairs, eyes closed. Clouds rolled around one another above the hills that lay out through the open gate in front of them, casting shadows over the slopes and glens and threating rain. The sun, framed by fence posts, lay on top, slowly sinking into its grey bed.

A dog trotted through the gateway and into the yard, its fur matted by sweat and broken twigs, panting heavily. It crept slowly towards the men, eyes watching both closely, before following one arm downward to a hand. Held lightly in the hand was a sausage, which swung back and forth with every movement of the chair.

The dog crept forward; its eyes glued to the meat. It paused whenever the two men moved, flicking its eyes back up to them before slinking a little bit closer. Soon it reached the hand and, closing its eyes, took a good long sniff.

Again, it paused, opening its eyes to take one more look at the nearest man. Then, it lunged, ripping the sausage from his hand and, as fast as its legs could manage, running back out of the gate and off towards the hills.

“Oi, yah theivin mongrel! Get yourself back here!” The man jerked forward from his chair, shaking the now empty fist at the dog’s increasingly distant back.

“Awlright Davey, you might be overdoing it a wee bit there…” The man in the other chair said, glancing over with a smile.

“A’ve gotta keep it convincing John, else the bugger’ll never come back…” He leaned back, looking over at his neighbour. They both started to laugh.