After a long day of rain from the day before, a slender little red dog with a gray mussel woke up. The sun was shining from beyond the mountains across the valley, through the haze in the air. Beams of light shone through slats in the ceiling of the fourth-floor balcony. The little dog scratched on the sliding glass door. A tall teenage boy, wearing a purple and yellow volleyball uniform holding a ball at his side, opened the door. The little dog went out and sat on a dusty black wicker couch. Her silky short coat glistened as she warmed up in a sun spot. She stuck her pink tongue with black spots out and rotated her head squinting. Her ears twitched back and forth to the calm sounds of the morning heard in the distance: birds chirping, the white noise of cars driving by on the highway and gusts of cool wind blowing between the apartment buildings.

The boy walked out and stood next to the dog, casting a shadow over her sun spot. He threw the ball in the air with the sun glaring between the ball and his arms in a spiking position whack… thud… whack… thud… the dog watched as the ball went back and forth from the floor and the boy’s hand. He suddenly stopped and held the ball, relaxed his shoulders and looked up. After a little while he went over and sat next to the dog, took a deep breath and sighed. The dog climbed on to his lap softly whining. The boy pet the dog’s head and said “It’s okay I’ll be fine. It’s only a friendly game. The coach won’t be too hard on us this time.” He got back up and started to spike the ball again. The dog jumped off the couch and walked off into the house.