I watch my dad get out of the car and walk over to my door. I take a deep breath, nervously afraid to breathe in and smell too much of the oil and such. He holds out the leash, smiling, "Okay, Fluffy, let's go for a walk," he says as I get excited, but try not to woof as he clips the leash to my collar.
Tentatively, I get out of the car, still holding my breath. Doesn't take too long for my chest to spasm for air as I finally take a breath. The second I do, I immediately sneeze as my nose is hit by exhaust, oil, people, sea water, and too many things to sort through as my nose burns. It makes my eyes water as it's just too much to handle at first.
My dad looks down and frowns, "Sorry, Fluffy, the smell is a bit strong, but it will get better upstairs." I just give him the smallest of nods, too focused on controlling my breathing to worry about anything else at the moment. We follow the others, leaving their cars and heading up to the passenger deck. Thankfully, this actually helps with the smell as I now have other things to distract me with. Now I can almost breathe.
I get a couple of odd looks from the other passengers, as they are curious. One kid is all excited, "Ohhh big doggy!!!" he says excitedly. Thankfully, he doesn't walk over to grab at me or pet me, which, normally, I might have been fine with, but currently, with all the smells, I would rather not deal with anything like that.
We make our way up as I feel a little bit nervous about being in a big crowd, hopefully no one will protest my being here. So far, I'm more of an oddity than a concern. I can smell food from the cafeteria, which makes my stomach rumble and feel myself drooling slightly. Oh, great, so much for being dignified. We continue up the stairs and soon are out on the upper deck.
Immediately, it smells so much better, the smell of oil is still there, but fainter. A light breeze brings some fresh air. We walk over to the back of the boat to play everyone's favorite game, does anyone get left behind? My dad hmmms, "I'm not sure anyone will miss the ferry unless late, parking lot wasn't too full," he notes.
I stand up on my hind feet to look over at the cars. Sure enough, looking below, there is plenty of room, but already the last few cars were being loaded. I give a small sigh, something weirdly fun about watching people miss the ferry and knowing we made it. I hear Shiners from above, <What are you guys doing?> I look up at him, smirking slightly, seeing him on a railing above us.
I let out a laugh and shrug as best as a wolf can. <Just seeing if anyone got left behind. You have it happen to you enough times, you start to enjoy watching it happen to others.> I think back to him. I notice the ramp going up and hear the engines start as my tail wags excitedly, AND we’re off!
As the boat begins to pick up speed, I sniff the air, now fully catching more fresh air. All the scents of the boat slowly fade and replaced by the smells of the ocean. My dad moves over to sit on a bench and asks, "So what should we do? We can probably get breakfast at Sechelt, let Fluffy walk around and get some exercise," he says.
That made me perk my ears up. I glance up towards Shiners, <You catch that, we're going to meet, I think at Sechelt, it's just over halfway to the next ferry. You'll know it when you see it, call around, and I will hear you.> I give an excited woof and nudge my dad as he catches that I understood his message.
I lean against him as he ruffles my head fur. It felt nice and comforting. I get why dogs seem to like it a lot. Shiners responds with, <I can work with that. I will let you know once I arrive.>
<That works. You shouldn't have much trouble finding it, it's just straight down the road, you will see a small seaside beach that then goes into the main town. We should be eating on the main road, maybe near the mall.> I think. It was where we had been a few times before, so made sense.
My sister sits down next to me, petting me, "So how do you like your first ferry ride, Fluffy? Bet it's cool up here with all the smells, wish I had a nose like yours," she says. Giving another woof, I close my eyes, enjoying the company and attention.
"I should go grab some snacks, maybe a sandwich, anyone want anything?" she asks. I lick my lips as I could definitely go for some meat, though I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to. After all, I already had breakfast. And despite what my stomach was telling me, I probably was NOT starving to death.
Licking her lips, my sister says, "I want a cookie... and I think Fluffy wants two," she says as I give her a questioning look. Sounds like she wants two and is using me as a scapegoat to end up with more.
My mom catches on rather quickly, "Uh huh? I don't think fluffy should be eating cookies, though I could get him a dog biscuit," she says coyly, and I spot my sister's disappointment.
I just shake my head, man, my sister wasn't great at being sneaky about such things, but that doesn’t stop her from trying from time to time. My mom heads down the stairs as my dad and Sarah start to walk around the edge of the boat. They point out and show me the various cool things I rarely notice. A boathouse, a dock, a weird-looking tree. Even spot one of my cousins a bald eagle sitting high up in a tree.
My sister then adds, "You see, Fluffy over there is my favorite little island, it has a strip of land connecting it to the mainland there. But at high tide, the water covers it. Always thought it be cool to go spend time in a place like that."
As I'm watching the water, my ears perk up as I squint looking into the water. I give a woof, and my father and sister make their way over. I soon realize it's something in the water, and then, sure enough, something leaps out of the water, and I see a dolphin flying. My sister gets excited, laughing, "Ohhh look at that, Dad!" she says.
I wag my tail as I watch them leap through the water. I wonder if that will be me someday. I did dream of them. Then again, it was so faint at the time. Unfortunately we have other things to worry about before I can go swimming with the fishes. We watch them for a few minutes before they slip out of view.
My mom finally returns with a couple of sandwiches and a small bit of meat. She hands me the meat, smiling, "The cafeteria was nice enough to give me a bit of meat for Fluffy here," she says as I lick my muzzle hungrily, and she hands it to me. I'm getting a little better, as I'm almost gentle this time, taking it from her and chewing a couple of times before swallowing.
Okay, that felt good, and probably weird to see a wolf or dog chew, but frankly never got why canines well...wolfed down their food. It seems a waste of perfectly good meat not to at least enjoy some of it.
They sit there and eat for a few minutes as I just stare enviously at their sandwiches, wishing I could have one. Though I wasn't too sure how healthy it would be with the mustard, mayo, and other things I could smell on it. Soon, I hear the announcer call out, "16, 16," announcing that we are near the dock. And shortly after, "We are now nearing Earls Cove, please return to your cars."
My dad gets up, stretching as he says, "Okay, let's head back to the car and head out," he says as I spot him leave a bit of his sandwich there and grin, realizing it must be for Shiners. Glancing up, I see the interest in his eyes as he tilts his head to look at it hungrily.
Shiners kaws out, and my dad glances up, giving a nod. Shiners just gives a hint of a birdish smile, though hard to tell on that beak, <I will have to thank your dad at some point.> he says.
I give a nod of my head as we make our way back to the stairs and merge back into the crowd heading down to the car deck. I find it a little harder to get back down the stairs. It wasn't quite as bad going up, but the extra people and crowding make me unsure of my footing as I could barely see the step in front of me.
The closer I got to the car deck, the slower I got as I smell the stink of the oil and exhaust again. Ughhh, this wasn't going to be enjoyable at all, I think, as we arrive on the car deck and make our way to the car. I try to ignore the smells, knowing that holding my breath won't help.
I pull on the leash as I try to get back to the car, sneezing as my sister laughs. "I don't think Fluffy likes the smell," she says, and I can't help but nod in agreement. Thankfully, we don't run into any delays, and I barely give my dad time to open the door before I jump inside and lie down.
I hear Shiners’ thoughts next to me. Sitting up, I spot him sitting on one of the car deck windows as he says, <I will head off and see you guys at the first spot.> I give him a nod before he takes to the air and flies off. First couple legs of the journey over, now for the next part. Which takes a while, as our family always seems to take forever. No matter where we are on the boat, loaded first or loaded last, more often than not, we are the last to unload.
Finally, after what feels like forever, we are told to unload, and my sister lets out an excited cheer. Looking around, I realize we're the fifth to last car to leave, making me groan. Of course, why would it be anything else? Though, least Shiners should have a decent head start on us. Soon, we emerge from the darker boat interior and back into the light.
