Page 17 of The Wisdom of Bug

“Evie, you alright, chuck?”

“I’m dying,” Evelyn whined dramatically.

“Are you really?”

“Maybe…probably.”

“How about you tell me what’s going on and then we’ll have a discussion about calling up friends and declaring you’re dying, and the effects that can have on a person!”

“I’m being serious, Mags—”

“As am I.”

“Look, I think I’m hallucinating. I’m going to send you a picture and you tell me what you see, okay?”

“Alright, I’ll bite. Why do you think you are hallucinating?”

“Just look at the damn picture,” Evelyn snapped. Bringing up her camera app, Evelyn took several photos of the little dog. “Did you get the pictures?”

After a few beeps and some curse words, Maggie finally replied.

“Why do you have a dog in your office, Evelyn?”

“You can see it?”

“Yes, it’s a black and white…Cocker Spaniel.”

“Oh, thank God,” Evelyn sighed. Dropping her head to her chest, Evelyn started to laugh. Maybe she was going a little bonkers after all.

“I’m coming back to the office. Do you want anything?”

“A Caesar salad and some Valium.”

“Okay on the salad, no on the pills. See you soon.”

Okay great, Evelyn more than likely didnothave a brain tumour. But that led to the oh-so-important question: why was there a dog in her office? Hell, why was there a dog in the building?

Sitting back at her desk, Evelyn and the unnamed pup continued to stare at each other. Their stalemate was broken when the dog stood up and wandered over to the window. Evelyn waited for his next move, but nothing happened. The dog parked his bum on the floor and sat looking out over London.

Try as she might, Evelyn couldn’t ignore the creature. What the hell was he looking at? With Maggie still MIA, Evelyn gave in to her curiosity and walked over to stand by the dog.

“What are you looking at?” Evelyn scanned the horizon, then the street below. There was nothing of significance—in her mind anyway—that she thought could capture the dog’s attention so avidly.

“Hey,” Maggie called as she rushed through the door. Dropping Evelyn’s salad on her desk, Maggie marched over to Evelyn and the mystery canine. “What’s this?” she asked, waving her hand at the dog.

“I wouldn’t have called you in a panic if I knew why he was in here, would I?” Evelyn shot back.

“Well, did you call someone?”

“Yes, you!”

“I meant a security guard or something.”

Evelyn shook her head. “Nope, just you.”

“Well?”

“Well, what?”