Old Dog Duke Is Loved

I’d parked and was walking the lot, moving between cars and people, handing out Gatorade and hygiene bags when someone wanted them. It’s never a line, never organized. Just people scattered here and there, some talking, some not, some who’ll meet your eyes and some who won’t.

That’s when I noticed them.

A man and woman sitting on the curb near the edge of the lot, not really part of anything going on around them. Between them, sprawled across both their laps like he owned the place, was a big brown dog with a graying muzzle and the kind of eyes that have seen some things.