Chapter 2: The Dog Prince

Present

After school, Jeremy walked. It was something to do. His knees hurt from his fall, but he kept walking and his muscles stretched out. He stopped wondering why that Chad kid had given him such a whack.

Jeremy walked through the flat streets. It had just stopped raining and the sky was still surly looking. He was lost again but after a while he ended up at the park, its greenness drawing him out of the grey. Jan and Gary had said there was a river on the other side of the park, and if he crossed the bridge it would turn into a street that led to the one where he lived.

The grass was soggy. When Jeremy breathed in through his nose, it smelt good. He dawdled through the park even though he knew dinner would be ready soon.

The sound of traffic was replaced with birds — caws, tweets, bells. Jeremy looked up at the sky — endless grey wrung-out of rain. The expanse of possibility made him want to do something.

So Jeremy ran.

He ran the perimeter of the park and when he reached his starting spot, he ran another lap. He sped up and the wind whipped along his body, the pain in his knees forgotten. It ruffled his hair and he opened his mouth wide to gulp it down.

Jeremy wasn’t tired and he wasn’t awkward. He wasn’t thinking about anything, he just was. Or maybe he was more. Maybe he was happy.

A person from his past had loved running too. That person who had called himself prince. Another memory back from the dead.

Jeremy cut across the park and ran towards the river. He was hungry but his lungs were fresh. He stopped and leaned against a tree, wondering why he wasn’t puffing. Maybe he used to run with that prince. Running was certainly something that came easily to him.

A girl walked along the other end of the park. Jeremy stuffed his hands into his pockets and watched. She didn’t run like him or lope like the kids at school. She walked like she was in a dream. She was everywhere and nowhere all at once.

Her hair was blue-black with a pink fringe. Jeremy’s heart went ga-gong, ga-gong as she came closer. And when he could stand it no longer, he turned and jogged to the bridge, eyes to the ground.

He knew without checking that he was late. Still, he stopped at the centre of the bridge and watched the river. It flowed with purpose. Jeremy couldn’t decide if he preferred the way the river moved or the way the girl did. Or maybe he preferred his own way of running around things.

Jeremy opened his backpack and took out a notepad and pencil. But he couldn’t make his hand draw what he saw, surging water and steep banks. He turned a page and drew a building with a school bus parked out front. The building was big, asserting itself over the bus which was small as a toy.

Jeremy’s stomach drew in tight. He shut his notepad and leaned against the barrier. His finger moved by itself. It drew circles on the front of the notepad. Circles, within circles. The targets again.

The sky turned navy and Jeremy put his things away. He walked across the bridge towards home.

Jeremy felt like he was swimming in soup as soon as he entered the house. Sweat was already pooling so he took off his jumper, folded it neat and put it in his drawer. A distant crack and a hiss followed by a burp sounded from down the hall. Gary must be getting his dinner beer ready.

Jeremy walked back down the hall. In the kitchen, Jan took something out of the microwave with her oven mitts. Supermarket macaroni cheese.

She glanced over her shoulder, her face flush from steam. ‘Hello … We waited for you.’

Jeremy’s knees throbbed again. He stood straighter. ‘Sorry I’m late. I, ah, was hanging out and lost track of time.’

‘Were you with some friends?’

The hope in Jan’s voice made him blush. What would be worse — a lie or more of her pity? Then he remembered the girl. ‘Yeah, I was with friends.’

Jan’s stockings crackled with static as she bustled about the kitchen. A woman getting dinner ready for her family. A woman who had been Jeremy’s mother for a week. A woman he called Jan in his head and Mum when he spoke. He loved her, he supposed, but in an abstract way. It was a word that came up in class that day. It meant that he loved the idea of Jan. Jeremy’s entire week-long life had been abstract.

Jan looked over at him. ‘What are you thinking about?’

‘Nothing…’

‘Dinner’s ready in five minutes.’ Jan’s voice was strained.

Jeremy sat at his desk doing homework. His legs jiggled which hurt his knees, but he couldn’t stop moving. He spent a lot of time doing homework at night. It was something to do. Besides, the test he took said he was behind. He must have been at school before because he could read and write and do maths. But nothing more than the basics stuck in his head. His slippery brain could be why he couldn’t remember anything from before.

Perhaps he was born that way or perhaps something happened. He focused hard on his homework, willing the algebra to drive away his thoughts.

Follow the Dog Prince pub to read all chapters in chronological order as they’re released.