Work Text:
Flash, flash, flash.
Dougie opened his eyes to his alarm clock as it blinked its bright light at him, telling him it was time to start the day. And just like nearly every other day since he and his mum had moved to their new house, the first thing on the little Cavapoo’s mind was…
“Mh… let me guess, the park?” his mother mumbled aloud in her bed as he eagerly shook her arm. She sat up with a tired smile to her son and gestured with her hands, ‘Okay, I’ll take you to the park. Just five more minutes.’
After five more minutes of rest and a quick breakfast of a banana, juice, and granola bar later, Dougie and his mum found themselves once again at the park that he just couldn’t get enough of. The little brown dog loved the feeling of the damp morning grass beneath his feet and the crunching of dead leaves as they crumbled beneath him. His mother sat on the nearby bench, loving to watch her son enjoying himself; the sense of happiness and fun he embodied in spite of his disability was nothing less than an inspiration to her.
Dougie looked around, trying to think of what he wanted to do first. He wasn’t really in the mood for the swings at the moment, Turtleboy was long-gone, and the basketball hoop was much too high for him. It was then that he looked around at the leaves scattered on the ground.
Dougie thought to himself for a few moments before he finally came up with something. First, he began collecting all the dead leaves he could find. Once he had a sizable armfull, he began lining them up one by one around the swing area. When he reached one of the corners, he slowly began curving the line until all the leaves in his arms were gone before going to collect more and continued his process. He was so focused on his line of leaves that he hadn’t even noticed another dog - a little red heeler accompanied by her much larger blue father - had also entered the park.
She didn’t pay Dougie any mind either, running past him without even a glance as she was determined to be pushed on the swing. As the little orange dog’s dad pushed her higher and higher, Dougie continued making his curved line of leaves around the area surrounding them until he was out of sight behind the two strangers. He ran out of leaves again, running off to collect more as his mum looked on in interest.
The heeler girl had apparently had enough of the swing for now, as she got off and dizzily stumbled a little before running off to find something else to do; meanwhile, her dad approached another bench beside Dougie’s mum and they began to make polite conversation about their kids as they greeted. It was then that the little dog noticed the dead leaves lined up in the grass. She began picking them up one by one, curious about the strange way they had been lined up as she pretended to be a mama bird gathering materials for her nest.
Dougie came back to where he had left off with a new pile of leaves in his arms, lining them up again in a curved line leading towards the rubber floor of the swingset area before curving it back outwards again. Little did he know, someone was unknowingly following him and undoing the progress he had made.
Out of leaves again, Dougie wiped his brow; this was tedious work, but he knew it would all be worth it in the end. He ran back across the swing set area to gather more leaves, only to notice that his leaves were gone! Beginning to panic, he looked around before his eyes caught a girl with orange fur around his age with a huge pile of leaves spilling over in her stubby little arms. He ran over to her, desperately waving his arms.
“Oh, hi!” She greeted him happily, completely unaware of the trouble she’d caused him. “My name’s Bingo, what’s yours?”
Dougie pointed to his ear while shaking his head, then the pile of leaves in her arms with an upset expression on his face before he pointed to the line and then to himself.
“You… wanna play charades?” She asked, setting the pile of leaves down. Dougie lifted his floppy ear up, pointing inside of it before shaking his head again.
“Is there something in your ear?” Bingo tilted her head, leaning in to get a closer look. Dougie shook his head again, using his other hand to gesture words coming out of his mouth but making no sound.
“You can’t hear me?”
Dougie nodded.
“Oh… was these leafs yours?” Bingo pointed to the line Dougie had left, and he nodded again. “Sorry for being a cushion-head… what are you making with them?”
Dougie gestured with his hands.
“Oh! Can I help you?”
And so, Dougie and his new friend began working together to create his masterpiece. After gathering more than enough leaves to finish it, Bingo started from the end she had disrupted while Dougie continued on from his end. Their parents watched them from afar, now both equally curious as to what they were doing. Eventually, the two of their lines met together.
“Did you make a new friend, Dougie?” His mum asked him verbally while signing with her hands. Dougie nodded happily while giving Bingo a gentle hug from the side.
“Hi, I’m Bingo.” She smiled politely.
“Hi Bingo, this is my son, Dougie. Thanks for playing with him.” His mum replied kindly before her son tugged at her arm and pointed to the leaves.
Dougie led his mum, followed by his new friend Bingo and her father Bandit, to the ideal viewing spot.
“Aw,” Dougie’s mum felt a warmth within her as she proudly rested her hand on her son’s head.
“It’s a love heart.”