Going For A Walk

A boy and a girl.
Ten years old.
Walking their dogs.
She has a brown dachshund at the end of her leash.
His is black.
They are friends. The dogs. The boy and girl. Not boyfriend and girlfriend.
They are ten. That would be way too complicated. And icky.
They have been making this same walk for a couple years now: Up to the end of the street and onto the path that circles the great big field called "Long's Gardens." It's not much of a garden these days. It's a great big field that used to have row after row of colorful iris. There are only dried stalks and weeds. Not much to look at. Not much to talk about. But somehow, two or three times a week, the boy and the girl find themselves and the trip around the field completely worth it.
They walk. They laugh. They talk.
At the start of the trip, the dogs strain at the end of their leashes, urging the boy and girl along. Somewhere around the halfway point, the need to stop and sniff becomes more important. The traction supplied by those short legs and low center of gravity is often too much for the boy and girl to overcome, so they stand and wait for their dogs to do their doggie business.
And they talk some more.
Walking the dog is a chore, but not for these two. It is a treat. An opportunity to share time away from the standard issue ten year old world. They imagine and plan. They scheme, however briefly, and before they return home, they have returned to their normal lives. No one else knows what they say on these walks. Everyone else is just happy the dogs are getting out for a walk.
Sometimes the boy and girl feel just a little adventurous. They take and extra turn and go around the block behind their street to extend their walk. They make a stop at the home of their school's music teacher. When they ring the doorbell, their teacher answers the door and welcomes them in, even when it is cold and wet outside. She asks after them, and gives some love to the dogs. She offers them each a piece of hard candy from a dish on her coffee table. The interaction doesn't take long. The dogs are tired and they want to go home.
So do the boy and girl.
It has been a lovely walk.
One of dozens they will take.
Before they grow up.
It is their time.