Katherine Stuart #26 The woman with my name

The woman of the same name with the dog
The dog with an Apple app dangling from his collar
The woman with a mouth perfectly marked out with bright scarlet lipstick after long luncheon, come to pick up her strayed dog
The elderly dog with his greying muzzle and dirt around his lips
The woman with her bleached-blonde, blunt-cut hair straw
The dog with his stiffening gait and soft brown tail
The woman in a pert paper Panama hat with a white grosgrain band
The dog with his ears like velvety seashells darkly lined
The woman in her black sheath dress
The dog in his black semi-luminous collar and black-n-tan fur
The woman with her shiny Sydney ways and sharp-cornered energy
The dog pacing backwards and forwards, refusing food, or a place to sleep –

for hours.