Queen of the Town

This is Pinky. The Queen of the Town.

Right now, she sleeps in the corner of our deck. At 7am this morning, I walked outside, took a look around, and saw Pinky looking back at me, head tilted, from a neighbour’s balcony. It’s like that with her. Many friends. Many different balconies. She isn’t one for discriminating.

When she met my gaze she knew it was time. Beach time.

I duck back inside. When I walk back out, there is suddenly a fluffy friend around my ankles. Eagerly, she trots ahead of us. The wonky stairs here up to our room don’t seem to perturb her. We’re not so nimble. Her keenness to run just a tiny bit in front of me, in a very unpredictable fashion, nearly sends me cartwheeling head over heels a few times.

As I unlock the bikes, I guess she decided it was time for tummy rubs. We’re still a little cautious of ticks and parasites and such, so Mary scratches her belly with the side of her shoes. I’d say she very much enjoyed it. We mounted out bikes and set off. She was determined to weave between us, always dangerously close to the wheels. Again, though, no harm done.

She sat and waited for us while we parked our bikes, then skipped up ahead to quickly give the lady running the massage shop a cuddle. We thought that might be goodbye. After all, we’ve seen her down at the beach almost every day, whether accompanied by friends, or as a free spirit, prancing about with a grin. But, as we lay our bags down under a tree, she re-emerged, plonking herself right at the foot of our towels. I guess there were three of us on this beach trip.

As we headed into the water, we waved goodbye. Perhaps she’d be keen to go and visit her other countless friends now—human or canine, you can never be sure. But, no! Next to our stuff she lay, that entire time we were out in the water. Well, except for when she ran off to bark at a bird. She resumed her position shortly after, though. Then, as we sat on the sand, she sat, too. When we got up to leave, she also rose. Waiting for me to setup the bikes, she went over and lapped up some water from a birdbath. Once we set off, though, she appeared right by our side, again.

Naturally, she assumed that we were headed home. Unfortunately, I tricked her a little bit. I actually needed to fill up our water bottle first. She must’ve been feeling patient today.

Now back home we are, and Pinky still hasn’t left our side. We haven’t fed her, nor our cuddly cat, up until today. Yet, they’ve still been returning. Maybe they actually do just like the company. That being said, we may have given her a little piece of chicken this morning…

Once we leave, we’ll miss Pinky. It has been truly heartwarming having a companion like that so far from home. I doubt she’ll miss us too much. She runs this town. I’ve seen her aimlessly wandering down near the 7-11 by her lonesome, snuggled up with families on the beach during the day, or just lounging in some shady spot by the road. She’s adorable, but not ours. Pinky belongs to the community here. Perhaps she runs said community. In a town where many people come and go so frequently, she is actually the constant, not us tourists, despite how transient her presence may seem.