Frida woke up with something to say. She hadn't even left her kennel when she had already thought of at least three things that were wrong: a dry leaf in the middle of the carpet, the water bowl too full, a pigeon on the low branch of the pine tree - the very thing she had pointed out yesterday with great effort.
But that day something didn't add up.
Camilla, who usually ran back and forth like a pendulum with new batteries, stood still. Staring at a snail. Sam, who had never raised his voice even by mistake, barked. Twice. Lina, the black arrow of the group, tripped on a root. Marduk climbed onto a rock. A real rock, not a stone. He stood there, motionless, with the air of someone seeking the highest point of thoughts. Shiva miscounted. He looked back to check if everyone was there, and counted six. Then he recounted, and got confused. And Skye—the big one, the proud one, the one who never gets flustered—saw a butterfly and… backed away.
Frida no. She was always Frida. A brown poodle, full of rules and warnings to give. She scolded Camilla for suspicious immobility, Sam for the unexpected bark, Lina for the fall, Marduk for the useless height, Shiva for the uncertain arithmetic, and Skye… well, for the butterfly.
Then he stopped. He looked at them carefully. All of them.
No one seemed upset. In fact, they seemed… happy. Camilla followed the snail as if it were a slow but interesting train. Sam had stopped barking and was breathing deeply. Lina was laughing to herself. Marduk, from the top of the rock, was watching the forest with wide eyes. Shiva was counting for the pleasure of counting. And Skye had followed the butterfly. Slowly. Without wanting to catch it. Just to watch it dance a little.
Frida realized she didn't know what to say. And that was new.
He sat down. Not apart. Not in the center. Just… there.
Then something happened that no one noticed: a little leaf, tired of the branch, landed on her nose.
Frida didn't sneeze.
He closed his eyes.
And he thought that maybe, every now and then, even bad days can keep things balanced.
