I woke to feel something touching my hand. I peeled my eyes open properly, and to my surprise, a beautiful Border Collie pup sat at the edge of my bed. He was nudging my hand as he wagged his tail happily.
“What are you doing here?” I patted behind his ear. “You’re a sweetheart, aren’t you?”
I sat up and leant over the edge of the bed to search for a collar, as he licked my hand and wrist.
“Come here boy …” I heard someone call from outside my room. “Come here … where are you, you stupid dog! Are you in here?”
The door swung open. “Oh, oh! Sorry! I forgot … Sam said someone was staying here—”
I looked up to see a young man standing in the doorway. He was tall and slender with a stubbly beard. He looked to be about my age. “You must be Andy. I’m Alexandra,” I said as I continued to pat the dog’s head.
The man just stared at me, his mouth ajar.
“Is this your dog?” I asked.
He continued to stare at me without saying a thing.
“Hello? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” I said.
“What?” He blinked several times and ran his hand across the nape of his neck. “Ah ... yes. I’m Andy. Sorry ... you look ... um ... pretty.” He staggered over his words.
“Pretty?” I asked, dubiously. From his strangely surprised expression, I doubted he was thinking about my looks at all. Still, I had just met him, so I didn’t want to push the matter. “Thanks. So, is this your dog? He is a bit of a sweetie.”
He gave a small shake of his head, as though changing his train of thought. “My dog? No!” Then he smiled. “He’s just some stray—and a pain in the ass! Always scavenging through bins. Yesterday he got into the potato bin at the back of the pub ... tipped them everywhere!”
“Did you just?” I looked back to the dog, who was panting vigorously.
“Does he have a name?” I asked.
“Well, people call him plenty of names when they chase him out of their shops, but no—no official name.”
I leant in close to the dog, rubbing both his ears as I looked into his eyes. “Potatoes, huh? Spud! I’ll call you Spud!”
“What? You’re going to keep some stray?” Andy laughed in surprise.
I looked at Spud for a moment and whispered to him, “Something we have in common; we’re both strays.”