How The man, The Dog and I Began To Prepare

     After the morning I saw Allen under the bridge, I felt like our relationship had changed. I mean, not from his perspective. He obviously didn't know I had followed him, but I think I had started to see him differently. Before that night, he had been broken, and tragic in a way. But afterwards, I could only see his determination, he was powerful and vital. It was a surprising change, really. I knew what it meant, though; Allen was not going to stay. As scared as he was, as full of regret, he would never let those people down.

     We started running at nights after that. I suggested that walking might be good for him, and I thought we could take Otis. He liked the idea, but soon walking became jogging became running. It was good for all of us, Otis was losing weight, I was feeling fitter, and Allen was more confident. it wasn't long before I felt him getting ready to leave. He wandered off during the days, and started coming back with money and gear. He was stowing it in my little garage, keeping it where he thought I wouldn't see. I think he was afraid to hurt my feelings. But I already knew I couldn't let him go by himself. I just couldn't do that to him. So, I started ordering things from the internet. I din't know what I would need, really, but I started looking through the things he was hiding, and started ordering from Amazon. I got some things for Otis, too. I wasn't going to leave my dog behind, he was too good for that. We spent a few weeks running, and the last two weeks secretly supplying ourselves. He didn't think I knew, but I did. Finally, I decided to let him know.

     It was about three weeks into march, and Allen had been living with me for almost eight weeks. Eight weeks of getting to know the walking contradiction that was Allen Bishop. It was eight weeks before Allen knew how I felt. The day he walked into the garage and found not one, but two backpacks ready to go.