20th of October 2017
One of my neighbours had a dog.
Dogs are not allowed in the are. At least not walking free. If there are dogs allowed they have to be small, the owners have to carry them on their arms, they can not walk on the road and they can not be running around like this one did.
These neighbours did not live in their house all the time. They came sometimes during weekends, and sometimes during holidays. I’m sure they worked somewhere, at least the man. The woman was the boss. She was the boss and the workers had to obey her command.
She was the one who shouted at the workers if they did not do what she told them to do. She was definitely the boss and the husband perhaps the provider. Interesting couple and they had a daughter. She was maybe 20 something. At least not a teenager. She came sometimes with the parents, after the house was decorated, and she even spent some days in the island.
With her came the dog.
The white dog.
The big dog.
The dog that everyone was afraid of.
In the morning the daughter let out the white one to pee. She just opened the door and he sprang out. After a while she came out in her pyjamas, trying to get the naughty one inside. She begged, she threatened, she was nice, she was mad, she was everything, but the dog had a blast and wrapped her around his finger. No problem there. Usually she went inside without him.
When the security guards came on their scooters the dog had a blast. He barked at them and jumped at them, he bit their heals and was having a blast. The guards were afraid of him. He followed them everywhere.
This was the dog that one morning stood at my front door barking.
Oh no, you are not going to stand barking at my door, at my house, and think you can intimidate me.
No way. Now you are going to see where David bought the ale, stupid dog, I said inside my door, contemplating what to do.
Well, something needed to be done about this. The workers were afraid of the dog, they could not come to the area on their scooters. Even on their scouters they were attacked. Well, not attacked but barked at and intimidated and nipped at.
Now he was standing at my door, barking like hell, and I decided to feed him!
I opened the door and gave him an apple. An apple!
He looked at me, I looked at him, he looked at the apple and I looked mad.
Oh, she is mean, he must have thought. She just thinks I am going to eat an apple in the morning, an apple, seriously!
Yes you ugly stupid dog, you are going to eat this apple. I have got more and that is all you get. You are mean and I am meaner. I am not afraid of you and you better stop barking at my door.
He looked at me, and ate the apple.
I went outside, to take a walk.
You can come with me if you behave, I said.
He followed me. We took a long walk, a really long one. He got tired and went home ahead of me.
He never barked at my door, not anymore. I won the staring.
I am not saying we became best friends but I spoke to him in Icelandic that sounds quite harsh and he was used to Chinese begging. There was no begging at my part and he just waited outside my door the next morning for his apple and a walk.
Hulda Björnsdóttir
My thoughts shared with you 