In Alien Hands: Meeting Merle

The walk - Merle

I still wasn't sure about Holli after that morning, despite my brother's attempts to convince me otherwise. We had made such strides the short time Holli was with me, her apparent fear this morning was starting to make me think it was all undone. Was this my fault?

Still, my brother insisted on following the schedule he had planned the night before. I wasn't sure about taking Holli on a walk, but Grene was insistent.

"She needs to be able to go out comfortably and safely. We'll keep anyone from bothering her, Merlin. She'll be okay."

"What about this morning? Or yesterday evening?"

"That was different. There were too many people. Yes, it was a mistake. Today, however, she won't see more than a stranger or two. The park is usually empty. Honestly, brother, it will be fine."

I was still hesitant but agreed it would be okay. I wasn't confident that Holli would be okay with the leash, but I knew we'd find out quickly if that were the case. First, of course, we had to put it on her.

Holli, being relatively wild, would still be fearful of some objects, especially if she was unsure if they were dangerous. The wrist collar was completely benign, of course, but she might not know that. All scared humans see are potential dangers when they're scared. So, we knew we had to get it on her quick.

The initial plan was for me to call Holli over and slip the band on her wrist. I had put them on my siblings' humans' wrists before, I could do it faster than Holli could react. However, my human had other plans. She nearly got up to move when I called her, but she stopped herself, looking around for an escape route.

My brother saw this and moved behind her. I immediately came around to block her in. It would make things easier for all three of us if I got the band on her as fast as possible. She'd figure out quickly that it wouldn't hurt her, and neither Grene nor I would have to chase a scared human around the house, setting back the progress I had made.

Once she was cornered, it was easy to get the wrist band on my human. In proper human fashion, she inspected the novel object closely, picking at the special buckles. Not only do they require two hands to remove, the buckles require quite a bit of force to pry open. Easy for a dog-man, but most definitely hard for a human.

I gave her several minutes to examine the foreign object before I attached the leash. Again, she examined that too. She seemed frustrated at the tether, but my brother assured me again that she'd adjust.

At my brother's request, I began walking her around the house. It was slow going at first, I had to stop every step to call her over. After ten or so minutes, she didn't hesitate. I was overjoyed! Holli still wasn't thrilled with the restraint, but humans rarely are.

My confidence renewed, it was time to leave the house. Holli was incredibly hesitant to follow me out, understandably. She hadn't even really looked out the front door, stepping out was a big deal for her.

Eventually, however, she was out the door. Her eyes sweeped the area, trying to look at everything at once. She still slowly followed me, although clearly more hesitant than in the familiar space of the house.

Unfortunately, there was an incident once we reached the sidewalk. A car drove by, startling her. Cars are much faster there than on earth, so it can be frightening to see something move so fast past her. Unfortunately, there wasn't a way to really prepare her for that sort of thing.

After the car, we all started to walk to the nearby park. We ran into one of the neighbors I had invited to the barbecue. He seemed excited to see her, much to Holli's chagrin.

After a few minutes discussion, he invited Holli and myself over to visit with his human. I accepted the offer, under the condition that it be at our house. The dog-man was enthusiastic that I accepted the offer.

Some time later, we finally made it to the park. It seemed entirely empty, a good sign. The area was entirely fenced in, which meant Holli could wander around and explore.

At the gate, I proceeded to remove Holli's leash and attach her ID. It goes around the neck to ensure other dog-men can reach the tags easily. Designed for comfort and safety, there was just enough slack to not restrict her breathing while ensuring it didn't get caught on anything and choke her.

Holli was very hesitant after I added the collar. After trying to pull it off for a moment, she calmed down. My brother locked the gate behind us, locking the human-safe latch.

Published 5/6/19