Afternoon is the worst time of the whole day. It's not fun being stuck indoors. But this happens most days until evening time when Mommy comes home.
Allow me to introduce myself. I am Black Hayate. I am a dog and I live with my Mommy in her apartment. Mommy is a human. I have a Daddy as well, but I don't see him very often lately. I think he is probably busy. He always talked about being busy, and Mommy found this funny. Daddy is a human too.
I don't know quite how old I am because I can't remember being born. But I don't think I am very old because I am still a puppy and quite a small dog. Puppies are like people who are quite new. But once I become more old, I will be a bigger dog and not a puppy any longer.
I had to get up very early today. Mommy gets up very early almost every day, so I have to as well. I've lived with Mommy forever. She gives me breakfast every morning before she has her own breakfast which is very kind. Dogs love breakfasts. I think we love breakfasts even more than people. That is why Black Hayate has breakfast before Mommy. But I have to follow my breakfast routine. My breakfast routine is a set of orders I have to follow before breakfast. Once I do them, I'm allowed to eat. But only at breakfast time. I've tried doing them at other times of the day, but I'm not allowed more than one breakfast each day.
I don't mind doing these orders because I know my breakfast routine really well. I've been doing it forever so I can remember it perfectly. "Sit, left paw, right paw and lie down." That's my routine. I know that's what Mommy is going to say before she say it. I always do it right every single time. I can't remember ever not doing it perfectly because I know it so well. Sometimes I practice on my own when Mommy is away just to make sure I remember for definite.
That is how breakfast is for Black Hayate. Probably for all dogs. But not for humans. It isn't very fair I think, because Mommy doesn't have a routine to follow, and she gets to have breakfast anyway.
Today she says the commands and I do them like I always do, and I get my breakfast. But then Mommy has to go to "walk" like most days. Humans are always talking about 'walk'.
"I need to go to bed early. I have 'walk' tomorrow." That's one I've heard Mommy say. "Can't be late for walk." It is just something that humans have to do. I wish I could come with Mommy to walk. Dogs love walks nearly as much as breakfasts.
When humans go for human walks on their own in the morning, they don't come back for hours. It must be because their legs are much longer than dog legs. Mommy always wears her blue uniform when she goes for human walk in the morning.
It is very strange though, because Mommy says it's 'walk' that pays for where we live, and gets us food and makes it warm at home. I don't understand that at all. Are there rewards for human walks? Why not for dog walks? More unfair treatment of dogs. I wish I could come with Mommy on her human walk in the morning. I have tried many times. But I'm not allowed. I have to wait at home until evening. Morning is for human walk. Evening is for dog walk. It's not what I want but it's the rules.
Perhaps humans have a routine after all. One that goes after breakfast. But instead of getting breakfast, it gets lots of things likes breakfasts and dinners for a whole month for Mommy and Black Hayate. Maybe that's why their walks are much longer than a dog's walk or breakfast routine. Because they need more things than just one dog breakfast. That makes perfect sense and it must be very true.
Mommy gets home in the evening time, just when it is starting to get a little bit dark. I can see through the windows that it is. The windows aren't very big where we live. Smaller than where we lived in old city. The whole place is smaller than where we used to live. I miss old city sometimes. But I can still see outside getting dark.
When Mommy gets home she seems quite tired. I think it's from lots of walking she does. I always go to see her as soon as she comes through the door, and she's always very glad that I do. I know because she smiles at me.
"If you didn't walk all morning, she wouldn't be so tired in the evening." I think to myself. I like walking a lot, but even I wouldn't want walk that much. Not that I would be tired. I've never been tired after a walk. Not once. It is very important for dogs to get good exercise or we have too much energy. When I have too much energy and I can't get rid of it, I get annoyed. It makes my legs sort of sore and I want to chew things. I want to chew things anyway, but even more than usual. Chewing chewy things is almost as fun as walks. Mommy doesn't like it when I chew things like towels or sheets or socks though. When I do that it makes holes in them and then Mommy has to get new ones.
When she is away in the daytime, it means I have to be stuck indoors all day, and I can't walk very far indoors and my legs ache because of too much energy. So it's very annoying when I'm stuck inside. Every day I have to wait for Mommy to come home and walk me outside where there is more space for me. Mommy says I need walked a lot because I have a lot of energy, and I have a lot of energy because I am a puppy. A puppy is a person who is quite new. But I think I will still have lots of energy when I am a grown up dog, and probably even when I am a hundred years old. I will always eat my big breakfast of course because I will never forget my breakfast routine. So I will always have my energy. It makes perfect sense.
I am a little bit annoyed because today's walk is shorter than usual. I am still not tired at all when we are done walking. Like I said, I am never tired after my walk. But even less today and I still have lots of energy left from breakfast. But Mommy seems to be in a hurry to get home. I don't know why. There's not much to do indoors. It's only good to be indoors when it's very cold outdoors. I don't like when it's too cold outside, and humans don't like it even more because they don't have any fur. It's always warm at home though because Mommy always has "the heating on". I don't know what that is, but I know it "costs a fortune". I don't know what a 'fortune' is either.
Usually when we come home, we both stay indoors and no more walks. But not long after we come home, Mommy puts on a shiny stone around her neck and pink water that smells like the flowers in the park. I love the park. I can run around and there's lots of fun hiding places for Black Hayate. There's mud for digging in too. I think I like digging even more than walking. Maybe even more than breakfasts. But digging is only for special treat. Mommy doesn't like it when I dig because I get covered in mud and then I need to go in the shower. But I like the shower, so I don't mind.
Today when we've already come home from walk, she leaves me indoors again and goes out again without me. She says that she is going to dinner. But that can't be right. Dinner is not out there. Dinner is here, in the cupboard. She will realise she is wrong and come back when she is hungry. But sadly, in the meantime this means no dinner for Black Hayate. I don't like having no dinner because of Mommy's silly mistake. But I will be able to say "I told you so" when Mommy comes back.
I hear her talking to someone else as well. I don't think they're a puppy because they speak human.
"Hello, Edward." She says. I heard her say that. I don't know what 'Edward' is. "Very punctual." I'm not 100% sure what 'punctual' is. But I think it means not being late. Humans take being late very seriously. Even for things like walks. You aren't allowed to be late for walk if you are a human.
Later Mommy comes back. A lot later than I expected. It took her a lot longer to remember that dinner was in the cupboard and not outside than I thought it would. I was surprised. I didn't think Mommy would forget. After all, Mommy has been giving me dinner forever and as long as I have been doing my breakfast routine. And I never forget my breakfast routine. Not once.
I am very glad to see her again. But there is someone else with her. They are short, like a human puppy. But they still walk and act like a grown up human. I am curious to see who they are. It's not often new people come to visit, especially since we moved to new city.
"Down, Black Hayate!" Mommy says to me.
"I was just trying to see who the new person was." I think to myself. They are not tall for a grown up human. Not at all. They have a red coat, golden hair and a shiny hand. I am not sure who they are at first, but they have brought me a coat to chew. That was very kind of them, and they don't seem to mind me chewing it. I think I have perhaps met them once or twice before. Mommy is sure that I have.
I do not know what to call him. But I know a human puppy is sometimes called a "boy", and a grown up is sometimes called a "man". So he shall be "Boy man" for now.
Boy man sits in my place on the couch. I am not very annoyed, but it would be polite to ask first. Since he brought me a nice coat to chew, I would have said ok if he had asked. But he didn't. But I'm not very annoyed, like I said.
Mommy is very interested in the boy man's arm. It is not a human arm or a dog arm. That is probably why it is interesting. It is also shiny, which makes it interesting also. Sometimes when I dig, I find shiny things. I love finding shiny things. It's like a reward for my digging. I found a bone once. That was the best reward of all. Mommy didn't let me keep it though. Mommy doesn't let me keep the rewards I dig up which makes me annoyed. It's very lucky for me that I like digging anyway, even if I don't find rewards.
Then Mommy mentions "The Colonel". I know that word. Daddy is one of those. He's a "Colonel". I haven't seen him in a long time. Before we moved to new city, he used to visit quite a lot in old city. Maybe he doesn't know where we live in new city. Or maybe he is still stuck indoors in old city and doesn't get to go for walks. I hope he comes to visit again soon. I miss him a lot. Maybe this is why Mommy is talking about him. Perhaps he is coming to visit, or she will talk to him on the noise machine and tell him where we live in new city.
Mommy and Boy man fall asleep on the couch. I don't mind. That means I get the whole human bed to myself. Although they fell asleep before I got my dinner. So that is annoying. I am very hungry now. But I will just have to have a bigger breakfast tomorrow.