After the visit to the vet, it was time for the more enjoyable part of the day - the walk. Taking advantage of the fact that Penny's mother would have to run some errands in town, Penny decided it would be a good idea to take advantage of this to walk to the park and then from there to the house. It was quite a long journey, but as a result of the fact that she had nothing planned for the day anyway she decided to put it into practice. The park was practically at the other end of town, so they could afford to take it slow.

"And how was Bolt, did it hurt?" asked Penny as they strolled along. Bolt didn't answer. He was chagrined that Penny hadn't gone into the room with him, even though she knew he was scared of the doctor, or more specifically the needle. He was sad that she had chosen some boy over him. And I think Penny knew what was biting Bolt. She stopped and pulled Bolt's leash, signaling him to stop.

"I know Bolt what's bothering you, it's that I wasn't with you when you were examined right?" Penny asked kneeling down beside her dog. Bolt shyly nodded with a movement of his head.

"Sorry, I just wanted to talk to someone... Who's my age. I spend most of my time on the show and on you and you know, I sometimes want to talk to someone who's age is similar to me...actually" Penny said staring into Bolt's brown eyes the whole time. The dog lowered his head down. It made him feel a little bad, because he hadn't expected Penny to feel lonely in some way. He thought he was enough for her.

On the other hand, he understood why she was talking to the boy and he wasn't surprised.

"You know you're my only boy" Penny added finally during her lips modestly smiling.

"I know Penny" replied Bolt (people heard this as a quiet bark).

"Good doggie... Let's go now, it's a bit silly to be standing in the middle of the pavement like this" replied Penny laughing a little in embarrassment. She rose from her knees and then they continued their journey. They headed north to where the park was located.

An hour later, after a rather strenuous walk, they arrived at a sturdy iron gate that almost invited them to go inside.

"Ok Bolt, here we are, but please don't run... I'm so tired" sighed the girl asking her dog for a hound. An hour's walk without a break had given her a decent fight. When they got inside the park, Penny looked around for a bench. When she found one free, she sat down there, and next to her was Bolt.

"If you want I can let you off the leash and you can run" Penny suggested. Bolt, after a moment's thought, agreed by nodding his head. On cue Penny bent down to his neck to loosen the hoop, then released Bolt from the leash. At first he didn't want to go anywhere, but when he spotted his friend Johnathan he disappeared from under the bench in a flash. At that moment, a notification came into Penny's phone.

"Who can it be..." thought Penny as she switched on her mobile phone. She recognised the new number. It was Lucas' number. Earlier, at the vet's they had exchanged numbers. The girl looked around the park. She didn't see Bolt. She answered the message.

Meanwhile, Bolt approached his friend, Johnatan, who was basking in the sun, which gave a very pleasant warm feeling on his skin.

"Hello Bolt, pat yourself" said Johnatan seeing the white Shepard.

"Hi" replied Bolt laying down next to his friend.

"Where is Penny again?"

"She's resting on the bench... She's getting really tired after an hour's walk."

"After an hour's walk? Then where have you been?"

"Today I had to go to the vet..."

"The vet!" repeated Johnatan in a louder tone.

"I sincerely feel sorry for you. I don't think any self-respecting dog likes going to that place. Unfortunately you have to more often than we do, such normal dogs."

"Well, I'm basically normal..."

"Yes, but you have to have current papers"

"Unfortunately..."

"By the way, do you know who the boy was that Penny was talking to yesterday?"

"Some new guy, moved from New York."

"New York?" repeated Johnatan.

"Yeah."

"A bit of a drive, I won't say... Anything else?"

"Nothing in particular... Why do you ask?"

"Penny's never let you go that distance alone."

"She's tired," replied Bolt with a little nervousness in his voice.

"Sure..."

"Never mind... Shall we go play?" suggested Bolt.

"To be honest I don't really want to. I'm kind of sore today... I want to lay out in the sun and rest" replied Johnathan with his eyes closed.

"Old man" laughed Bolt.

"Oi, not an old man... I'm only a week older than you"

"Yeah yeah..." laughed Bolt then closed his eyes enjoying the warm rays of the sun.

It had been a while when Bolt and Johnatan decided that it would be a good idea to get up from the lawn and do something other than lying down and resting. So they started doing the same thing they always do - arranging races or chasing each other all over the park running through the streets where people walk by harassing them. Even though some people were annoyed by their behaviour, Bolt and Johnathan were having a great time. After a few series around the park and a dozen series of tag, Bolt decided to look for Penny, who was probably sitting on one of the benches.

"You know, Penny will probably already want to go, see you," he said.

"She's probably already looking for you, but you don't know it yet" replied Johnathan.

"Yeah, that might be the case... See you later" said Bolt goodbye to his friend, then started looking around for his owner. The park stretched into a dozen or so alleys with benches where either older or younger people sat, but thanks to Penny's distinctive red shirt, it shouldn't be difficult to find her. There were no major problems with that, he could even see that she was smiling and even laughing.

"'What is my lady laughing at' thought Bolt. He spotted a phone in her hands.

"Is she texting someone?" thought Bolt, then decided to approach Penny from behind to see what she was up to. The girl was so immersed in her phone that she couldn't even hear what was happening next to or behind her. When Bolt reached the bench where the girl was sitting, he stood up on two paws to see the phone screen. His heart rate immediately slowed when he saw the name 'Lucas' on the screen.

"'There's that damn boy again' thought Bolt as he watched on. They were exchanging some probably funny messages. He couldn't see their content because the sun was falling at such an angle that nothing was quite visible.

"Penny!" (people heard as jawing) said Bolt after a moment's observation. The girl in fear lowered the phone which fell on the ground.

"Bolt, don't scare me like that!" laughed Penny picking up her mobile phone.

"Well? Did you run out boy?" asked Penny stroking Bolt's head. Bolt nodded with a movement of his head.

"That's good, we can go," said Penny, then tucked the mobile phone into her pocket. She grabbed the blue leash she put around the dog's neck.

"Shall we go?" asked Penny, to which the dog barked affirmatively.