Visiting M.E.

Sometimes, when I'm getting close to the end of my route, M.E. comes out on the porch to meet me when I'm delivering the mail. When I'm delivering that street, I go up one side of the street, then turn about and deliver my way back down her side of the street and return to the truck. This afternoon she apparently decided that it would be too much for her to wait until I got to her house. She came out to the edge of the porch and yapped something at me. I have no idea what she said; it was raining, and through the patter of rain hitting my raised hood as well as the MP3 player I had plugged into the ear that was facing her, I really couldn't hear her that well. I kept walking, so she grew louder, though I still couldn't pick up her meaning. The tone came through well enough, though. I would describe it as 'peremptory'.
"Hang on, M," I called over my shoulder. "I'll be there in less than ten minutes, okay? You have to wait your turn!"
She made some response, but I was drawing further away from the house now, and I could hear her even less well than before. I delivered my way to the end of the street, crossed to the other side and delivered my way back towards M.
When I got there I saw that M., rather than going inside to get out of the slight rain, was still waiting on the porch. She was silent now, standing perfectly still on the top step, rain glistening in her black hair. Her dark eyes were fixed upon me, and as I mounted the first of the five steps up to her I could see that she was trembling with suppressed emotion.  I stopped on the fourth step, leaving her just one above me.
"It's good to see you," I said as I reached out with one hand, placing it brazenly upon her backside. As I began to rub gently, her mouth fell open, and she shifted her weight, wiggling in a kind of ecstasy. A low moan escaped her open mouth, and she placed a paw on my leg ...
Oh, wait! Did I forget to mention that M. is a dog? Whoops, my bad!
Anyway, I patted and scratched her for a while, then went on to finish my route.

I'll bet you thought it was going to be a better story than that!

Talk to you later!