Pepper

This story is one I love to tell because of how poetic it is. All the magic and circumstance that had to transpire for it to unfold. The day I found my dog, Pepper. Or should I say, the day she found me?

That day was August 8th, and the summer sun was shining hot as usual. I had been working as a house cleaner to make ends meet so was at a job in my own apartment building for a neighbor. Marcus. He had managed to own a dog in a studio apartment even though we were advised against having them. Cleaning for Marcus always made me long for a dog of my own. This day was no different. Wiped down the counters, scrubbed the bathroom and vacuumed the floors. He lived on the third and highest floor, so got a nice breeze coming though un-barred windows. Sometimes I’d stop cleaning for just a moment to see the city from a higher point.

After the job was done, he had already gone to work so I said bye to the pup and locked the door behind me. For housekeeping jobs, I carried my supplies in a rolling cart and was on my way to return it to my car. Down the single person elevator that always felt like it was going to break. The kind held together with heavy iron doors and outdated pulley systems. You always thanked your lucky stars when it reached the bottom.

The door opened and I made a right down the long hallway to the back door, passing my apartment and the laundry room on my way out. It led…