I went to a dog run with my mom for the first time in a while. It’s in a little park, and truth to be told, the dog run, is a little run down, but it’s free, and I can run, so we don’t mind. As we approached we saw a stranger already there. She had also had a dog: a black lab, just like me!
“Hello. Nice to meet you. Seeing a black lab her in this neighborhood is quite rare. I’m Koro.” I said all of that with a braggadocio that I think I deserve after 4 years of ruling this little park the few times we come here. But of course, said it nicely.
“Hello. I am Maggie.”
Maggie bounced around me like a rabbit as soon as I entered the dog run.
I let her sniff me and she began to calm down.
Mom told the other woman, “Maggie-chan is acting the same as Koro did when he was Puppy!” Really? I was so excited?
I asked, “Maggie, how old are you? You’re a girl, right? I’m a 4-year-old boy.” “Yes. A girl. I’m 2 years old.”
Maggie is also interested in my new Nerf ball and chases it with me, but she’s not so good at catching the ball on the fly or predicting the bounces.
“Do it like this!” I showed a sample several times, but Maggie couldn’t do so well no matter how many times I tried to show her the proper technique.
Maggie kept asking me to give her the balls I caught. What can you do when a sweet girl asks you something like that? I let her have the ball.
“Koro-kun, you’re kind. You’re like an older brother.”
“Koro-kun, a great role model! You’re cool in front of Maggie-chan.”
Mom, I’m not trying to be cool. I am just being me…who happens to be cool.
When Maggie gets tired, I think I have to be energetic.
At that time, I remembered my senior Alto, who taught me they way of playing with younger dogs. Mom thought so too.
“Koro, you’re doing the same thing as Al-chan,” says Mama.
Well, Maggie is my junior.
It’s my turn to teach my junior Maggie the way my senior Alto did for me.
Short story even shorter: I made a new friend = my first junior.
To tell the truth, it’ a little embarrassing, but the day I first met Maggie, I felt a little proud.
ママと久しぶりにドッグランに行った。そこに初めて見る顔があった。僕と同じ仲間、黒ラブだ！
「こんにちは。初めまして。この近所で黒ラブちゃん見るのは珍しい。コロっていいます。」
「こんにちは。マギーです。」
マギーは僕がドッグランに入るなり、僕の周りをぴょんぴょんウサギみたいに跳ね回る。
僕はマギーに落ち着け、落ち着けって言った。
ママは「マギーちゃん、コロがパピーの時とおんなじ！」だって。マジ？ 僕、こんなテンション高かった？
「マギーちゃん、何歳ですか？女の子ですよね？コロは4歳男の子です。」「そうです。女の子。2歳です。」
マギーは僕のボールにも興味持って、一緒に追いかけるけど、ボール取るの下手だなぁ～。
僕はこうやって取るんだ！って何回か見本を見せたけど、マギーは何回やってもうまく取れない。
僕が取ったのを「ちょうだい」って言ってくる。仕方ないなぁ～。あげるよ。
「コロ君、やさしいねぇ。お兄さんだぁ」「コロ、すごい大人！マギーちゃんの前でかっこつけてるね」
ママ、僕、別にかっこつけてるんじゃないよ。
マギーがもたついてると、僕はしっかりしなきゃって思うんだよ。
その時、僕は先輩アルトのことを思い出してた。
「コロ、アルちゃんとおんなじことしてるね。」ってママが言う。
そっか、マギーは僕の後輩なんだ。
先輩アルトがしてくれたことを、今度は僕が後輩マギーにしてあげる番なんだ。
新しい友達＝初めての後輩ができた。
ちょっと照れくさいけど、僕は、マギーと初めて会ったその日、ちょっと誇らしい気分になった。
