Hurdles… #5

A light appeared in the distance, which meant that the sisters were almost to their destination.  Dana had the urge to step on the gas so that they arrived sooner, but she kept the car at a safe speed.  A rickety barn came in to view, and soon a tall white farm house.  Dana breathed a sigh of relief; they had arrived safely.  Emily, however, tensed up.  She would soon have to meet her grandpa and move into a place she had never visited before.  The older sister pulled the car up next to the house and parked it.  She heard the front door of the house open and an energetic Rottweiler came hurtling towards the car.  Following the Rottweiler came a much slower Old English Shepherd.  Emily had never liked dogs – probably because she never spent much time around them – so she was slightly afraid to get out of the car.

“Dusty!  Joe!  Come here!” a gruff voice came from the porch of the house.

Both dogs immediately turned around and went to their owner.  A hunched old man made his way carefully down the stairs of the porch.  He had a full head of white hair that stuck up in random places.  Above his lip grew a mustache that matched his hair.  His mustache, however, seemed to sag at the sides.  His nose curled at the end, and his neck seemed to disappear into his shoulders.  He walked towards the car with a slight limp and a frown upon his face.  Dana wasn’t stunned by this man’s appearance.  Once she saw him, she immediately jumped out of her car and embraced him.  Emily was a lot slower to react.

“Pa!” Dana exclaimed as she hugged the old man.  “And you must be Dusty and Joe,” she bent down to pet the dogs that were standing next to Pa’s legs.

“The English Shepherd is Dusty, and the Rott is Joe,” Pa explained, patting the dogs on their heads.

Emily watched her sister from the car, and then slowly unbuckled her seat belt.  Once she got out of the car, it meant she was stuck on this ranch for who knew how long.  But she also couldn’t just sit in the passenger’s seat and hope Dana would reconsider.  They were already here, and her grandfather was standing in front of her.  So the girl opened the passenger’s door and got out.  She leaned on the door for a long time, waiting for someone to notice her.  Eventually, one the dog’s did; Joe jogged over and started sniffing Emily’s unfamiliar combat boot.  And that’s when her grandfather saw her.

“So,” he began, resting his thumbs on his belt, “you must be Emily.”

“Yeah…” she replied shyly.

Pa limped over to his granddaughter and held his hand out to her.  “It’s nice to finally meet you,” he smiled, making his cheeks wrinkle even more.