One

She walks on the sidewalk of Ocean Boulevard twice every day when she first moves. In the morning and right around sunset. She looks everyone she passes in the eye, acknowledging her new neighbors. In the morning she softly says "Morning" and bobbs her head slightly. This is how they do it and she learns quickly. At night, no one says much. Sometimes she nods her head and whispers "Hi". It sounds more like an audible, rushed exhale.

A few weeks pass and, finally, someone speaks to her. His name is Glen and his dog's name is Becky. Glen is tall and jolly looking with white hair and rosy cheeks. Becky is an older platinum Labrador. She notices them walking around sunset time daily. Glen knows a lot of people who also walk on Ocean Boulevard, most of them other dog owners who he stops to chat with. She does not have a dog or she would have met almost all of them on her first walk. One evening, Becky noses her leg as she walks past. She gives a smile and head nod to Glen. She stops, Becky pausing alongside her, and peers into his gentle eyes and says "Hello." She reaches down to pet Becky. Glen introduces his dog, then himself much later.

"Hi, this is Becky. She's very friendly."

She kneels down now to see eye to eye with Becky. Now she can see the uneven patches of fur on her belly and legs.

"She is. Hi Becky! You are beautiful. And so happy!"

She continues to pet Becky, even though she really does not like dogs that much. She looks up to Glen and notices his eyes have welled up.

"She's eight years old and is sick now. She's having a lot of surgeries. Becky's seen the sunset everyday since she was my little puppy. Even now, she still makes it out."

"She's a fortunate dog. I just moved out here and this is the first time in my life I've been able to watch a sunset like this. I call it my nightly date with the sun."

He chuckles and says "Well, I'm sure we'll be seeing you around."

Before he can walk away with Becky she quickly says, "Yes," she smiles "and I'm Sarah, it's nice to meet you."

He turns around. "Glen," he nodded his head, "nice meeting you too."

She has one friend.