The Old Man

by Thomas Perry

All dogs wanted to be good dogs, no matter how unpromising they seemed. You just had to help them find a way. And they were sunshine creatures. When their master opened his eyes in the morning it was their signal that the day had begun, and a day was to be greeted with joy and intense interest. They were a good example for an old man.

He got in beside her. “You know we’ll probably be dead very soon.” “It was never going to end any other way. Lovers all die. And no matter when, it was always going to be sooner than we wanted.”

People get along or they don’t. If they don’t, then one day one of them sees the future all laid out ahead. And they realize that it’s almost exactly like the present. And they don’t want it to be.”