Page 7 of Christmas Shelter

Chapter 6

"Unbelievable, we still don't have internet," Patricia says, grabbing her phone for the umpteenth time to check.

Though the storm has lost its strength, she knows that without a snowplow clearing the road, getting the car out will be impossible, so she's resigned herself to spending most of the day entertained with her phone while Carlota reads on her e-reader. However, after lunch, the network went down and they're cut off from communication, and even though she's kept herself busy with the dogs, Patricia can't stand the boredom.

"What else could possibly go wrong?" she continues grumbling while pacing from window to window, with the dog glued to her ankle.

"You should give him a name," Carlota suggests.

"What?" Patricia asks, caught off guard.

"The dog. You found him and he likes you, it's only fair that you name him. Otherwise, I'll have to take the list we use for name assignments and give him the next one."

"And what's the next one?" Patricia asks with curiosity.

Carlota puts down her book and gets up to grab the list of names they use to christen the dogs and cats that arrive at the shelter.

"Well, the next one for a male dog is Stockholm," Carlota says.

"Stockholm?" she repeats in horror. "He doesn't look like a Stockholm, does he?" she asks the dog while petting his head.

The dog blinks and licks his lips, thinking she's going to feed him.

"He'll be called Coco," Patricia decides.

"Coco," Carlota repeats with a smile. "I like it. Assigned," she says and writes it down on the dog's file.

Patricia drops heavily into the armchair and lets out a bored sigh that makes her companion nervous. Carlota has been patient and wished with all her might that someone would tell them the snowplow had cleared the road so Patricia could leave. But she knows the shelter won't be a priority, that they'll clear populated areas first, and given the time, she'll have to spend another night with her grumpy companion, and she won't let her keep ruining her plans for another minute.

"Well," she says, putting down Coco's file, "it's time for some real fun," she adds and lets all the dogs out of their kennels.

"What are you doing?" Patricia asks.

It's not that the dogs bother her; after all, most of them are elderly or recovering, so they just come out of their kennels to lie on the blankets and not much else. Beforeanswering, Carlota grabs a box and a couple of bags and places them on the table.

"What I planned to do this morning - decorate this place for Christmas."

To Patricia's amazement, Carlota opens the box and takes out a small artificial tree. Then she opens the bags and not only pulls out Christmas lights and ornaments but also Santa hats and reindeer ear headbands for the dogs. What horrifies Patricia most is that she connects a speaker to a downloaded Christmas playlist and places it on top of the microwave while she starts assembling the tree.

"Don't just stand there gawking, help me," Carlota asks Patricia with a huge smile while putting on a Santa hat.

Patricia stands petrified and looks at the dog kennels thinking about hiding inside one, but when she glances at the animals, she notices that most orbit around Carlota as if they'd caught her Christmas spirit, which seems to have rejuvenated the older ones and lifted the spirits of the sick ones. A bark from Coco startles her, and when she looks at him, he's in front of her wagging his tail at full speed.

"What?" she asks, holding back a smile. "You want a hat too? No, reindeer ears suit you better."

Patricia, after letting out a deep breath, decides she has nothing better to do and nothing to lose by helping, plus she likes the music as it takes her back to her childhood, and she's always liked Christmas, even though she never got over being told Santa wasn't real. She approaches Carlota and starts putting hats and headbands on the dogs.

"Now it's your turn," Carlota says, watching her from the corner of her eye.

Patricia narrows her eyes but gives in and puts on a hat.

"Happy?"

Carlota just smiles in response and continues decorating the tree. Her smile triggers something in Patricia that she can't decipher, but it makes her feel comfortable, and for a moment, she forgets her bad mood and past grudges. She starts searching through the bags and pulls out more decorations to help Carlota, and for the next hour and a half, the two veterinarians hum carols and even dance with the animals while they finish putting up all the lights and decorations Carlota brought.

"It doesn't look bad," Patricia comments with satisfaction, observing the small lit tree and all the decorations placed on windows, doors, and anywhere they could hang something.

"I love Christmas," Carlota says and adjusts her hat. "Will you feed the dogs while I prepare our dinner?" the volunteer proposes.

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