The Crime

(for Neil) I wonder if you remember, the dog you killed that day on the way back from the Stony Rises? You were driving, talking about yourself, I think, or maybe you were singing along to some song on the radio. Up ahead, the boy on a bicycle pedaled against the wind, dog by his side. It happened so quickly, you were driving so fast you nearly didn’t stop, thinking, hoping, perhaps, that you’d only imagined it. When we backed up the boy was on his knees, hands hovering over the dead animal. "Sorry about that, mate," was all you could say. Fighting back tears and disbelief the boy looked up: "Oh, that’s all right," he said.