THE LIONS DEN

(ONE SUNNY SUNDAY IN OLD FLORIDA)
THE MUSIC...
http://youtu.be/r7G-0g3ZHs0

They walk dog and the man with the beard talks to them as dog pokes around in the tall grass.
They 5 are Father, son and grandsons.
Uncle and nephews.
Her coat is golden and though the grass is green the Florida sun has bleached it brown in some places and blond in others.
Dog seems to disappear at times in the grass a second before she shimmer back.
The boys and the old man throw rocks at things beside the railroad tracks as the boys talk about the train and try to guess when it will come.
The old man knows and he tells them it will not come now. The boys ask him how fast it goes and he tells them fast enough.
Dog runs to the edge of the trees that line the side of the dirt road that runs adjacent to the tracks and sees something, her ears perk up and the smallest boy yells at her, tells her not to go into the trees.
She runs up to him and you can tell she weighs more than him, could knock him down.
The boy rubs her and she runs away to explore as the old man talks to them.
The cicadas sing in the trees and the birds chirping seems to blend in with the wholeness of the scene. The cars on the other side of the street sigh, roar, speed past.
They come to a place where there are some old oak trees and a large grassy field and stop.
Dog looks at old man and he says go a second before she melts into the tall grass
The old man looks at his grandsons and his son.
There is much pride in him.
His oldest grandson looks at the oak tree and says. "I can climb that tree."
The old man says "Show me."
The boy tries and is to short to reach the lowest branch and his Uncle who is a teenager walks up and boosts him up and he and his dad stand under the branch as the boy crawls around.
He looks down and realizes how high he is and he looks at them with fright in his eyes.
They do not help him but they talk him down.
He reaches the ground and his granddad rubs his head.
The boy smiles and his little brother wants to try. His grandfather boosts him up and he stands up before realizing how high he is.
He starts to whimper and his granddad and his uncle help him down.
They joke with him and he smiles sheepishly.
His pride has been saved.
The old man elicits a Sharp whistle and dog materializes from the grass.
They walk away talking and throwing rocks.

JERALD HAMZAHFARUQ MURPHY