Allison and Charmout

“Walking, walking, walking! This is ridiculous, how long do we have to walk?  Why can’t we just drive where we are going?” Tanya was sweet girl, but at the age of 15 she was a pretty standard teenager and she did not like walking.

“There is a road up ahead, but you will still walk, there are no vehicles that can take us there.”  Charmout enjoyed the girl’s spunk, she was kind, courageous and she clearly had some opinions on how to get places.  She made the journey much more enjoyable than usual and he giggled a little to himself as she complained.

“Ooooh myyyy GOD!  Seriously?  We have to walk the whole way?  Where are we going anyway?  I can’t remember.  Actually, I can’t even remember how I know you.”  She was going to talk the whole time that much was clear.

“Little flower, you will get where we are going when you are ready to get there.  Until then we will walk.  There is a road up ahead that we can follow for a while.” 

She couldn’t see it.  How far up ahead was this road going to be? Would it be paved or just dirt? Would it be hot on the road or comfortable like it was here in the trees by this river?  So many thoughts in her mind, so many questions she wanted to keep asking.  The day wore on and they were still walking.  She began to get very sleepy and Charmout found her a nice field full of yellow and red daisies so she could rest in a beautiful place and watch the sky for the night.  He laid out the bedding for her to lay on and gave her some chocolates that seemed to be perfectly balanced between sweet and creamy and just a tiny bit bitter.  They didn’t make her sick to her tummy like most chocolates did.  They filled her with delight and happiness and she lay back on the bedding and pulled a blanket up over herself and stared at the huge sky and all the millions of stars until she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up Charmout already had everything packed back up and loaded onto a little donkey.  The donkey walked slowly and followed behind them carrying everything they needed for their journey.  

Alison liked the Donkey; she was glad that there was someone besides Charmout that walked along with them.  It helped to take her mind off all the things she thought she might be missing at home.  Sometimes she wished she could ride the donkey but she knew animals well enough to know that she was too big for a donkey this little.  She knew someone had to carry all the stuff and she was grateful they donkey was there to do it so she didn’t have to.

The donkey had a name she thought “What is the donkey’s name?”

“He has no name; would you like to give him one?”

“Really?  No name.  Just like totally trained this donkey without giving him a name, like ever.”  She was being dramatic.  

She walked over to the donkey and touched his long ears.  He stopped, and he peed, and then he began to walk again very slowly.  He did not seem to notice her one way or the other.

“He doesn’t have a name so he isn’t used to responding to people!”  She announced loudly.

“His job is to carry our bags; it is not to provide comfort or companionship.”

“Well, he provides me with companionship.”  She kept thinking about a name.

 “Gus, Fred, Dumbledor, Harry, Grand Theft Auto, what shall I name you?”  The donkey looked at her, stopped and then pooped.

Alison giggled, every time she addressed him he relieved himself.  Maybe she should call him potty, or poopy or hmmm she thought and though about it until she became obsessed with finding a name.

“Does his do anything else besides carry stuff?  Like, does he perform in a circus?  Or does he make funny faces?  Like what is his personality?” 

“He is a donkey with a job, he has always been a good donkey, he used to travel thousands of miles every year taking people the same place we are going.  But now he is getting older so he only takes the small ones, like you.” Charmout seemed as though he might recount a great story at first, but then he just stopped, Alison hoped he would tell her a good story about the donkey, something that would help his personality stand out so she could come up with a name.  Charmout stopped talking though.

“Hello old donkey,” she rubbed his head and he passed gas, loudly.  It smelled pretty much like hay, but a little poopier. 

“OK that is weird.  I think your name definitely has to be something that goes with that!  I KNOW!  How about Cooper, it rhymes with Pooper?”  She giggled at how clever she was.

Charmout giggled a little too, he liked taking these trips with kids.  They were too young to have become cynical, or boring.  They still had so much life left in them… A tear ran down his face.  The young ones were so full of life, but no one else would ever know it.  It saddened him just a little.

“Cooper sounds like a good name, what do you think old man?”  Charmout spoke out loud to the donkey for the first time since they had left.  The donkey stopped walking and shook his head up and down as though he was saying yes, then he farted again even louder than the first time and both Alison and Charmout laughed out loud.

That night they found an old barn at the beginning of a road.  They went inside and Charmout unloaded the donkey, as he had done the night before, and set the bedding on an old pile of straw.  Cooper lay down on some dry straw too and he munched on some apples Charmout put out for him.  Alison lay down on the blankets and fell asleep before Charmout could even make her any dinner.  He looked at her tenderly, her beautiful face so calm and peaceful looking, and he smiled a little.  

The next morning Charmout did not load up the donkey with all the heavy things.  Instead he put a blanket on the donkey’s back and tied it around his belly.  Then he motioned for Alison to get onto the back of the donkey and she did.  He led the donkey out from the barn and down a short hill to the road.  Alison hugged Cooper as he carried her down.  Partially because she loved him and partially because donkeys were bumpy and she did not have a bridle to hold onto to keep her steady.  Charmout watched as she bounced down the road, the sun was shining, the girl was smiling and even the little donkey seemed years younger than he had all the rest of the journey.  Together they bounced down the road, content, happy and the girl finally stopped asking questions.