The old man sits on his porch, rocking in his rocking chair.   He is warmed by the afternoon sun as he listens to the birds chirping and watches butterflies in the garden.   He has no idea how long he has been sitting there.   It really doesn't matter, he has no place to rush off to. 
    He retired more than ten years ago.  At first, he found plenty to do.  His children and grandchildren visited often and took him places.  Now everyone is too busy and he's too old and sick to travel anyway.  So he justs sits on his porch and waits for the social service people to bring him meals and help with housework.  He tries to remember good times of the past, but sometimes, even memories are gone.  
    Today, for some unknown reason, he feels a particular need for some companionship.  Someone to talk to.  Someone to smile at.  Maybe the mailman will deliver a letter today.  Or a magazine with colorful pictures.
    He spots something moving down the road.  Yes something, or someone, is coming his way.  He can't see well enough yet to tell who or what.  It takes several more minutes before he can see clearly that it's a stray dog approaching.  The dog is moving very slow, sniffing at everything, perhaps looking for food.  He is at the end of the sidewalk now and the old man can see that it is a old hound dog, walking slow due to arthritis, with brown and black fur turning gray.  
    The dog sees the old man now and starts to wag his tail hopefully and moves closer.  He can see the old man is not making any threatening moves, so he carefully climbs the porch stairs.  He walks over to the old man with his head down, ready to run if he needs to, but there is no need for that.  The old man puts out a shaky hand for the dog to sniff.  Then he begins to pat the dog gently.  The dog sniffs a bit, than lays down in front of the old man's feet, looking up at him expectedly.  The old man smiles and begins to tell a story.