Quni ∞ Sami

I met Sami beside the road three days ago, although I think he may have decided we were traveling together before I did. I had stopped near a small settlement because my feet hurt and I wanted something to eat before continuing. A yellow dog was lying several steps away watching me. He wasn't begging or trying to get my attention. He simply watched while I unpacked my food, and when I stood to leave, he stood too.

I assumed he belonged to someone, but he followed me anyway. For the next hour he stayed several steps behind, stopping when I stopped and continuing whenever I began walking again. Eventually he moved ahead of me and started down the road as though we had been traveling together all morning. That evening I asked people in the next settlement whether they knew him. Some had seen him before, but no one seemed to claim him. When I went inside for the night, he curled up outside my door.

The next morning he was waiting for me.

Since then, Sami has crossed a bridge with me, chased something into a field that I never managed to see, slept beside my pack while I ate lunch, barked at a llama twice his size, and discovered several shortcuts that turned out not to be shortcuts at all. He walks ahead when the road is clear, but if I fall too far behind, he stops and looks back until I catch up. Last night was cold, and sometime before dawn I woke to find him pressed against my legs. I pulled my blanket over both of us and went back to sleep.

Tonight we are sitting above the ruins watching the Sun disappear behind the mountains. Sami is leaning against me again, and I have one hand resting on his back. We walked all day, and neither of us seems interested in moving yet. I have spent so much of this journey meeting people who taught me something before I continued along the road. Eventually, every encounter ended, and I kept walking.

Sami stayed.

Somewhere during these last few days, I stopped wondering when he would leave. Tomorrow morning I will pick up my pack and start walking again. I already know what will happen next. Sami will stand, stretch his legs, and come with me.