Imposter
“Ruby!” I’d been standing outside for 5 minutes, calling for my dog. “Ruby!” I yelled for the 5th time. It was cold and my patience was wearing thin as I waited for her to appear. I stepped inside the house, pulling the sliding door shut.
Suddenly a mass of brown fur whizzed by. All 70 pounds of lean Belgian Malinois darted into the woods, disappearing into the darkness. I began to unlock the door when I noticed something sitting on the porch. Ruby. “Impossible. How did she do that so quickly?”
Then I heard footsteps on the deck and watched as a shape protruded from the shadows. There she was…again. Two Rubys, there was no denying it. They both had the same white fur on the muzzle, her trademark look. Sugar lips, we called her.
But now there were two. I closed my eyes, willing myself back to reality. But when I opened them, there they were. Both of them waited for me obediently, neither one seeming to sense the other. Two Rubys in parallel, in their own worlds, but both existing in mine.
“This is insane,” I thought. They stared at me through the glass doors, quizzically, no doubt wondering why it hadn’t been opened yet.
I looked back at them, carefully taking in their features and trying to decipher what I was seeing. Searching for my Ruby. Suddenly, there it was. The difference. Her eyes. Deep and dark. But there was something else there. Something sinister in this one’s eyes. Fear coursed through me.
As though sensing it, imposter Ruby lunged at the door. My Ruby sat there, unaware of what was happening right next to her. I locked the door and ran to the living room, bewildered and still in disbelief.
I sat there for a moment until a sound brought me out of my stupor.
“Was that a knock?” I walked toward the front door and looked through its frosted glass window. Was someone there? No, I sighed with relief, resting my head on the wooden door. Then, unmistakably, a knock. I looked up at the blurred face that had appeared at the front door, trying to make out the features through the frosted glass.
“Hello?” a voice called. “Babe, let me in.” I sighed with relief. It was Andy. I started to unlock the door but then thought better of it. “Babe?” the familiar voice called again.
Why wasn’t he using his key?
I backed away from the door and looked out of the living room window. There he was, my Andy, getting out of the car.
I looked back over to the front door and was greeted by Andy’s blurred face once again.
Who was this?
Then I heard footsteps on the front porch and the keys in the lock.
