Above it all

He was so calm, so peaceful lying there in the milky sunlight. Tourists in varying degrees of exertion huffed and puffed past him like little engines, climbing the last few steps to the summit where the view spanned out like a gentle watercolour. I wondered if the colours ever grew more vivid, if it transformed to resemble a textured oil painting in the brightness of summer. There was a hum of chatter as people pointed out landmarks and familiarities of life that seemed so small and insignificant from such a height; roads that twisted like bits of fine thread, lakes that resembled puddles after a rainstorm, cars that seemed to scurry like insects instead of rolling smoothly. The world was a busy rush below, with places to be and appointments to keep, but up there life drifted and the air was lighter. Perhaps that was why he came.

His wiry fur sat smooth against his back, thinner in places where his summer coat came through. Like radars, his triangular ears tracked the movement around him, moving independently. The rest of his body seemed oblivious to the hubbub, completely at ease in his domain. There were scars on his muzzle and the pads of his paws were cracked like a dessert ground; signs of a life spent outdoors. The muscles in his legs were toned and strong; I saw him trotting easily back and forth from the summit in my mind, his tongue lolling and his eyes bright.

He gave a languorous stretch and flopped onto his side to reveal a white belly, slightly stained from the dusty track. My fingers itched to stroke him, to scratch behind his ears, but caution raised its head.

Locals told me eruption was due any day and showed me pictures of the last. Smoke billowed like a plume of downy feathers; cast in black and white, the event seemed steeped in doom. I asked how much advance warning they would receive; they laughed and said that it wouldn’t matter anyway, that no one would leave their homes.

Staring at him, I wondered where he would be the next time it happened, whether he would be the first to know so close to the mouth. He whimpered in his sleep; his toes twitched and jerked. In his dreams he was running.      

Beside him, the crater of Mount Vesuvius gave a steamy hiss.