Lucy's Journal

Journal Entry – August 20th
Written by Lucy, the white and tan Shih Tzu

Dear Journal,

Ugh. It’s that time again. I can smell it in the air — stress, coffee, and way too much cologne. The students are back in town. Which means my peaceful summer of quiet walks and calm afternoons has officially been ruined.

The streets are chaos. Absolute chaos. We can’t even drive to the park without sitting in a line of cars longer than my tail. And not fun cars either — loud, rattling ones with music that makes my ears twitch. Every time we stop at a red light, there’s some group of them crossing the street like they’ve never seen a crosswalk before. Some even try to talk to me through the window. “Awww, puppy!” they squeal. Puppy? PUPPY? Excuse me. I’m a lady.

The worst part is the noise. I used to be able to nap without interruption, but now it’s nonstop — car horns, skateboards, laughter, the clinking of iced coffee cups. Kiwi hates it too. She squawks every time a skateboard rolls past the house. Peanut just glares out the window like he’s personally offended by the existence of humans under the age of 25.

And don’t even get me started on the traffic. Today it took Dad five extra minutes to get home because of some road construction they just had to start the week everyone came back. I sat at the window the whole time, watching brake lights blink in the distance, wondering if he was ever going to return or if he’d been swallowed by the great Student Migration.

I miss the quiet days. The squirrels were braver then. The air smelled like grass instead of cheap takeout. Walks were about walking, not dodging clusters of loud humans and their fancy water bottles.

Summer Lucy was happy. Student Season Lucy is cranky.

Grumpily yours,
🐾 Lucy the Traffic Hater

P.S. Kiwi says we should start “air striking” skateboarders again. Peanut says he’ll handle the ones on bikes. I’m tempted to approve this plan.