Writer’s Block

Starsky hasn’t heard from Hutch for a few days so he goes to check in on his friend. Older guys.

Starsky hadn’t heard from Hutch for a couple of days. These days that wasn’t something to worry about even if it was unusual. He knew that Hutch liked his own company and there were days when he had enough of people and shut himself away for a few hours, maybe even a day. But he usually checked in with his pal at one point or another.

Starsky knew that Hutch’s wife was away visiting her sister and that Hutch had been hoping to get some writing done. Normally, he would take the dogs out on a long walk every other day so Starsky had expected a call.

He checked his phone. No missed calls. No messages. He decided to ring and waited as the phone connected, rang and then went to voicemail.

“Hutch, just checking in. Call me if you get this, but I’m heading over anyway. It’s a good day for taking the dogs out.”

Starsky gathered up his jacket and keys and called Rusty, who came over straight away when given the promise of a walk. He settled Rusty in the back of his car and then drove over to Hutch’s place. Hutch’s car was sitting in the driveway.

The curtains were drawn back so Hutch had to be up and around.

“Stay,” Starsky told Rusty. Then he walked up the path and let himself into his friend’s house.

Following his instincts, Starsky made straight for Hutch’s den. He peered through the door and saw his friend staring at a piece of paper, with a deep frown on his face. There were crumpled pieces of paper in and around the bin.

Starsky opened the door slowly and said, “Hey,” very gently, trying not to startle his friend.

“Oh…hey.”

Starsky came fully into the room. He picked up the crumpled paper and tossed it into the waste paper basket.

“One of the muses has gone on holiday?” he guessed. “The poetry one or the novelist?”

Hutch smiled slightly. “Nora the novelist.

Starsky said, “Well, maybe she’s just taken a day off rather than gone away on an extended vacation. Why don’t we see if the dogs can find her at the beach?”

Hutch stood up. “Yeah, good idea.”

They rounded up Dizzy and Oscar, grabbed some old towels and then all of them piled into Starsky’s car. There was much delighted sniffing and wagging of tails.

“You’d think they hadn’t seen each other for months!” Starsky said.

Hutch smiled as he told the dogs to “Settle down.”

/\/\/\/\/\

At the beach, they walked down past the few sun worshippers and once, well away from them, let the dogs off their leads. All three animals raced down to the water and started jumping in and out of the waves.

The two friends watched them for a while and then encouraged them out of the water by offering to throw a ball and a stick for them to fetch. Once the dogs were bored with that game, they walked on further. A jogger passed by. A seagull swooped down to grab a half eaten sandwich left behind by someone. They went and sat down on some conveniently placed rocks and the dogs chased each other for a bit before collapsing in a sandy heap.

As they looked out towards the ocean, they saw a sailing boat going by and a large freighter anchored out in the bay. Hutch shielded his eyes to get a better look and make a mental note of the details. They saw a speedboat heading out towards the ship. Soon it became too small to distinguish against the hull of the larger ship.

“Smugglers?” Hutch muttered.

Starsky raised an eyebrow. “Should I be calling the coastguard? Or is Nora whispering in your ear?”

Hutch chuckled. “Nora,” he confirmed.

“Good,” Starsky said. “Let’s go get a drink for the dogs and us then I’ll take you home so you can get writing.”

As they headed back along the beach, Hutch said, “Thanks for kicking Nora into gear.”

“Anytime. Dealing with troublesome females is my speciality,” Starsky said, with a smirk that soon had Hutch rolling his eyes, but laughing at the same time.