An Encounter

[I'm tired of my NaNoWriMo story already and so procrastinating. This is the first paragraph of an old NaNo novel, heavily edited.]

Arnold’s intention had been not to step on the lowly leaf, but to avoid the left front paw of a shaggy, black-and-white Australian shepherd, who had strayed from her owner.  The dog looked up at Arnold with clear, blue eyes as if to ask for directions, yet the animal’s gaze pierced the human’s soul as if to prove to both that they were not such distant relatives.  The dog’s owner, a woman in her twenties of medium height and a thin, yet awkward frame, walked sternly with the indignation of a parent whose teenager had just defied her.  She moved her arms briskly but made no extra effort with her legs and the effect was, thought Arnold, probably not far off from that of a windmill, although the purpose and placement of windmills always eluded Arnold.  “Lily!” shouted the woman, her voice loud yet restrained.  The dog looked over at its owner, and then back at Arnold, pleadingly.  Arnold didn’t budge, temporarily taking guardianship of the dog, though he had the keen foresight to know that the woman’s ire was probably to befall upon both parties.  And so it was.  “Excuse me, sir, that’s my dog,” said the woman possessively, avoiding Arnold’s eyes.  She was three inches shorter than him, and although that was rather tall for a woman, Arnold noticed that she had a rather shorter than average torso.  Her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing Converse sneakers with blue jeans and a purple long-sleeved shirt.  She had a brown purse over one shoulder, throwing her entire lanky body slightly off-balance.  “I was just making sure she didn’t stray,” he said with a smile.  She looked up at him.  She did not smile.  A few strands of hair fell in front of her face and she quickly put them in their place, just behind her right ear.  “Thanks,” she mentioned quickly and then said, “Lily, come.”  The dog suddenly remembered which of the two was the master and left her foster parent without even a goodbye, trotting off happily into the descending late afternoon sunset.