Once upon a time, there was a very nice boy. He met a girl (in Pittsburgh!), and they moved to DC together to pursue their fortunes. They were very happy together in DC; they lived in a teeny-tiny apartment down the street from Eastern Market, the Capitol, and the tastiest Pakistani food they'd ever had. But by far the most interesting thing in their neighborhood, as far as the boy was concerned, was the dog park.

Every evening, people would bring their dogs--big and little, young and old, good at fetch and not smart enough to find the ball--and on quite a few of those evenings, the boy and the girl would walk by and watch the dogs at play. The boy would wish very hard that he could have a dog, but, alas, their lease would not allow it. The girl would offer to ask one of the people if the boy could play with their dog, but the boy was not sure that would be polite. They had this conversation many times, but ultimately, the boy always decided to wait until they lived in a house with enough room for a dog.

Since then, they have moved twice, out of DC and into the cold, unfeeling suburbs, but still not to such a place. In fact, such a place is looking rather far off in their futures, for various reasons.

So the girl, who is still very much in love with the boy, offers him this task. (How can it possibly not be polite, if it's a task?)