Just for Thanksgiving…a New Story!

I’ve written three holiday-themed Dream Series short pieces, which I’ll be sharing here over the next few weeks.  Since it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, I’ll give you the first one now.

This little tale takes place in December of 1980, when Sara is twelve years old.  Sara touches on it momentarily in DREAM STUDENT, but here’s that moment from a very different point of view.  I call this piece “Girl’s Best Friend”

This box is very small.  I do not like it.  I do not like it.  I do not like it!

I hear people.  They are very loud.  The other people were loud, too.  I was scared of them.  They yelled when I pooped in the house.  I don’t want to poop in the house.  But I have to poop.  If I poop in this box, they will yell at me.  I will be BAD.  I don’t want to be BAD!

Something is happening!  I hear a person.  She is right outside the box.  She is loud, like the other people.  But her loud does not hurt my ears like the other people.  She is opening the box!  She is opening the box!  She is opening the box!

This is not where I was!  I am somewhere else!  There were bars and everything was gray and hard and sharp.  This is not gray and the floor is soft and there are no sharp things.

There were many many small furry people at the other place.  I am the only small furry person here.  There was only one big, not-furry person at the other place.  But there are many big, not-furry people here.  There are two smaller big people.  One is a boy with a little not-gray fur on his head.  The other one is a girl.  She is bigger than the boy, and she has more not-gray fur on her head.  She smells friendly.

She is picking me up!  She is kissing my head!  She is yelling at me, but it is nice yelling.  There are many bigger big people.  I do not know how many.  I know one, and I know two.  I do not know what is more than two.  There are many of them, and they smell happy.  They are making a noise I do not know, but they are smelling happy, so it is a good noise.

The smaller girl big person is not yelling anymore.  She is making noise, but it is more quiet.  I do not understand her.  If she could talk properly, like all the small furry people at the other place, I would understand her.  But she…

“Good dog!”

I understand that!  I know what Good Dog means!  It means I am GOOD!  I am GOOD!  I am GOOD!  I want to be GOOD!  I want to be GOOD all the time always!  I will be GOOD, and the small not-furry girl will like me and she will always smell friendly and everything will be GOOD always and always!

She is petting me and rubbing my belly and scratching under my jaw and saying Good Dog over and over.  That means she loves me!  I am licking her face.  That means I love her!

I like this new place!  All the not-furry people smell happy.  But I like the small not-furry girl best, because I love her!  She smells happy and friendly and full of GOOD!

I see something else.  I see a tree!  I know what trees mean!  But it is inside.  Trees are always outside.  Outside is where I poop and I pee.  And trees are the best place to poop and to pee.  This is a tree.  It is a big tree and it is not gray.  It is the best place to poop and pee.  But it is inside.

This is a new place.  It is not like the other place.  I had to poop and pee outside.  But there is a tree here.  And I am telling them now that I have to poop and I have to pee, too.  I am telling them and telling them, and they are making noise that I don’t understand.  But they all still smell happy.  I guess I am supposed to poop inside, by the big not-gray tree.

They are yelling!  The biggest not-furry person said I am BAD!  I do not want to be BAD!  But the not-furry girl is petting me again!  She is saying I am GOOD!  She smells friendly.  She smells not-angry.  She is not yelling.  She is my friend!  She loves me!

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