A dog's world - Chapter 7 - Night Stay

Brownie

I hadn’t seen Lilo this happy in a long time and she was in such an awful mood when she came back. I’m glad our little game cheered her up. She toweled me dry and slipped into a shower.

I went around my usual round around the house, checking all my stuff was in its place (my water dish, bed, food dish) I heard a car pulling in. I rushed to the window and peeped out. Boy oh boy! Lilo was going to be super excited! Her three best friends Jodi, Trisha and Anna were getting off the car. I ran to the door and started barking wildly. I hadn’t seen them for ages.

Lilo came out of the shower with water still dripping off her and opened the door. All the four girls started talking and screaming simultaneously. I wasn’t to be left behind. I joined in, barking at the top of my voice. I was really excited and kept jumping at the three of them. Finally, Lilo had to hold me to let them in.

Out of all three of them, Anna was my favorite. She loved to fuss over me and always got me a little something to nibble at. I was not disappointed. She bent down and tossed one doggie treat in the air. I jumped high and caught it neatly. I could see I had impressed the ladies with my skills. Told you I was popular with the fairer sex.

The girls were still talking pretty loudly and commenting on how much the other one had changed in the looooong time that they hadn’t seen each other. (They see each other once in two weeks at the maximum.) Anyway, I left the girls to themselves and went exploring. I could sense that one of the girls had got something to eat, but it was a very different smell from what I usually eat. I nosed around and found that the source of the weird smell was the dining table.

Hmmm, this could be a problem. The dining table is a little high for ne to jump on. Maybe if I pull out a chair and then jump on the chair first and then jump on the table. Yeah... that could work. I got under the table, selected a chair, put my paws on it and started to push it. I slipped a number of times and finally I managed. As quick as the wind, I jumped on the table and nosed through the first parcel. Chicken!!! My favorite. Within minutes, it was over. The next parcel contained something I had never seen. It looked like long worms. I bent down to smell it. I shoved my nose deep inside the box .It got stuck to my nose. I shook my head to remove it, the box fell down but the worms didn’t move. I got scared. What if, what if this is something dogs aren’t supposed to eat? What if these worms are dangerous to dogs...? With a yelp, I ran to find Lilo.

Lilo was with her friends. They were sitting on the floor drinking from the bottle Trisha had got. As soon as they saw me, they burst out laughing. I realized that whatever it was, it wasn’t dangerous in anyway. The only danger I could see was if the girls choked over their own laugh.

Lilo cleaned me up for the third time that day, admonished me for eating their food and then gave a big kiss on the nose.

After a while, the girls became quiet and spoke in softer voices. I could tell that they were discussing something serious. From what I could tell, it looked like the girls were going to stay over. I went around the house, checking whether everything was ok. I was the man of the house and it was my job to keep these girls safe. Once satisfied, I came back and settled down in the middle of the girls in such a way, that all four could pet me. Occasionally, I put my head on someone’s lap and stayed there till they stopped talking. It helps them in some way. They all give me a kiss before I leave their lap for someone else’s.

It’s a good thing to be loved by four beautiful women.

A dog's world - Chapter 6 - The Heart Break

Lilo

I can’t believe what a fool I was. Believing, even for a moment, that James was into me or something. He ACTUALLY wanted to work! He must have thought I was an idiot! Or worse! He must have thought I like him or something. I kept hinting at how nice it was outside and how we should not be at work and be hanging out somewhere else.. Ohhhhh GOD.. So not only did I make a fool out of myself, I also worked on my WEEKEND and it wasn’t even my work!!

That James, he will have to pay for that!

There was only one thing left to do, I pulled over and called my best friend. Great! Her number was busy. I deliberated for a moment, on whether I should call my other best friends but then decided to head back home. All I needed to feel better was Brownie. I sent a text message to all three of my best friends saying “Bad day, James didn’t ask me out or anything. Made me work over the weekend. Hate that guy.” Its important to keep friends informed about updates in your life.

Just the thought of how excited Brownie gets when he sees me, makes me smile.. I stopped by a pet store to pick up some dog food and as gift for making me feel so special, I picked up his favorite toy. It’s a little rubber ball with some bells inside it. Brownie can amuse himself for hours with it. He can’t figure out where the sound is coming from. He keeps rolling it around and looking at it from all angles. Finally, when he’s had enough he starts chewing the ball till the bells come out.

It started raining when I came out of the store. Could this day be any worse?? I hate driving in the rain.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, I reached home. I could hear Brownie barking.

I was heartbroken, tired and wet. I opened the front door and Brownie dashed out of the door, jumped all around me as though he hadn’t seen me for years. His enthusiasm was contagious and I could not help but laugh as I watched him run towards the front lawn and then back towards me, indicating he wanted to play.

Well, I had a surprise for him! I took out the ball and put it in my palm and held it high where Brownie could see him. Brownie went delirious with happiness. I too ran out in the rain and together we played in the rain and the slush after a really really long time.

After an hour, we trooped back home, I was still wet, but happier and rejuvenated. There is something therapeutic about playing with a dog. You forget all about your tiredness and worries. Behind me, a sobered Brownie trotted inside. I guess he could make out that I needed this fun time. How lucky was I?

I rubbed the mud off Brownie and then slipped into a shower. *Sigh* things were looking better. I guess I should end the day by watching a nice movie. Yeah, that sounds good, I could make some pop corn.

*Ding Dong*

I wonder who it could be, it was easily around 9:30 p.m. James? Could be it? I chided myself for being so silly and quickly pulled on some clothes. Of course I glanced in the mirror to make sure I was looking presentable, just in case it was James.

I opened the door and a big smile cracked my face. On my doorstep were three of my best friends with a bottle of tequila and some take-away Chinese food.

Woo hoo! This night was just getting started. :)

A dog's world - Chapter 5 - Home Alone

Brownie

Hmmm... Something was not right here. There was Jam ON me AND all over the kitchen and Lilo is holding on to me as though I’ve accomplished some great task. Okay, she spotted the jam on me now. Oh man, I hope she doesn’t get too mad. I hate it when Lilo and I fight.

“Now you are going to have a bath quietly, and I am going to forget about the Jam episode. Capisce?”

Oh no! A bath???? Have mercy!

I could try and hide but something about the tone of her voice struck me as different. I didn’t want to make this Lilo mad. I obeyed. A dog’s got to do what a dog’s got to do.

Lilo seemed to be in a big hurry, she didn’t even blow dry my coat! As soon as I was out of the bathroom, she ran into her room and started pulling out outfit after outfit.

I followed her into the room. She was standing in front of the mirror holding a dress in front of her. I guess she was asking the other lady who stays with her dog in the mirror whether she should wear it or not. You should see that lady, she looks exactly like Lilo. Sometimes I think its Lilo’s twin sister who somehow got trapped inside a mirror. The dog, even though he has a brown patch around is eye looks a little lost if you ask me. I had tried being friends with him. After all, we stayed in the same house. But every time, he just pretends like he’s barking. I mean I can see his mouth moving but I can’t hear any barking except mine. I mean seriously, grow up! Now I just look away every time I see him.

Anyway, Lilo had finally decided on something and started putting some make up on her face. Once she tried to put it on me too! My goodness! I’m sure I looked positively hideous. Not that Lilo looks hideous. For a human, I think she looks pretty nice.

Lilo kept running in and out of the room. I got tired of following her around, so I perched myself on this sofa in the living room from where I could see what was going on in most of the rooms.

Usually Lilo would have come and shooed me off the couch but today, I think something really important had come. She didn’t even give me a second glance. Last time I had seen her run around like this; her mother had come over to stay. OH!! Her mother is coming to stay! No wonder she wants me to be clean and gave me a bath. That would also explain why she wants to look nice. That would mean, any moment now, Lilo would start cleaning the house.

Hey... wait a minute, Lilo just ran out. Where is she going without me! We always go together to pick up her mother.

I raced to the front door and started whining. Maybe Lilo just forgot that I was still in the house. Yeah, that was it. She’ll come back when she hears me. I barked loudly. I looked through the window. I could see Lilo reversing the car. Surely she heard me? Ah... there, she was coming back.

With a sudden jerk, Lilo opened the door. I jumped on her, my tail wagging to and fro. I knew you would come back for me Lilo.

“No Brownie, down sweetie, I’ll be late for lunch, so I’ll just fill your water bowl and food bowl. Don’t gulp it down ok?” She bent down and planted a kiss on my nose. She filled my water bowl and food bowl and left.

I pressed my nose to the window and whined away, convinced that Lilo had made a mistake. Why was she going without me?

A dog's world - Chapter 4 - James

Lilo

“OH MY GOD!!” Today was turning out to be the best day ever!!I mean of all the people James Kutch was calling me!! Ok ok... so you don’t know who James Kutch is... He’s like the most... Ok... he’s not the best looking guy I know. Nor is he the smartest. But there is just something about him that makes me... Oh I don’t know... Maybe I can call it crush... a little crush... yeah that sounds reasonable.

Anyway, so... James called me at 7:00 AM!! I mean who does that? Maybe it means he’s been thinking about me since the last time we met (which was yesterday at work) and since today is a weekend and he had to hear my voice and he couldn’t wait any longer, he called me at 7. Plausible right? It could happen!

Oh... so you don’t believe me? Well... the reason he called me was because he wants my “help” with some work related stuff. Oh come on! It’s obvious; he’s asking me out on a date! And the reason he wants to meet in office is so that I don’t think there’s too much there... Ha ha! Men are so naïve. They don’t know that we already know what they are planning.

I held on to Brownie when all these thoughts were running through my head. Brownie’s coat felt wet. I looked down; there was some maroon color goop on him which looked a lot like jam. What could it possibly be? Now, I looked around my kitchen. And then I saw it. The jam bottle which was on the counter when I last saw it, was smashed on the kitchen floor. I knew who the culprit was, but I was too happy to be mad.

I had to give him a bath though. Gosh! James wanted to meet at ten and I hadn’t even decided what to wear and on top of that I had to give Brownie a bath and clean the kitchen.

Giving Brownie a bath is no joke. Brownie HATES having a bath. I have to literally lock him in the bath room and throw water at him hoping it will hit him. It’s like playing dodge ball, only with water instead of a ball. So, it was obvious I was never going to finish in time. I grabbed Brownie by the collar and looked him dead in the eye and said in my harshest voice “Now you are going to have a bath quietly, and I am going to forget about the Jam episode. Capisce?” To my surprise, Brownie relented and trotted towards the bathroom. I think it’s high time he understood, it’s either my way or the high-way.

I think I should try this voice more often. Brownie stood through out the bath like a rock; I was done in no time. Now it was time to groom myself.

So... what should I wear? I wanted to look great, but also as though I hadn’t tried to look great. Hmmm... tricky tricky.. Didn’t want to wear office clothes obviously... too formal... couldn’t wear a summer dress... too casual; I’m meeting a colleague after all. After much dilemma I settled on a pair of jeans and a tee. Selecting the tee too was complicated, shouldn’t be too tight (Don’t want to seem too desperate), shouldn’t be too loose (Don’t want to seem too disinterested.)

Gosh!  

Makeup took a little more time than deciding what to wear, but that was because I wanted to go with a no make up look. Now really, if he holds my hand and looked deep into my eyes I don’t want him to find mascara goop there!

Finally, I was ready with ten minutes to spare.