A Dog Life Short Christmas Story....

A Building 44 Christmasby Bethany Williams

 

At Building 44, fluffy snowflakes were lightly falling on this particular afternoon.  The clock chimed twice, which meant it was time for our canine daily meeting.  Our humans were also invited to come and share their jibber and good energy.  I did my normal ESP, inviting my human to pull out my raincoat, and come along.  We met Sammy on the way down the stairs, as usual.

"How ya doin' Klondike?" Sammy beamed in his usual positive energy.  It is impossible for him to be in a sour mood.

"How do you do, Sammy?"  I panted as we headed out the door, me first, as always.  Our breaths misted in the cold air.

Thriller headed our way with an excited aura about him.  That was nothing new, since he is a very, VERY active detective canine.  "Howdy-do Sammy and Klondike.  I have something you must see."  He rushed toward the decorations at the front of our building, expecting us to follow.  I ESP to the humans to also follow, and they do as commanded.

Before we even reached the destination in our haste, we hear the quiet yaps lifting through the brisk air.  The familiar scent of friends greeted our noses, which we followed straight to Santa's sleigh.
Paulie and Theo stood to greet us.  "Hi fellas," they shivered, shaking snow from their noses.

"We're lost and can't find our way back home.  Will you please help us Klondike?"  They pleaded with those pitiful puppy dog eyes you see in the movies.

Just then, Honey ambled over to smell what was happening.  Thriller brought her up to speed.

Honey's amber eyes sparkled.  She had an ideal, "Klondike, why don't you do that ESP thing and have the humans make signs to hang up around the neighborhood." 

Sammy gaped in agreement.

"Pardon me," I fixed my eyes on Paulie and Theo, "but I have so much to do.  There's my toy that makes the oh so fun sounds, which I must find.  Then there's my bone, which needs some cleaning, or licking as my human calls it.  Shows how much he knows.  Then..." 

The twins eyes distracted me and I gulped.  I beamed a message to my human.  Then I tugged on my leash to take her for a stroll.  Honey and her human came along.  This would be a nice quiet walk, apart from the humans' banter.

Honey must not have received my ESP message about QUIET just then.  "Klondike, dear friend, do you remember snowy-time when you were a pup?  Remember your first time in the snow?  The first time your human let you off your leash?  The time you chased after one of those huge transporting devices...."  She continued to share her reminiscing of things I did not recall sharing with her.

"Lord of creation," I looked up in a beamed message Heavenward, "have you been telling Honey my secrets again?"  My thoughts went back in time, to that day when my ears flopped carefree.  When I was chasing the transporting device, my human grabbed me, and scolded me.  She was in what that Dog Whisperer on television calls a "Red Zone."  She jabbered at me and held me close, as I whimpered in her arms.  I never chased another transporting device again...that is, other than in my dreams.

Honey softened her presence in silence.  She has this mysterious way of knowing things.  Maybe it is a gift.  It just gives me the creeps.  She and her human turned to return to the spot in front of our building.  My human and I continued on for a bit.  Then she halted suddenly. 

Next thing I knew, Chloe was next to me, her shiny, golden coat swaying with every step."Hi Klondike," her tail wagged.  "I heard about the twins.  Of course, Thriller is on the case.  He's checking every human who passes our spot."

I just nodded and kept walking.  Maybe she would get the hint.  I beam a message at her to remain quiet.  Immediately she goes on, "You must be feeling pretty guilty, knowing how it feels when your human goes into the  'Red Zone.'  The twins' humans are surely in that state as we speak."

Obviously, I was not feeling any of that until Chloe said all that.  Women!!!  I stopped and sniffed around, lifting snow from the grass with every step.  I was not going to cry.  At least not until we got home and I had a chance to ESP my human to hold me close.

Miss Wiggles cut through the snow covering the path from the other direction.  Uh-oh!!  I bet you can guess what happened next.  Chloe and Miss Wiggles chatted about the latest happenings at our building.  I pretended to be on a very important scent on the other side of the humans.

Sneaking up behind me, Miss Wiggles quietly greeted me.  "So Klondike, you will never guess what?  Thriller and Chloe are thinking that your ESP powers no longer work, or maybe that you never had them to begin with, since you refused to help the twins."

I gasped at this.  How could they doubt me?!!  If word got out, the cute little Maltese in Building 41 would never speak to me again.  I would be the laughing stock of the building.  Perhaps even the entire neighborhood.  I could not allow this to happen.

I looked intently at Miss Wiggles.  "Why Miss Wiggles, there has been a terrible misunderstanding."  I stood on my hind legs to emphasize what I was intending to convey.  Her eyes widened as she waited for me to continue.  "You see, my friend, I was giving the twins' humans a chance to return and find them.  After all, I knew nothing would happen to them with all of us around.  When I return to our building, hopefully their humans will have had a chance to receive my ESP message.  It takes a little  while for the message to get through when the human isn't in close proximity, you know."

Whew!  That had to be believable, right?  I signaled our humans, and we all walked back through the fluffy white accumulation on the walkway.  I talked with the Creator once again, asking for Devine intervention.  I beamed a quick message to all humans in Building 44 about the twins and their whereabouts.  When we reached our spot, I felt a sense of calm.  All my buddies were waiting, including the twins.

"We found our humans," Theo and Paulie's hearts burst out in excitement.  "Thank you for making this an extra-special day," Theo spun in a circle.

"Oh, and by the way, did you know today is something called 'Christmas Eve?'"  Paulie  pounced around in the snow.

The snow began to fall more rapidly and heavily.  I bounded to the middle of our group.  All eyes were on me.  "Friends, I'm so sorry about...."

Miss Wiggles interrupted.  She explained the misunderstanding.  I looked to the sky and sighed, expecting my pals to banish me from the group.  Instead, to my surprise, they all huddled and circled me, playfully - which in canine language, is a hug.

"Merry Christmas to all," I yapped happily.

The twins chimed in simultaneously, "And to all a good night!!!"  We all hugged again.

It was already time to go inside, because the humans cannot handle being wet.  I ESP another message to my human.  What do you think happened next?  She gave all my friends a milk bone treat.  She is such a good human, especially at Christmas-time.

Merry Christmas!  Happy Hanukkah!!  Happy New Year!!
~From our family to yours~