Dante Adventure
It’s been quiet since we got rid of that mean bear. Well, it’s been sort of quiet, I guess. Gracie actually didn’t even realize that the obnoxious thing was even gone. After she’d gotten out of the bath, she hopped in bed and snuggled up with us. Yes, with us. And that’s because we’re awesomely comfortable and fluffy and warm, unlike our nemesis the bear.
But that was a few days ago, and it wasn’t long before I could tell she had begun to realize that something is not the same. After all, the bear was a very large adversary and space was something it was good at taking up. So with that extra space, it’s was only a matter of time before someone figured out that something was awry.
Needless to say, it wasn’t long after that when Gracie happened upon the remains of the bear. Skipper had swept most of it under the bed, some in a pair of slippers, and then a little was even tucked under one of the pillows. But that wasn’t what had given us away, after all, there’s always a little extra fluff hanging around the home.
It was in fact the head that had been found. The trash wasn’t exactly a great hiding place after all, since apparently Gracie checks it regularly. I just figured since we weren’t supposed to loot it, no one else was either. But Gracie is allowed to. And she did.
We were busted at last. But it was more of a confused scenario, since it seemed almost unbelievable that we’d actually done all that without leaving behind a blatant evidence trail. Even I have to admit that it was pretty clever the way things turned out.
The interrogation took a while, consistently interrupted by argument, mostly on Skipper’s defense. He tried to explain that the bear had attacked us repeatedly and that we were only defending ourselves. I don’t think Gracie quite understood though. At least she didn’t understand the severity of the situation.
So I had chimed in on my little buddy’s accord. The bear had indeed almost snuffed out my low-rolling friend and had we not de-fluffed the culprit, it was possible that the bear would have eventually tried again.
Gracie would have none of it though. Her face was that of disapproval more than frustration. We were told not to mess with that bear, and we had anyway. If only she knew that it was the bear that was messing with us in the first place, things might have been different.
To our dismay, the head was not put back in the trash. Instead, it was placed high on a shelf, luckily in the closet where it wouldn’t be seen and couldn’t see us. It was still creepy though, knowing that it was there…here in our home instead of being tossed away as it should have been.
I may not like it, and Skipper definitely doesn’t. But no amount of argument would convince Gracie to just get rid of the nasty old thing. It was bad and possibly still dangerous.
That was yesterday, and today was much calmer and a lot happier. Early this morning, it was bright and early up and out for a walk. A nice walk, followed by some playtime in the park. The perfect feeling in the air as well, with wind blowing the cool air gently and leaves rustling about as they played “chase” with us.
It was as if the whole bear thing had never even happened. Gracie was back to giggling and tickling us, chasing and relaxing in our regular ways. I had nearly forgotten about the whole thing, and I’m fairly certain that the thought hadn’t even tickled Skipper’s whiskers in the slightest. We were having fun again and the trouble was behind.
At least I thought. After a long day of play, we returned home only to find the very thing I had been afraid of the whole time. Even Gracie was afraid when she spotted it. The closet door was open and there in the middle of the floor was the bear’s face, staring at us.
Then it squeaked. I jumped, Skipper jumped, and Gracie jumped too. Another squeak and the head wiggled. It rolled towards us. It did things all on its own. Skipper barked once and ran for the door. I stood my ground and demanded that the bear stop.
It did…sort of I guess. The head stopped and out popped a mouse. Yup, a mouse. I hadn’t seen one in a very long time, but I knew what they smelled like. The bear was a mouse the whole time, wiggling, squeaking, and doing things no normal stuffed animal should do.
And then Gracie finally threw the remaining bear away. As for the mouse, we’ll have to figure that one out later.
Author:
Jason Duron is a short story writer and author of several fiction stories. Curious and lovable as dogs can be, the Adventures of Rocky, Nixi and Dante give you a chance to see daily life from a “dog’s eye view” and share in their thoughts. Please enjoy, and we hope that you’ll feel free to comment and give us insight into your dog’s very own adventures.
