So if course Stan had to adopt an animal too - and this is his first morning with Belle.....
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Sundays werenât supposed to be this hard. Stan woke up just over an hour ago and he was already tired. Of course, it might have helped if heâd been able to get a good nightâs sleep.
His problems started when he tried to lock Belle in the garage last night. He thought sheâd sleep just fine because he tired her out by taking her for a walk. He played chase in the back yard. He fed her early in the evening so she could go to the bathroom before bedtime and he removed her water bowl 2 hours before bedtime. He thought it was working as she curled up in his lap while he watched a show on tv. Of course, he couldnât remember now what show it was, he had been so wrapped up in watching HIS DOG sleep. He was so proud of her. He finally had a dog of his own. This would be perfect.
Then he tried to put her to bed. He made her a nice bed in the garage with some old blankets. He made sure to put an old pair of socks out there to chew on. She barked and whined and he yelled at her to quiet down. She whimpered quietly but he knew sheâd settle down. She did settle down for a bit. She was quiet until he climbed into bed. Then the howling began. Not a quiet howl. Long, slow howls of loneliness and desperation. She changed her pitch every few notes, making it sound pathetic. He figured she would lose her voice after a few minutes. He was wrong. The longer he left her alone, the louder she got. After fifteen minutes, he went out to the garage to see her.
He scolded her and told her to shush and be good. He petted her on the head and told her that heâd see her in the morning. Then he walked back into the house and stood listening. There was a bit of whimpering but she was being good.
But the second he crawled back into bed, the howling started again. He checked under his pillow to see if she had a trigger to let her know he was in bed. He got up and looked out the window to see if the neighbors were waking up. Helistened for the sound of a patrol car coming to tell him to make his dog settle down. But no one else seemed to be disturbed by her actions, so he decided to ignore her so she would learn to be quiet.
Half an hour later, he went to the garage and fetched her to come sleep on the bottom of his bed. Not only did her howling sound mournful, but sheâd gotten to the point where every few minutes sheâd start to cough and clear her throat, only to howl again. It was when he heard her choking that he gave in and brought her in the house. As he settled her on the foot of his bed he said, âNow remember, this is only for tonight. Tomorrow night you learn to sleep in the garage like a good dog.â
She was asleep before his head hit the pillow. But every time he moved, she moved too. First she moved up to his knees. He settled her back down at his feet. As he started to drift off to sleep, she moved up by his stomach. He moved her back to the foot of the bed. He finally fell asleep with her at his feet.
Stan awoke to a loud bark in his ear. He opened one eye to see her nose less than two inches from his face. He closed his eye and rolled over and Belle barked in his other ear. Forget waiting for the alarm clock, it was time to get up.
Stan stumbled to the bathroom and Belle took off running into the rest of the house. He yelled her name when he saw his bathroom. Toilet paper was shredded all over the floor. The whole roll had been unrolled from the looks of things. His towel which had hung so neatly on the rod was now laying in a puddle. A PUDDLE? He yelled for her again.
He should have stayed in the bathroom. He should have gone back to bed. He should have done anything but gone out into the rest of the house. But he didnât know that when he went looking for Belle.
He spent an hour cleaning up after this dog from Hades. She had dragged a shoe into the living room and chewed holes in it. She pulled a cushion off the couch and it looked like she might have chewed on a corner because it was damp. His kitchen trash was knocked over and strewn all over the floor. Saturdayâs newspaper covered most of the dining room floor. Stan put Belle in the laundry room while he got his temper under control and cleaned up the mess.
When it was all cleaned up, Stan made a pot of coffee and thanked God that heâd had the door to the studio closed. He didnât want Belle anywhere near his paints because with his luck she would try to do her own artistry with them. As it was, Belle had been whining and scratching at the door.
In the midst of his thoughts, the phone rang. Of course it was Benâ¦only Ben would call him at 8 am on a Sunday morning to make sure and invite Stan to church. Upon hearing Stanâs voice, Belle barked. Stan asked Ben to wait a moment and murmured âhush upâ. He continued talking to Ben. Belle barked again and this time he moved the phone from his face and yelled, âShut upâ. That was when the conversation got interesting.
âAre you talking to me?â Ben asked.
âNo.â
âDo you have someone there? Was I interrupting something?â
âNo.â
âCome on Stan. You can tell your best friend anything. Remember? Whatâs up?â
Stan hesitated too long. Belle barked again and then once more.
âWas that a dog barking?â
âYes.â
Stan held the phone away from his ear as Ben broke into laughter. He laughed for two minutes while Stan watched the clock and waited for Ben to quiet down. He could almost hear Ben through the phone lines as he wiped the tears from his eyes because he laughed so hard.
âYou mean to tell me that Stan, aka âMr Professionalâ who never has a wrinkle and keeps everything **** and span clean has got himself a dog? Youâre kidding, right?â
Belleâs bark got louder and answered Benâs question. The laughter started again.
âIâll be back,â Stan growled into the phone. He went and got Belle, hoping his presence would shut her up. He was wrong. She got so excited that she ran around his feet barking at her highest pitch. She circled his legs and almost tripped him twice as he made his way back to the phone. It didnât help that Ben was still laughing when he picked up the receiver.
âWhat did you get, a poodle?â
âNo. A puddle might be more like it.â
âOh no. Your dog had an accident? Wait a minute. That barking is too high pitched for a real dog. You got yourself a puppy?â The gales of laughter started again and Stan hoped Ben would choke on something. It didnât matter if Ben was his best friend. It didnât matter that Ben was going to be his boss starting tomorrow. Ben knew how to get under his skin like no one else could and he was fed up.
Once the laughter stopped, Ben asked, âSo what is his name?â
Stan cleared his throat. He thought about what to say. Heâd meant to get a Buddy, not a Belle. Buddy was always well behaved. Belle was not anywhere near being well-behaved. Belle was a monster in fur.
âStan? Are you there? I asked what his name was. Please donât tell me the dog disconnected us.â
âHer name is Belle.â
He put the phone down while Ben cackled. It would serve Ben right if he hung up on him, but common courtesy stated that you donât hang up on your best friend even when they act like a jerk. At least, Ben had never hung up on him before.
Finally Ben stopped laughing. Well, that is, he tried to stop laughing. He composed himself enough to say, âStan, what in the world made you decide to get a dog? Youâve never had one before. Donât you think getting a puppy is a bit much for you. What is Belle, a cocker spaniel?â
Ah, now the truth could come out. âSheâs a golden retriever. The house is empty and lonesome. I miss the sound of neighbors making noises. I wanted someone to keep me company. I remembered Buddy and how much we both enjoyed him and Iâve always dreamed of having a dog like him. So I went to the shelter looking for another Buddy. I found Belle.â
Ben wasnât laughing anymore. There was a moment of silence while he cleared his throat. Stan could almost picture him trying to figure out what to say. Finally he spoke. âIâm sorry Stan. When I pushed you to move back here, I didnât think about all youâd be leaving behind. I didnât realize you would be lonely. I thought that having a nice home in a quiet neighborhood would give you time to paint again. Iâm sorry. I let you down because I thought of what I wanted and not what was best for you.â
The nice thing about best friends is they allow silence while you think of a response. Stan thought for a moment and replied, âNo, Iâm glad I moved back Ben. But I did need something or someone other than myself in this house. Iâm making changes in my life and somehow adding a dog to my life just seemed like the right thing. Until today that is.â
With that Stan launched into a description of Belleâs concert last night and her early morning activities. Ben laughed again at her antics as Stan shared his frustrations at this dog. Listening to Ben laugh, helped Stan to relax and laugh also. He thought sheâd make his home more âhome-likeâ. Instead, she was destructo-dog, bent on destroying all that he owned. Ben reminded Stan that Buddy was two years old before he stopped destroying Benâs books and toys and he gave Stan tips on how to puppy-proof his possessions.
During much of the conversation, Belle danced around his feet. It was good to see her so excited to hear his voice and be with him. It was only after he stepped in a puddle that he realized why she danced around his feet. He glared at her while saying goodbye to Ben. Upon seeing his angry face and seeing him shake his finger at her, she squatted and made another puddle.
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And here is Kate's first morning with Tiny...(This was written before Tiny charged into Amy's room for some banana that she was sharing with her rabbits while she was here)
Kate woke up at daybreak on Sunday morning. She didnât want to wake up that early but it is hard to stay asleep when a 14 pound monster rabbit lands on your belly as he leaps on the bed. The leap was only the start of his fun though as he ran laps around the room at a pace that made her dizzy. How could something that large move so fast? By the third leap on the bed, sheâd learned to move out of his way. She had observed that with every other lap of the room he took a shortcut across the bed for the other side.
What Kate didnât understand was what Tiny was doing in her room. Sheâd made him a bed last night out of a cardboard box and an old towel of her grandmotherâs. He was supposed to be sleeping in the kitchen.
She tried to make sense of his presence in her room but she couldnât help falling back to sleep once he stopped running around. She wasnât worried about him getting into trouble because he jumped up on the bed and settled down by her feet for a nap. She could live with a pet like this.
When the alarm woke Kate three hours later, Tiny was still by her feet. He appeared to be asleep but as she snuck out of bed, she noticed him sit up and yawn. Man, he was a big rabbit. She still was scared of him but so far he had been very gentle and kept out of trouble.
Kate walked out to the kitchen with a bit of trepidation. Had Tiny destroyed the carpet? Had he used his litter box? What had he done all night?
She learned the answer as she entered the kitchen. To his credit, Tiny had used the litter box alright. Almost everything was in it although you could see where he must have had his rear end over the corner once when he used it. She made a mental note to buy him a larger litter box when she went to the store next time. The rest of the kitchen seemed fine â except for his box and towel. The big stinker had knocked over his box, chewed on the towel enough to put multiple holes in it and then chewed on the box too. It looked like she better add some sort of chew toy to her shopping list.
Kate made herself some tea and grabbed a banana while she thought about what to have for breakfast. As she peeled the banana, she heard the thwump thwump of Tiny running from the living room into the kitchen. She got out of his way in case he needed to use the litter box again. Her eyes opened wide as he headed straight for her instead of the litter box. He was supposed to be gentle but she could see the headlines flash before her eyes, âMystery shopper killed by giant angry rabbitâ. Then Tiny braked to a halt directly in front of her and stood up on his hind legs. He pulled on her right shirt sleeve and tried to lower her arm. She moved the banana to her left hand and he let go of her right shirt sleeve and grabbed the left one. He became frantic to pull her arm down and as she lowered her arm, he knocked the top half of the banana onto the floor and started eating it.
âThief!â she yelled, without even thinking. At her loud voice, Tiny grabbed the banana and retreated around the corner into the living room. She didnât mean to scare him but heâd startled her and then stolen her breakfast. It looked like she better add bananas to her shopping list also.
She snuck into the living room and stretched out her hand to Tiny. It held the last of the banana and was a peace offering. He looked at her and twitched his nose and then grabbed the banana and headed for her bedroom. Perhaps they would learn to trust each other soon. Until then, she got another banana and started writing out her shopping list.
Or something along those lines anyway.
