Scene 1 – Old, stiff jointed, obedient, grumpy Tynie. Maxie the invader
My family hadn’t been gone long, at least it didn’t seem long though, I have to admit, a nap never seems long unless you wake up with your joints stiff. And they all went together, even though I’m pretty sure it wasn’t church. They didn’t get all dressed up, then leave right after breakfast. I don’t mind when they’re gone; I just look for a quiet place to rest. It’s normal when they leave, normal when they come home.
I heard the car. It’s as if the noise suddenly turns on as the car reaches the top of the small hill before our house. Of course, then the garage door opened and the car rolled in – all pretty normal stuff.
Even taking me outside was normal, in a way, because the grown-ups always take me outside the minute they walk in the door. Sometimes the boys forget, but Mom and Dad always remember. They didn’t take me to the back yard, though, and that was weird. Nice weird; I didn’t have to try to get down the stairs from the deck to the yard without stumbling. It didn’t used to be so tough.
Dad opened the door and called me with him to the front yard. Mom was there, too, and Daniel and Thomas. Mom yelled, “Tynie,” and of course I came because when I was a pup Dad (or sometimes mom) spent a half hour every evening walking up and down in the road in front of our house saying “heel” and “stay” and “sit” and “come.” As I got close to her I noticed a new smell.
As soon as I got near mom, dad told me to lie down. “Down,” he said. The new smell was very interesting and I wanted to find out where it was coming from.. “Down,” Dad commanded and raised his right arm. When he raises his arm, his voice gets deep and gruff. That means he’s serious, so I eased myself onto the grass being careful not to twist my hips too much. The smell drifted down from the bundle in mom’s arms and mingled with the rich green smell from grass which had been crunched by people feet. . The only part of me that isn’t old is my tail. The smells had turned on the tail engine and it was thwapping against the ground.
I couldn’t help the tail. Mom knelt down with something small and warm and fragrant in her arms. As soon as I raised my nose to get a snout full, Dad growled “down” again and the little warm thing scrambled higher on mom, whimpering. My nose was so hungry for the smell I could hardly stay still. My front paws were glued to the grass, I kept thinking about them because Dad’s grumbly voiced echoed in my ears, but my tail kept swinging so hard that my back half sometimes snuck off the ground. You’d think the stiffness would help keep me still, but somehow it doesn’t work that way.
Next thing I knew, Mom was sitting on the grass beside me and my nose could just reach the richest part of the warm smell. Buttery almost, or like really velvety fritos. (Not that I get many fritos.) I was just getting a good sniff when dad pushed my head down and held me still. The small thing, the maxie, was held next to me and I could hear little snuffle noises as mom said, “See, Maxie, this is Tynie. He’s nothing to be afraid of. (what deprecating thing, mildly insulting thing can Mom say?)”
Nothing to be afraid of! I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or insulted, but my nose really didn’t care. My nose was furious that the maxie got to sniff me, all over, I might add, while my face was pinned to the ground by people that were supposed to be my family. The maxie was quite the smeller, though, and little whiffs of delicious maxie kept floating my way. As she sniffed my front paw, I tried to move my head nearer to this Maxie thing. But Dad was too fast for me and pushed my head away from it, her, I think. The scent was more baby than feminine, but there was a decided pinkness.
That was it, though. Next thing I knew, we were going into the house and I followed Thomas into the laundry room. Two seconds later I heard the door click shut and I was alone with the two clothes-eating, rumbling metal monsters that live in the smallest room in the house. The Maxie thing was with MY family in MY dining room. I could hear them.
The worst of it was that after being allowed out of the laundry room for a little while, I discovered that the sleeping arrangements had been changed. I have gotten used to the fact that Daniel doesn’t sleep on the floor with me anymore. The best, of course, was when Thomas and Daniel both slept on the floor with me. We had some very comfy-cozy sleeps together. I am not a puppy any more, and so I’ve accepted my spot by Daniel’s bed. Not tonight, though. Tonight I was in the laundry room. Me and the Maxie.
The Maxie wasn’t whimpering anymore. She was squalling. Hard to believe that much noise could come out of an object that puny. Clearly the maxie had no manners at all.
964 words to here.
Scene II – Classic love story, hate turns to love.
What to do with this scene to make it lively?
Nagging him to play. There was no question she was female. Seems like every moment was filled with her noises. It would start during my morning nap, little happy yips. I could ignore her pulling on my tale or nudging my belly with her nose. (she’s trying to get him to play). But when she started yipping in my ear . . .
Nagging him about food – guarding hers (as though he would steal it, he may not be as goodlooking as he once was, but no one had ever before suggested that he wasn’t a gentleman.
squeaking toys in his ears
moaning after she steals his food, and eats too much, complaining that her belly hurts.
Resigned to make the best of a bad sitation, his people like her, he has to put up with her. Going with her for a walk – protecting her from a Rottweiler, german shepherd, what? Surprises himself that he wants to keep her safe. Notices that he’s feeling perkier than he has on a walk in a really long time.
Scene III
waking up and wondering why she isn’t pestering him to play. Looking all around, realizes there’s a warm spot on his side, near his heart. She’s stretched out (glad he kept his youthful figure, otherwise she would have slid off) on his back.
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