BarkingProse

Ash died in June when the days were long and the nights were short. That summer me and Mom got up early each morning to enjoy the sunrise. She drank coffee as I wolfed down my breakfast. Then we were off to check on the alpacas. Without Ash to protect me I had to stay real close to Mom or the nasty alpacas would stomp me. I barked and tried to act tough, but they knew they could boss me around.

After morning chores I had time to myself. I wandered around sniffing the fence line checking to see what animals had made incursions during the night. There were always bunnies, squirrels, raccoons, and once in a while something big and scary like the neighborhood bear.

There were a lot of empty hours to fill by myself. It was lonely being the only dog.

One day while I was feeling sorry for myself I felt the ground vibrate. Then it happened again and soon a mole popped out of the ground about ten feet away. I made a leap and tried to grab the little beast, but he disappeared laughing down his tunnel. I was annoyed. The alpacas didn’t respect me and now this little whippersnapper mole – that was just too much disrespect.

I could sense which direction he was going underground and waited quietly for him to reappear. Bingo! I grabbed the little fart and held on despite how bad he tasted. Just then Mom came to check on me and found me with the mole in my mouth. Since I wasn’t sure what to do with the mole I tossed it at Mom figuring she’d know how to handle it.

The mole was stunned and didn’t move. Mom picked him up and was going to toss him over the fence to save him from me when he bit her and wouldn’t let go.

“Ouch, you little bugger!” she yelped. He held on tight and dangled from the web between her fingers. I’ve heard bad language before but Mom really surprised me with the words she knew. The mole finally let go and scurried off under the fence while I yelled good riddance.

Me and Mom had a talk that afternoon. We talked about how cute the moles are and how much destruction they can do. Mom reminded me she’s tripped and fallen a couple times when she stepped in a mole hole. She asked me if I thought I could help drive the moles out of our front yard. I promised her I would try. And try I did, day after day during that lonely summer. In the end I became a world class hunter. To this day I’m the best hunter that ever lived at Asherpark.

Me and Mom didn’t sleep much the night Ash died. We kept vigil listening for the rattle of his tags or his big Woof! We didn’t talk. There was nothing that words could help.

When Ash died in June the nights were short. The sky turned light around 4AM so me and Mom got in the car and drove to the spot where Ash liked to swim. We threw pebbles into the river and wished Ash was there with us.

Soon we were both hungry. Mom drove to a coffee shop. She had some fancy coffee drink and we shared a ham and cheese croissant. It was delicious and not something that I got on a regular basis.

Back at Asherpark everything seemed too still. What was the point of me barking when there weren’t any other dogs to hear me?

Before I came to Asherpark there had been as many as five dogs – Ash, his girlfriend Tess and a collection of throw away dogs that nobody else wanted. I wish I had known all those dogs. It would have been so fun to be part of a big pack, especially when some poor delivery guy came to the front door.

Mom decided she would mow the lawn. It’s one of her favorite things to do. She calls it her useful meditation – riding the mower up and down the big patches of grass. I wandered off in search of a distraction – anything to help me stop missing Ash so much.

How was I going to fill each day? Mom spent as much time with me as she could, but I knew I had to learn to become more independent. When Ash was alive I would go find him if I got bored and he would take me on an adventure. Now I had to create my own adventure.

As I was staring at nothing I felt movement. I looked all around and didn’t see anyone or anything. But there it was again. It felt like the earth was vibrating. I was starting to get creeped out when it came to me – there was some critter in the ground right under my feet. I started digging like a maniac. Dirt flew in all directions. I was gasping for breath as I shoved my nose into the hole I just made and there it was – a soft, warm, fuzzy, disgusting little mole that tasted like rotten garbage.

The mole was absolutely still as he dangled in my mouth. Before I could think through what to do next,  he squirmed and I spit him out. Oh the relief of having that nasty little beast out of my mouth. But he made a critical mistake – as he was disappearing down the hole I had just dug he couldn’t resist dissing me.

“HaHa, catch me if you can….See ya’ later pretty face!”

Oh I’ll catch you, you little jerk. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll catch you. And that’s how I decided to become a mole hunter extraordinaire.