BarkingProse

I was worried about Ash while mom was gone. Everybody says he’s just not the same without her. He’s my best friend and I wanted him to feel better, so I stuck close to him as much as I could.

We were getting ready for another night without mom when we heard a car in the driveway. Well, Ash and I heard the car. Jack is so deaf all he heard was us barking.

Dad let us out and we ran to the garage. We couldn’t believe it. Mom was home!

Ash was so crazy with excitement his nose met his tail coming and going. He went tearing around the garage looking for a ball, for anything to grab in his mouth. It’s like he has to have something in his mouth or he can’t control himself.

When Jack saw mom he started crying and grinning at the same time. He sat down and gave her his paw. Then he gave her three little licks. That’s a lot of licks for Jack.

Me, I flopped on my back right in front of her so she couldn’t move. She knelt down and gave me a good belly rub. Meanwhile Ash was tearing through the garage with a stinky old ball in his mouth. Jack continued with his silly groans and finally we let mom say hi to dad.

It was blowing something awful but we didn’t care. Even before mom could bring her stuff into the house we went for a walk. The smells were strong in the wind. Leaves and branches were falling around us. Neighbor dogs were barking. It felt like a Halloween night.

Ash tossed mom his slobbery ball. She threw it as far as she could in the wind, but it was a sissy little pop up. We ran around in circles, bumped into each other and acted like a bunch of fools. Finally we all took a deep breath and went back to the house. Mom made us sit and shake hands with her. Then she gave us the most wonderful treats she brought us from Chicago.

When we settled down we all took turns sitting on mom’s lap. Ash was the last but he stayed there the longest. He licked her face until his tongue was dry. Mom held his snout and whispered that she loved him and would always come back. She told me and Jack the same thing. The pack settled in together for the night. All is well.

Respectfully, Tess.

It’s been four days since mom left us. Jack won’t sleep in the bedroom at night and he mopes all day. Ash lies in front of the big doors waiting for her to come home.

I’ve got dad so I’m okay, but the boys are having a tough time. Mom didn’t want to leave us but she had to go to a memorial service near Chicago. She’ll be back soon, but not soon enough for Ash and Jack.

Ash is funny. He’ll take off on an adventure whenever he can if mom
is home. He knows it worries her when he gets out of the fence, but he so loves to go solo. Ash won’t go anywhere when mom isn’t home. He won’t play ball, he doesn’t steal socks. It’s like he lost his spark. He still eats and gobbles his treats, but something is missing.

Mom says the pack needs everybody to be complete. If somebody is missing, even for a good reason, it doesn’t feel right. We need mom to come home. As soon as Ash sees her he’ll grab a ball and jump on her. Jack will start grinning and I’ll flop down in front of her so she will stop and pet me.

Homecomings are fun. We get lots of attention. Mom keeps telling us how much she missed us. Jack will get kisses and mom will play ball with Ash till he’s had his fill. Then we’ll all go hop on the couch and watch tv. We won’t have to ask where mom is anymore. She’ll be right where she belongs – with us.

We’re still getting mom up at 4am. She’s tried keeping us up later at night, changing our dinner time, making our walks longer, even pleading with us. We just can’t help ourselves.

It starts with Tess sticking that pesky nose of hers in mom’s face. She calls it testing the waters. I call it selfish. Mom whispers for her to go. Tess obliges but as she walks past Jack she flicks her big red tail in his face.

Jack is rudely awakened by Tess and her tail. Remember he didn’t hear Tess come in cause he was sleeping and he’s deaf. Jack begins to moan. It does no good to tell him to shush. As Jack’s funny sounds get louder Tess comes back into the room.

Acting as if she had nothing to do with waking Jack, she pretends to greet mom for the first time. While mom tells Tess to go, I jump on mom and pin her arms next to her. Then I very carefully begin to wash her face from ear to ear and chin to nose.

It takes about ten seconds for mom to cry uncle. When she whispers “okay” I jump off the bed and grab her slipper. Tess prances towards the door and Jack heaves himself out of his deep soft bed. I trot back and forth with the slipper looking for something better to swipe. Once I found dad’s wallet, but mom didn’t think that was funny.

Mom stumbles to the closet and puts on her heavy sweats. She lists a little when she walks cause she only has one slipper. We dogs try not to trip her on the way to the door. There she tells me to drop the slipper, which she insists on having in her hand before she opens the door. Next thing you know the door opens and the day begins.

One time I asked mom how she felt about us getting her up so early. She told me it’s hard to roll out of bed at 4am. She’d really like to sleep just one more hour. Then she told me something that almost made me cry.

Mom says our pack won’t always be the same. We’ll get older and one day we won’t be able to do all the goofy stuff we do now. Rather than force us house dogs to let her sleep later, she’d rather treasure the good parts of getting up so early.

Mom says if you change how you look at things you can be a lot happier. She says every minute of life can be special if we let it. So when Tess starts prowling in the wee hours of the morning, she’s just looking after her pack. When Jack moans he’s  asking for reassurance. Me licking her awake makes her laugh. What better way to start the day than laughing?

I think I understand what mom is trying to say. If you stop insisting on having things your way, you may find that your life is just the way you like it. Think about it. Gotta run!