Genevieve and the Two Scotties by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Chapter 17

First thing upon awakening the following morning Pablo wanted to go to his mirror hoping to see the reflection of a Lab pup. He was also afraid of going to the mirror on the chance that he was still a teddy bear. He didn’t think that there was anything wrong with teddy bears; in fact he was quite grateful to the incarnation of one in particular who had helped him get some rest last night. He just didn’t want to cause any confusion, as for the first time he was quite content with his situation; that of being a cute Lab pup. Besides, he didn’t know of any other teddy bears in Poochville, and didn’t want to go through the whole Clement ordeal; especially since the acceptance of the “crime” was so new an idea on Pacific Lane, if not all of Poochville.

Despite wanting, then not wanting to go to his mirror, Pablo concluded that it was best to be “safe” and stay under the covers. ......... He quickly realized that that situation could not last forever; unless he became eight hundred pounds and had someone bring him his food and potty. ...... It first sounded like a ridiculous joke; but the more he thought about it the more rational it seemed to him. He closed his eyes and saw a big, fat slob of an eight hundred pound dog and a cute little Labby.

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Obese dog; property of the author.

He quickly decided that the choice was clear in a mucho creepy way; and he jumped out of bed with a homebody’s degree of maximum abandon. Despite the risk, he landed on his feet and was fine. He stepped to the mirror. It may have helped matters somewhat that it was not yet dawn.

Pablo in mirror; property of the author.

At first, his somewhat tentative view of his image did alleviate his fears. There was no way he was a teddy bear. Teddy bears had little ears which stand out from their heads; not long

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floppy ones like he saw in the mirror. Then he wondered if the image he saw was a function of the dim dawn light. He took in a broader perspective. He got the whole image. He was undoubtedly a Lab puppy, and there was no two ways about it. Pablo proceeded to get excited and thought; “I must have learned something from Sunshine.”

Sunshine; the kind courtesy of Pexels.com under their CC0 license, modified.

He fumbled through his coffee and biscuits; rushing to be on his way. He finished so hurriedly that the morning sun had not yet put in a full appearance over the craggy Denial Mountains by the time he was ready to bolt. Pablo couldn’t help but take the initiative this time and was at Genevieve’s front door well prior to the prescribed 9AM. He greeted her by saying;

“No need for a coat today. Fall has given way to an Indian summer.”

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The morning sky was splattered with cumulus white clouds.

But, it was unseasonably hot, as overnight, those same persistent clouds prevented yesterday’s heat from escaping. It was also extremely dry, as it hadn’t even drizzled since the night of the food “theft,” the clouds content to just hang around, while providing no deterrent to incendiary possibilities. The temperature had reached the eighties the prior day. The tans had lapsed into being browns in a matter of just a few minutes of un-sheltered exposure.

Genevieve and Pablo; property of the author.

Genevieve took a quick survey of her surroundings and said;

“It’s warmer outside than it is in. Great day!”

Pablo said; “Sure is. We can go slow and make the most of it.”

Genevieve said; “I’d rather not get stuck down by the river if a fire breaks out.”

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Pablo said; “The river? I’m surprised at the sudden shift to right; but it’s quite fine with me. Fire is much more likely in spring and summer. At least a big one, as it takes forever to get damp logs aflame. Besides, if one does break out we’ll be safer in the river than we are right here.”

Genevieve said; “Okay,” somewhat curiously as she was agreeing to what was originally her own plan. Rather than walking Pacific Lane as usual, Genevieve led Pablo through her house, through her backyard, through the tree thicket, and to the feral land bordering the Boggy Cleave River.

They walked slowly down some semblance of a path made by some now absent creatures. On this day the ground which was exposed to constant sun was so over-baked that those parts were difficult to traverse at any speed; much like wading through snow or sand.

Genevieve said; “If a fire does break out, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to move quickly enough to escape it with this uncooperative back leg.”

Pablo said; “You might be right.” When Genevieve looked at him bug-eyed, he continued with; “But, not really. I attempted a poor joke. At this time of year they take forever to get going.”

Genevieve said; “Read that in some book?”

Pablo said; “As a matter of fact, I’ll have you know that I’ve read all of the ‘Clifford the Firedog’ books.“

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Stylized cover of “Clifford;” property of the author.

Genevieve said; “Well, silly me. In that case we’ll certainly be fine. ........ But, just in case, let’s get a little closer to the river.”

Pablo said; “Oh, ye of little faith ......... “ as Genevieve re-directed them toward the Boggy Cleave.

The river was at a recent high point. Since the Great Depression it had become another object of “management.” Such water “management” accidentally put an end to unpleasantness like the Lincoln County War, the Mason County War, and the Johnson County War; all of which were fought between local residents and gunmen hired by absentee landowners; as the main purpose of the “management” was to provide “make work” jobs at a time when jobs were scarce. Once created, things had a way of

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hanging around past their usefulness. This peace consistent

“management” also resulted in the gradual depletion of the Boggy Cleave; the river having once covered all the land in the area, now referred to as “feral.”

The folks upriver must not have been doing much of their allotted diversion recently. The high, muddy flow clipped away at the shore edges and made a bold noise; sounding something like; “Plooshmehtroppingplooshmehtropping ....... “ The water was a streaky light brown and if there was a fish down there no one would have been able to see it, unless it leaped out of one of the shallows.

They walked in tandem. Besides the river, they only heard the birds flying from branch to branch, lizards running over the sand, or unseen rabbits and squirrels in the brush. They made idle chit-chat about the weather and the state of the Boggy Cleave River. In a matter of minutes it seemed quite noisy.

After about two hours Genevieve said; “I think we should turn back. It’s getting hot and my leg is starting to bother me.”

Pablo said; “Sure. But, let’s go back more inland. We’ll cover more territory that way.”

Genevieve nodded and with some difficulty the two diverted through the brush. After going straight toward the back they found the faint remnants of a driftway; a foot wide, indented

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strip where the water ran off during heavy rains. It made traveling a bit easier as the vegetation growth was rigorously hampered by what they must have seen as a recurring flood which washed away any seeds sufficiently silly to have landed and planted themselves there.

At some point the driftway stated showing signs of some growth underfoot. A water lover, Arundo, giant reedy plants took the place of the oleander and mariola on both sides of them.

Despite their eight foot heights, when green, Arundo is easy to traverse, as it’s soft. But, in fall when they tan they become a little brittle. With a wind helping them they can give a tall wanderer a good slap in the face.

Arundo; property of the author.

Being near the ground, Genevieve and Pablo had little problem with that. What did eventually become their problem was

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that the driftway became more and more narrow, and then disappeared almost entirely. Now in single file Pablo led the way. It seemed only fair for him to make the “path” as it was his idea to head inland.

They trod on; at times without direction; as the lofty Arundo and the intermittent clouds blocked their view of anything else. They trusted their senses which suggested that they were generally going in the right direction.

Flattened Arundo becoming the path was their next surprise.

Genevieve said; “I don’t think that I’ve ever been here before.”

Pablo said; “Me either. Looks strange.”

“It’s as if a flock of cranes congregated here, wanting to be undetected.”

Congregating cranes; property of the author.

“That description could almost fit Billy and Jack.”

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Genevieve covered her mouth with a paw, and said; “Ooooh.”

Then the two saw something which they had never seen or heard of previously. It seemed so out of place.

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