Genevieve; the Third of January by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Chapter 4

Genevieve soon got her answer and it made her wonder why she was always asking silly questions. She immediately noted that on a silly level she understood that she was a silly Maltese with a silly snowman and a desire for silly irresponsible days in the silly perfection of Pacific Lane.

That thought circled, inverted, did some indecipherable math, and/or got silly when she was hurriedly presented with an image suggestive of her being late for the Pacific Lane of this particular day. A crowd had already gathered near the house of Tardiff and Lenta. The couple were adorable little shelties and Genevieve quickened her pace, hoping to be promptly assured that they were all right.

Tardiff and Lenta; property of the author.

Well, they were all right, all right. Genevieve saw them prancing around in the midst of the crowd. They seemed agitated

Genevieve; the Third of January

Page 14

and despite their diminutive stature they stood out from the group through their frantic movements. Most everyone from Pacific Lane was there; Barney, Clara, Gizmo, Waylon, Daisy, Clement, Sunshine, Tippy, Puff-Puff, Lucky, Bella, Maggie, Tanner, and more. Genevieve got there, went straight to them and asked; “What happened?”

Lenta was crying as she said; “Our roof has collapsed. I can’t believe it. Roofs shouldn’t do that.”

Collapsed roof; property of the author.

Genevieve said; “No, certainly not. Are you sure that it actually collapsed?”

Lenta said; “YES. You can’t mistake something like that. Go see it for yourself?”

Genevieve walked further onto the property and saw it.

There was a hole in the middle of the roof; right over the entry way. To Genevieve, it was a mishap, but not exactly a disaster,

Genevieve; the Third of January

Page 15

as ninety percent of the roof remained in place. She realized that this was easy for her to think, as this was not her roof.

Genevieve intended to start back toward the crowd and the shelties. However, as soon as she turned she stepped on a sheltie foot. It was Tardiff’s front paw, and Lenta was just to his left. Genevieve said; “Oh, sorry. Please excuse me.”

Tardiff seemed not to recognize any Genevieve infringement.

He said; “That open roof has made it so cold in there, that we may as well not have a home.”

Lenta added; “And that snow got all over my pull toy and is warping the wheels.”

Lenta’s pull toy; property of the author.

Genevieve said; “Let me take a look inside.” She went in the front door. As she opened it more snow fell from the roof, spraying her all over. She shook it off and went to the pull toy. It was covered in snow and Genevieve brushed it off. She

Genevieve; the Third of January Page 16

cleared a little path through the snow and as soon as it got to the unblocked part of the wide pine flooring, it moved easily.

Genevieve said; “One problem taken care of.”

Lenta said; “Thank you so much. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

Genevieve said; “Because you have a bigger problem on your mind. I don’t know how to fix the other one, but I know that Willy has done some roof work. Is he out front?”

Tardiff said; “I don’t think so. He may be the only one who isn’t.”

Without stepping on each other’s paws, the trio walked out front together.

Genevieve said; “No Willy. Let me go see if I can track down that lazy dachshund.”

Genevieve; the Third of January

Page 17