Itza Dog's Life

Buster was panting and looking at their intertwined bodies. He was looking like a little voyeur pervert.

"Okay, Boss. Don't minds me. I'll be quiet like da mouse."

Joan looked at Sam.

"Can you put Buster out and lock the door. I swear that he looks like he's planning on staying here to watch us making love. That's a little too creepy for me!" She laughed as she said it, but Sam knew she meant it.

"Okay, Buster! You heard what the lady said, out you go!"

"But Boss! I'd let you watch me and Fifi as I stuck it to her! Come on, Boss, lemme watch."

"No, Buster. You have to leave. We love you, but we need some privacy too."

Buster was exiled from the room. He still listened at the door, and his hearing was very good, so he didn't miss everything.

Time passed, as it is wont to do, and Sam and Joan married. They were surrounded by their many dog-loving friends, who brought their dogs with them, so it was a celebration for both man and beast.

They moved into Joan's house, because it was bigger, and they brought some of Sam's things and melded them into the household, including his 75" big-screen T.V.

It was a cold January 1st morning. Sam had gone to fetch cinnamon rolls that they had ordered and some special doggie treats for Buster and Winnie. In the meantime, Buster and Winnie were sprawling on the couch on either side of Joan, watching the Rose Parade.

Buster suddenly sat up. The TV started playing "Who Let the Dogs Out."

"Winnie! Look at dat float. Der is a bulldog like yous, and he is on a board surfing."

"Why Buster, I believe you are correct. I've heard about him. His name is Tillman. It is quite the float. They recirculate the water from the back to the front and then create a continuous wave for him to surf. I should find out more about him. Perhaps he is a cousin."

Joan looked at them.

"Yeah, that is pretty remarkable. It is a dog food company that entered the float and found the surfing bulldog."

They sat there watching more of the parade in a companionable silence for a while. Then Buster spoke up. "Hey Boss lady? Has you tolt Sam yet that yous can understand doggie too? Dat yous always could?"

"No, not yet. And I didn't tell him how you and Winnie conspired together, and manipulated us into a romantic relationship." She took her hands, one on either side, and rubbed the two dogs, gently scratching their ears.

"But one morning, I will wake up and suddenly understand what you two troublemakers are saying and he will be amazed and pleased, because you know he has never told me that HE can understand you either. We all have our little secrets. Just like your little secret about Fifi's new puppies!"

"I takes da Fift. Anyway, yous knows I'm easily seduced. I'm just a dirty dog at heart, I guess.

"Boss Lady, does yous really HAVE to tell him dat?"

"Not if you two don't spill the beans on me.

"You know that if it got out that Sam and I can hear and understand doggie speech, everyone would think that we were crazy. And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

There was a pair of doggies both answering "NO, NO, NO"

"Okay. Good doggies. So lets just go back to surfing the channels until Daddy Sam gets home."

"I want Lassie!"

"I want Rin Tin Tin."

"Could we watch Beethoven again?"

The price one pays for channel surfing with an alien. Itza dog's life!

End

First, let me assure you cat lovers; I do not have anything against cats. I've had a lot of them during my life. When I was young on a cattle ranch, we probably had 10 or more at any given time. They were outdoor cats, and took care of the mouse and rat problems in the barns and outbuildings. At the time we didn't have coyote problems. Today an outdoor cat is also known as coyote bait.

Later in life, my wife became very allergic to both dogs and cats when she was pregnant, so we had to give our dogs up. Now we travel too often and don't keep pets.

I need to thank Randi for inviting me to write something for this event! It provided two things: first, a prompt, and then a schedule. Hard deadlines really help me finish stories.

The prompt, on the other hand, almost caused me to decline. "Surfing with an Alien?" At first I couldn't for the life of me think of where I could go with that.

Then I remembered that I had always wanted to do a story about how dogs were really an advanced alien society that had been stranded, without their advanced technology, here on earth. Suddenly, I had a story line.

I also have to thank Randi for her editing my story. She made it much tighter, and reminded me that "Lassie" was supposed to be a she, but was always played by a he. LOL

She also thinks that I have conjunctivitis. That's why she takes out all of the conjunctive words like 'But', 'So', 'And' and 'Although' when I misuse them. I often write the way we casually speak which, it seems to me, frequently abuses conjunctions. And I put prepositions at the end of sentences too! HA! I'm a grammar rebel.