I wrote this when I was thirteen. I can't remember if it was for school or just something I thought needed to be said, but, anyway. Spelling and everything is left intact. Originally appeared on Another Lover of the Blade.
"She just showed up one day, just out of the blue. She was awfuly skinny and she sure looked awfuly tall, but she really wasn't any taller than Sport. She just looked taller than she was 'cause she was so skinny. Mom was the first one to see her.
"One day I was getting the mail,and on my way back down the driveway,there was a huge dog standing right in the middle of the driveway! I was scared! Some big dogs, like Achilles,are enormous, but they're pretty friendly. Others, like Bear (or Sport) seem like they could rip you to pieces. And I wasn't sure which kind this dog was so I went in the house real quick.
"Anyway she was friendly. So we fed her, and talked to her aand when Dad said it was okay to pet her, we did that too. So she decided that she liked it here, with all the nice people and cats that didn't hiss at you and the other dogs who are friendly when they know you and the porch that's just right for taking naps on it.
"So since she was sofriendly, we decided to give her a name.Dad said he thought Beulah would be a good name, but nobody else liked it. Eventally, we decided to call her Jenny. Everybody liked that.
"Since Jenny was the new dog, and a girl, all the other dogs came to see her. Achilles and Chico came over once, Roscoe came a couple times and there was this big black dog that came too. buthecomes in later.
"One Saturday, we decided to go garage saling. Dad had seen a sign for one that morning so we went to it. IT was a pretty good one. We got a basketball book and a gameboy case and a sherriff badge (a REAL one) and a scooter and a little knife and a racing helmet and a pink digital camera and a fort! That fort's big! So we went home to get the trailer and came back to get it. .It hung over the end of the trailer. To get it in the backyard, we had to drive the van backwards through the gate. So, since the gate was open, Jenny decided to come in and see what the backyard was like. So, she did. she came out when Mom and Dad were done.
"I guess Jenny thought that the backyard was a neat place,soshe decided to see what normal life was like in there. We don't know how she got in, but she probably jumped. So when I went to feed the dogs, there was Jenny, just standing there, just like she'd always been there. She like it, till I put the food bowls down. She went over to eat some food without asking Sport if that was okay. And since he's gotta be in charge, Sport had to show her that that wasn't the smartest thing to do. He told her to stop, and she said that she was hungry and she didn't have to stop even if he was the alpha dog. Well, Sport didn't like that at all.Then they had a dogfight, and I mean they had a dogfight. They were on their back legs and everything. Sport won. So then Jenny decided that she did NOT like the backyard ,so she got out. Maybe she jumped again. I don't know. But, she got out somehow.
"A little after that,, Cricket had an adventure with the dogs. Would you like to hear it? Oky,I'll tell you. You see, since Jenny was friendly, Cricket, since she was only like two months old, thought that all dogs were friendly to cats. Either that, or she wasn't paying attention. Anyway, she walked in the backyard. That's one the most dumb things a cat can do. Daisy almost got killed doing that, Milo would've if he'd fell why he was teasing the dogs, and his sister that looked like Tulip did get killed by the dogs. When we noticed I ran for Mom and screamed "Cat, cat! Cat in the backyard! Cat in the backyard!" So Mom came running downstairs and she ran outside and got Cricket and wiped off the blood and dog drool. She stayed inside for a while, then Mom put her back out. And that's Cricket's adventure with the dogs.
"Like I said before, Roscoe and a bunch of other dogs came over. Well, now its time to tell you about that big black dog. He had a collar on, but I don't think it had a nametag on it. He was real big, and very black, and his eyes were sort of yellowish. And he looked VERY tough! Looked sort of wolfish. But he just seemed kind of protective, like he'd only hurt us if we tried to hurt Jenny. Which we wouldn't, of course. But he didn't know that.Since he looked kind of like a wolf, I called him Lobo sometimes, which means wolf in some other language. Just was like anywhere Jenny went, he went too. And if she was taking a nap and somebody came outside he'd look around to see if everything was all right. And she was being petted, he'd check to see if she was okay. It was kind of weird, but kind of neat too. Dad said if he stayed, he'd send them both to the poud. So we were sort of hoping he'd go away cause we all liked Jenny! He wasn't there that one day, maybe if he was Jenny wouldn't have done it if she did do it. You'll find out what she maybe did next.
"Well, it was afternoon sometime and Mom was listening to the radio like she always does when she's cleaning or doing dishes or something. And they had one of those be say the 8th caller and win something kind of contests. So Mom called in and she was the first caller so she won tickets to that Weekend to Remember deal that FamilyLife has. So while she was talking to the lady on the other side somebody knocked. I guess it was Dakota. After he left a policeman came and told Mom that that Jenny'd been accused of biting somebody so she had to be arrested. The only time Jenny had ever acted mean was when she was eating and the cats came too close. And that's not mean! So he left to get a police car and Mr. Ferrera came over. So Mom talked to him for a while and I guess Devin was feeding Charlie the night before and he said Jenny was with Chico and those other dogs that have a bad reputation around here and she bit him. Now she did go around with them a couple times I think. But Jenny biting somebody? I mean, Jenny's Jenny. Why would she want to bite anybody? I don't think she did but she might've. Just goes to show you that if you hang around with the wrong dogs you're gonna get into trouble even if you didn't do anything. So the police car came and she got put in the back just like a real prisoner and the lights were turned on and everything. The whole thing probably lasted half an hour.
"The night after that Mom went outside to pet cats after we'd all fell asleep. Mom said Lobo came and he looked real sad, like "Where'd she go?" And he put his head down in her hand, Just like Sunny does when she wants to be petted. So Mom petted him for a while. It was really sad sounding when Mom told me about it.
"Well, that's Jenny's story. I told just about everything, except maybe that Jenny and Sport chased cats just for a workout. She was a good dog. I miss her and there's a hole in the the driveway, just like Milo's or Buzz's or Cadillac's or Daisy's or Dot's holes on the porch, or Meowie's hole in the house, or Shadow's hole in the backyard. It's a funny thing about those holes. They never quite get filled. But I guess that's just life. I mean, when people or animals you like die, you'll miss 'em. But youcan remember all the good things that happened. And that makes you feel a little better, even though it makes you a little sad at the same time. Like I said, Jenny was a good dog, and I hope you enjoyed her story."
