Sunday, July 1, 2018

writing prompt... alligators and poodles

THIS WEEK'S WORDS come from alligator, peeking, traits, happen, straight, spark, fizzle, silhouette, hobbits, silently, glide, signal 

My offering:

                               Poodle Rituals
Every night it's the same thing.

About 8:30 PM my boy glides over to me silently, wagging his tail, looking so hopeful.

The tail wag, the hopeful look all signal it's time for an alligator.

Do something twice, and it's set in stone.

Milo, my puppy who's grown up in body but a baby in spirit, learned the word alligator quickly, since it's his favorite chew. Officially named a whimsey, it's shape defines it for us.  If I happen to forget, which I do all the time, he quietly sits in front of me, peeking around my IPAD then nosing it out of the way of his sparkling brown eyes, and he communicates with me:

"Mama... did you forget again? It's alligator time!" Every night he dances from foot to foot with anticipation as I drag myself up from my chair, to go to the pantry for the treat. He dances hopping from foot to foot, eyes sparkling and dancing too as he waits, quickly sitting pretty for me to offer the treat to his waiting enormous poodle teeth!

Gently he takes it, then runs to a remote section of the family room, to relax the only way he can, with a whole treat to himself, he can chew and chew and .... what? It's gone already?

"Let's have another Mama! They are so very small... I am so very big.... you have one too if you like! There is a whole bag of them there!"

"why don't you chew slower darling... make it last longer?" says the mama

" Because.  Because it's there, and I'm excited, and my teeth are so strong, and I'm excited, and I don't know why but it goes by so fast! Let's eat the whole bag Mama! Why wait? If it's fun, why wait? If they are there now... why wait? "

Mama thinks to herself, why wait? She is the sort to make sure to have cake and frosting in each bite. She is the kind to lick ice cream slowly to savor it, she is the kind to delay that new magazine til she has nothing else to distract her. She is not the kind to gobble up the frosting of life before the cake is gone. But Milo is the kind to eat the best tasting stuff first. He is the kind to leave his bowl of dog food while he begs at the table for people's scraps, because that dog food will always be there.

He has priorities.

When he wants security, he sits in front of the mama and puts a big hobbit foot, with hair growing from every toe, upon her knee to signal he's available to be petted. He learned once, that sitting with your back to the mama, and looking back over your shoulder up at her will cause treats to fall from her plate.

Eat all treats now, don't wait. Don't equalize life by saving them for later. Have it all now!

Ya never know....

More stories under the label "writing for pleasure" over there     =>


  1. Milo could rule the world.

  2. Aww, yeah! Give Milo another alligator . . . for sure. Life's just way too short! Happy Sunday! ~smile~ Roseanne

  3. When it comes to routine treats, poodles NEVER fur-get!

  4. Our furry little ones teach us how to live in the moment. Loved reading this sweet post :)