Hannah and the Scotty Dogs

Hannah and her husband agreed a few weeks before Christmas to spend their holiday in Edinburgh, Scotland. Hannah was an avid reader and took a fancy to a few Scottish authors who she knew would have a memorial or two in the capital city. She had just finished a big work project and was eager for a break. Her husband would occasionally travel for research in England, and he thought that it would be an easy visit to go straight to Scotland after his latest trip. With few obstacles to their travel, they were soon in Scotland for the holidays.

It was their first day in town, and they decided to wander the streets for the hour before they were allowed to check into their hotel. They meandered down the old town and peered at a shop. 

Hannah noticed saw the window full of souvenirs. She spotted a tin of shortbread cookies featuring a bright, white Scotty dog. She found Scotty dogs charming. Hannah remembered a comic she read as a student about a Scotty dog made of licorice. She did not know why, but it stuck with her.

The Scotty dog had a Santa Hat draped playfully over one of its ears and sat contentedly in the falling snow. There was so little time for bemusement at work; it was nice to see something silly. Feeling a bit hungry, she figured she might purchase it if the price was right. She went into the store and identified an identical tin on a shelf inside. She picked it up and turned it around: six pounds ninety-nine pence. What was the harm in a snack and a new Scotty dog tin? She purchased the souvenir and left the store.

There was more time to explore the next day. Hannah soon learned that there was far more than the one souvenir shop in Edinburgh. They had different names and different cashiers (as best she could tell). But without fail they had almost the same exact merchandise. She began to look carefully at the shop windows to see if there were any differences. There was a lot of Scotty dog merchandise in nearly every storefront with minimal variation.

Was Hannah charmed that Scottys seemed to carry themselves with great pride despite their stout little bodies? Was it jet lag? Was it her occasional penchant for impulse purchases? She did not know. But Hannah felt a stir inside her anytime she saw a unique souvenir featuring Scotty dogs. 

Hannah and her husband were on their way to a church service at a nearby historic abbey. It was built in the medieval times, and as an enthusiast for that time period, her husband was eager to visit. Hannah had abided and was likewise interested in visiting the church. As they walked down a cobbled sidewalk, Hannah passively looked at the shopfronts. She noticed another shortbread tin. It also featured a Scotty dog like the tin she purchased yesterday, but this time it was three Scottys wearing tartan hats, sitting in a row, each with snowy white fur against a winter backdrop. She saw a sticker on the corner of the tin, bright red, advertising that it was on sale.

Hannah told her husband about the tin. He sighed. Hannah only mentioned these things when she wanted to buy something. He wanted to get to the church service. Begrudgingly, he asked if she wanted to buy the tin. She said yes, and insisted that they would still be on time for the service. 

“Don’t you already have a shortbread tin?” He asked. 

Hannah was sheepish. “Yes, but this one is on sale.” Her husband sighed again and waited while she entered the store for her purchase. Ultimately, there was no issue, and they made it to the service on time. Hannah’s husband privately noticed that they were farther down the queue than they would have been had Hannah not stopped at the store. It was a historic church, and lines formed quickly before the doors opened. 

The next day arrived, and Hannah noticed more and more Scotty dog souvenirs that she found hard to ignore. Hannah acquired some magnets, each of which was shaped like a Scotty dog with a different tartan pattern on their fur. She reflected how she did not like putting anything on the fridge back home. There were times where she made impulse purchases in the past. At least she always found a use for them, and she figured the same would happen now. 

A few stores later, she came across a black Scotty dog on a wall of plushies. Her breathing got shorter. Plushies were on the pricier side. On the other hand, if she got this now, she would not have to get a gift for her supervisor’s children as she had been planning. Resolved that it could be regifted and possibly a nice story to share, she purchased that Scotty dog, too. 

It was another day in Edinburgh, and Hannah found another magnet with a black Scotty and a white Scotty standing atop a banner that said “Scotland.” Hannah’s husband was not far off. She gestured to him. “They’re friends!” She said with amusement. Her husband rolled his eyes and resumed scanning the items with disinterest. “Are we going to the tour or not?” He asked impatiently facing away from her. They had booked a visit the night before. Hannah looked over and smiled. “Of course! I can catch up if you want to get there early.” Unsatisfied with her answer, her husband waited for her to finish her latest bout of shopping. 

When they returned to the hotel after the tour and more walking around Edinburgh, Hannah dumped her bag of souvenirs that she purchased for the day. She shuffled through her trinkets to remind herself what she bought. 

Hannah looked with amusement at a coaster that featured a gray small dog with a tartan background. She was pretty sure it was not a Scotty dog but bought it just in case. Hannah then unfurled a grey and brown tartan blanket with a black Scotty silhouette printed in the bottom corner. It was soft, and she got cold easily, so she was satisfied with the purchase. She finally stared with some dissatisfaction at a framed print of an AI-generated image of a white Scotty in a tartan hat and scarf in front of Edinburgh castle. Couldn’t this have been staged in a photo with a real dog? Nevertheless, it was shrink wrapped, and Hannah calculated that she could regift it with relative ease. Indeed, there was room in her suitcase, and she figured that it wasn’t as much as other tourists probably bought when they visited Scotland. 

“You agreed to dinner at 8:00.” Her husband said flatly. Hannah looked over her shoulder and saw her husband standing by the hotel room door. 

“Huh?” She said. 

“It’s 8:15.” He said. 

Hannah grimaced. “Sorry. It won’t happen again. Let’s go.” Hannah shoved all of her treasures back in the bag and quickly assembled herself to head out.

The next evening, as in past nights, Hannah dumped a bag of newly acquired Scotty dog paraphernalia. Without question, there were many types of Scotty dog souvenirs peddled on the bustling streets of Edinburgh.

Hannah had the least opportunity to regift the additional plushies she bought to the few other children she knew. But the plushies were of course the cuddliest of the souvenirs. 

·      A black Scotty with a red tartan hat and kilt. 

·      A white Scotty with a red tartan vest. 

·      A white Scotty in a red tartan vest. But this one also doubled as a bag. 

Foodstuffs were easiest to justify. It was easier to balance her budget of souvenir purchases by relying on them instead of pub food for subsistence. The stomachaches were a small drawback, though. There was only one crumpled tartan-patterned bag of Scotty shortbread cookies that took up very little space. But there were many tins of shortbread cookies that consumed the most space in her luggage.

·      A tin with two white Scottys in colorful tartans cheerfully playing the accordion and fiddle. 

·      A tin with two white Scottys sitting proper on a red tartan blanket with matching hats.

·      A tin of a white and a black Scotty, as above, but on a red tartan pillow with no hats.

Hannah figured that the stationery was harmless but likely to go unused.

·      A dusty notebook with a black Scotty cocking his head in curiosity while resting on a red tartan in front of a fireplace. 

·      A set of three stickers of Scotty silhouettes in colorful tartan patterns.

Tchotchkes were a conundrum. Hannah always absolutely needed them when she was in the store only to feel her stomach drop at night whenever she was reviewing her haul. 

·      A faded tartan pillow with a white Scotty silhouette sewed on the front. 

·      A ceramic set of three white Scottys with one covering his eyes with his paws, another covering his mouth, and the final covering his ears. 

·      A pewter Scotty wine stopper.

The magnets and the keychains became Hannah’s greatest pain. They would constantly clink and jingle and stick together. She stopped buying them after one very busy spree buying every available magnet and keychain.

·      A magnet of a white Scotty playing a bagpipe over a banner that read “Edinburgh.”

·      A magnet of a white and a black Scotty sitting in front of a cobble stone wall near a white picket sign that said “Scotland.” 

·      A magnet with a black Scotty in a red tartan cape atop the name “Scotland” in blue and white. 

·      A keychain with four Scotty charms in blue, brown, black, and white.

·      A keychain with a Scotty charm covered in rhinestones and a green collar. 

·      A keychain of a Scotty studded with black rhinestones and filled with stuffing.

It was over halfway through their trip. Hannah nabbed a brochure for a local tour bus company before she and her husbanded boarded the tram to their hotel. She picked it up to learn more about the tour but found that it featured a cartoon Scotty named “Cobbles” excitedly advertising that “kids go free.” 

“Free.” Hannah muttered to herself. She eyed Cobbles with some resentment. The Scotty likeness was very much commercialized. The nerve to tell her now that something involving a Scotty was free. She was back at the hotel desk where she would ritually dump her souvenirs into her suitcase under the table. She stared at the paper feeling empty. She finished a major work project, was on vacation with her husband in Scotland, and she felt the opposite of free.

“Do we even have any money left to tour Edinburgh castle?” Hannah asked herself. She looked over to her husband, who was lying on the bed and checking his work email before he and Hannah went to sleep. 

“What are we doing tomorrow?” She asked him. 

“We’re picking up a Scotty dog from a breeder,” he said with boredom and not looking over, “at the rate we’re headed.” 

Hannah frowned. 

Her husband rolled onto his side and made eye contact. He inhaled deeply. “First, I will get breakfast at a normal hour, and you will rush down in the last five minutes after you are finished organizing your souvenirs. Then, we will go to several events that we will be late or almost late for because you’re too busy stopping at the shops. Finally, I will get a full meal at a pub, and you will go hungry eating only a bowl of soup because you’re self conscious about all the money you spent on souvenirs.” He looked at her for a moment and then exhaled deeply. “Is there anything else you had in mind?”

Hannah’s shoulders slumped at her husband’s candor. “I have not been a good wife,” she concluded. She looked in regret at her neatly arranged collection of Scotty trinkets in her now-full suitcase. 

She heard some rustling, and soon her husband was patting her on the had.

“It does not have to be this way, Hannah.” He said simply. “I know you have been working hard. And I know you love dogs. That doesn’t mean you have to buy useless junk.” She nodded slowly. Hannah didn’t want to hear it but figured her husband was probably right.

“Here.” He gestured to the wooden placard, “a house is not a home without a Westie.” “You don’t even know if a Westie is a Scotty dog. You just bought it because it has a painting of a small white dog.“ Hannah reached for it and eyed it carefully. She was pretty sure Westies were Scotty dogs. Her husband continued. “Besides, we have a German Shepard.” He sighed and looked off into the distance wistfully. “I miss him.”

Hannah looked up. His hand was still resting on her head. The nagging feelings of guilt and exhaustion were getting to her. And yet, Hannah thought, her husband was still patient despite his emerging homesickness and her not inexpensive shenanigans. “What if I finished souvenir shopping?” She asked. 

“Tomorrow?” He replied. 

“No, now.” She said. 

Her husband looked at her thoughtfully. “I was not expecting that.” He tapped his index finger against his chin. “But how else could you spend all of our money?” 

Hannah growled. “I don’t want to spend all of our money, even though I probably spent a good bit of it.” Her husband reached for the Cobbles brochure. 

“Look,” he said. “We will join a bus tour that I have been so carefully avoiding. I hate bus tours, but you love sitting, and you’re trying to change. I support that. And maybe, just maybe, we can meet Cobbles.” He offered.

Hannah wondered whether there was in fact a Cobbles mascot in person. She decided her husband’s idea was reasonable. 

“That sounds fine.” She said in a resolved tone. 

“But honestly, Hannah.” Her husband said, hugging her head and shoulders. “Just eat a full meal and enjoy yourself. Then I’ll be happy.” He said. Hannah smiled. “I can do that.” She said. 

The next day, Hannah and her husband began the second half of their trip. They passed many souvenir shops, as in previous days. But Hannah stopped at none, and her temptation to purchase Scotty paraphernalia all but evaporated. She and her husband continued to take their time going to their events, but this time exploring alleyways and small gardens instead of going into a store. 

On their walk, Hannah noticed an alley with a placard noting a writer’s museum down the way. Hannah learned a great deal about Scotland’s literary history on the bus tour earlier that day, and she was excited to visit the museum. She tugged at her husband to make the turn. It was nice to hold her husband’s hand instead of a shopping bag. He initially hesitated.

“What’s the matter?” She asked. 

“You said no more shops!” He replied in frustration. Hannah looked at him in confusion before realizing there was a souvenir shop next to the alley. He had not seen the placard. 

“Oh,” she uttered before dragging him down the alley. “No, this way!” 

Hannah even ate more than just a cup of soup for their evening meal. Hannah and her husband were sitting at a dimly lit, cramped table in a pub that advertised its establishment in the sixteenth century. They had just finished eating and were preparing to go to their hotel. 

“What do you think?” Her husband asked. He was determined to visit a very old pub and was pleased to have been able to do so that night. Hannah shrugged silently. 

Her husband furrowed his brow. “What’s wrong?” He asked again. “This is a cool place.” 

Hannah pretended to be unsatisfied. She sighed and shook her head slowly. In reality, she was touched that her husband was content to eat at a simple meal at a pub with her. “Not enough Scotty dogs.” She said and smiled. Hannah was glad to enjoy the trip with her husband sharing new experiences.