Guardian

“Oh, I’m going to bite you!” He said this through clenched teeth as he watched the intruder, who was himself watching the building which was his own domain. He didn’t expect the large man to know that this building had a guardian.

There was no outward indicator that a steady and fierce guardian protected this place. To be certain, there was a high fence that surrounded his building, but there was no sign warning trespassers that if they attempted entry all they would get, was bitten. He could see the big human considering the tall fence and expected that he was going to scale the wire barrier.

His bobbed tail wagged with joy as he anticipated the biting that was going to ensue after the man entered his domain. Again, in a low growl between clenched teeth, he said “Oh, I’m going to bite you!

He watched the intruder as he considered whether to let the man get close to the building or charge him as his feet hit the ground on this side of the fence. Each option had its’ merits.

If he silently waited for the intruder to get near to the entrance of his building, he could either bark loudly, or let the man be surprised when he finally noticed the guardian.

If he waited silently, it was always difficult for humans to see him in the dark. Intruders always came in the dark. It made no matter to him. His sense of smell and hearing made it comically easy to detect any lumbering human. His black and tan coloring ensured that he was difficult to notice in the dark. And once he was finally noticed; intruders never failed to be apprehensive. He was seventy-five centimeters tall at the shoulders, and weighed twelve stone. So he did make an intimidating presence.

He had decided to wait for the intruder to climb the fence and near the building before he did anything; and he noticed the figure on the other side of the fence staring in his direction. Almost as if he could see the guardian in the shadows of the building. This was unlikely because humans had pathetic vision in the dark. But the intruder did seem to be staring at him. It was unsettling.

The guardian made a decision. He stood tall on his four powerful legs and slowly walked towards the fence, and the human on the other side.

As he walked to the wired barrier, the guardian made no sound. He came to within two meters of the high fence and sat at attention. He watched the intruder, and a low growl escaped his broad chest.

He could see that the intruder appeared unconcerned. The human looked about the grounds behind the silent guardian and then looked him in the eye.

He broke his low growl with the assertion; “Oh, I’m going to bite you.” The intruder cocked his head at this, and the guardian continued, “you want to get in here, but I’m the guardian, and you are not going to get in here.”

He could see the human slowly nodding his head, almost as if he was being understood.

The guardian spoke again, “what you are going to get; is bitten.”

The intruder broke his own silence with “I can see you’re the Guardian.” He cocked his head at this and looked closer at the big human. The man continued with, “I know you are going to bite me if I try to get in there.”

The guardian leaned forward and said, “it’s almost as if you can actually understand me.”

He received the surprise of a lifetime when the human put his face close to the fence and clearly said, “I can actually understand you.”

The shocked guardian stood and said, “no way!”

The response came almost immediately, “yes way!”

The guardian wondered aloud, “how can this be?”

The man on the other side of the fence said, “it’s a long story, involving a Pixie, and coming back from the other side.”

He cocked his head from one side to the other and asked, “other side of what?”

“Death,” is what the man told him.

He considered that for a moment and said, “sure, Pixie, other side, makes sense.”

“most people don’t believe in Pixies,” the big man said.

The guardian asserted, “most people, aren’t that bright.”

The guardian had experience with some denizens of the non-human variety. He recalled a particularly insidious gremlin that he had finally defeated after a long running feud.

The intruder chuckled and leaned close to the fence. He watched as the man seemed to study his broad chest.

The man spoke, “well Killer, I really do need to get into that building.”

He knew that the man had been studying his tag, which was shaped like a stylized femur. That was the name that adorned the single tag on his collar.

The guardian took a moment to correct the man. “That’s what they call me,” he continued with, “but that’s not my real name.”

“Is that so?” the man asked.

He told him, “my name is actually Daisy.”

At this, the intruder gave the guardian the once-over, once more. The big man slowly nodded his head and said, “you look like a Daisy.”

Daisy’s bobbed tail wagged vigorously as he thought to himself, perhaps this human is brighter than he appears. What Daisy said was, “Don’t I though.”

“My name is Gerald,” the intruder offered by way of introduction.

Daisy made a chuffing sound from deep within his chest. This brought a slight smile to the big mans’ face. Gerald asked, “are you laughing at me?”

Daisy told the big man, “you humans have such funny names.”

Gerald told him, “it were my Hendas’ name.”

Daisy was going to offer another comment, but he was cut off. “About getting into that building?”

Daisy thought about the strange human and the unusual ability it had to actually communicate. More often than not, humans said things to him like “blah, blah, blah, Good Boy”, or “blah, blah, blah, Please, no, don’t.”

Daisy answered the question with, “despite your unusual ability to speak to me, I’m afraid that if you try that,” before he could finish his thought, the big man interrupted with, “you’re going to bite me.”

“Quite right!” Daisy told the big man.

Gerald put his left hand to his chin and tapped his cheek with his forefinger.

“It would appear that we’re at an impasse,” Gerald told Daisy. The Guardian simply nodded his head slowly in agreement.

The big man stopped with the finger, and slid his left hand down to his side and slowly behind his back.

Daisy watched the furtive movement with curiosity. He took a moment to reevaluate the intruder on the other side of the fence.

Gerald was on the larger side for a human, and he moved like a predator.

Daisy could see this, just as anyone with a lick of sense could see

that about Daisy himself.

Gerald spoke, “I really do need to get into that building Daisy.” He was about to say something when Gerald continued, “I am armed: and I can make it happen if I have to.”

Daisy considered this and could see that the big man seemed somehow troubled at that assertion.

“I think that if I do; both of us are going to get hurt,” Gerald said. Daisy thought to himself, this human is a bit brighter than most.

Gerald said, “you’re just a good boy doing his job, and I respect the hell out of that!”

Daisy’s bobbed tail wagged energetically at the “good boy”, and asked “so what are we going to do about that Gerald?”

“How about this,” Gerald offered. “What if you bite me a little, and then I get into the building and back out?” Daisy was pondering this request and Gerald said, “this way we both get what we want.”

Daisy thought a moment and said, “your sophistry aside, I do really like a good biting.” Daisy could see the big man tense up slightly and he told him, “but I think we can make that work.”

Later, as the sun came up, Daisy couldn’t help but make the chuffing sound deep in his chest when he thought about the big man and his shoe.

Daisy recalled grabbing Gerald’s left shoe, a brogan, in his powerful jaws and shaking his head back and forth.

The big man outweighed Daisy by several stone, but he had a hard time keeping his balance as Daisy gnawed on his footwear.

In the end, Daisy had actually pulled the left shoe off of the big man’s foot and Gerald had gone about his business sans brogan.