An Unusual Pet - The Story of Bob and Tiger.

Bob was out for a walk, taking his pet Tiger with him. The two of them took a lot of walks. It kept both of them fit. They were both getting on in age, and very much needed the workout. And Bob worked from home, and, with the exception of Tiger, lived alone. 

Bob liked it best when they didn’t encounter anyone on the way. The stupid questions and idiotic comments that people would often ask and say to him brought out the sarcasm in his soul to its fullest. Yesterday, someone asked for his pet’s name, which Bob was happy to give him. But he wasn’t happy for long. For he was then asked, “Does Tiger bite?” while the questioner tentatively and slowly moved his hand towards Bob’s pet. Bob’s quick and dirty answer was “Put your hand in his mouth, and make a loud sudden noise and see what he does. My money says that he would bite you. But I could be wrong. Give it a try.” The man pulled his hand back quickly, turned his head and walked away rather rapidly.

Bob thought he saw Tiger smile, but it could just have been his imagination. He did believe, however, that Tiger did have a sense of humour, and was capable of doing many things that people he encountered would have been surprised by.

Today’s stupid question from a bystander was “Aren’t they expensive to feed? I’ve heard that they are finicky eaters.” Bob’s answer was fast and furious. “No, I let him kill his own food. He is very good at it, and it saves me a lot of money. It is messy, however, with all that blood.” Again, Bob thought that he saw Tiger smile. Again, he wondered whether he was imagining it.

They Walk in the Woods

           They both really enjoyed it when they entered the woods. That was both Bob and Tiger’s favourite part of the walk, by far. As he always did, Bob reached over to Tiger and unhooked the leash from Tiger’s collar. As he did so, as again he always did at this juncture, he gave Tiger his sternest look and said, “Now, I am letting you off of the leash. Run away and you are in big trouble.” He reached over and unhooked the electrified leash from Tiger’s collar. Both knew what ‘big trouble’ entailed. The leash had on its handle, a small but effective shock stick, which he hadn’t ever used on Tiger, but had demonstrated if for Tiger by putting the collar around a melon. The shock stick sent a shock wave directly at the collar and the melon kind of exploded.  Tiger had cringed.        

As they usually did, they headed for the pond in the middle of the woods. Tiger looked over at Bob with a searching look on his face. And Bob replied, "Sure, you can walk into the pond. Try not to get your coat too wet, like you did the last time.” This time Bob was sure that he saw a smile on Tiger’s face. There was no doubting it.

           Bob then had a thought that had entered his mind on a number of occasions recently. He wished that there were some way that Tiger could vocalize what he was thinking. Even a dog could do that, but Tiger was physically unable to. Before he could purchase Tiger, it was the law that the vocalizing part of his throat was disabled so that he could not make any sound that Bob could interpret. He had called him Tiger as he had made a growl-like sound at Bob when they first encountered one another, the only sound left to him after the mandatory operation. That was the only time he had ever heard Tiger growl.

           Tiger pulled himself out of the water. His coat was soaking wet. He tried to shake the water off, but that did little good, nor did Bob expect it to do more than that.

Bob and Tiger Work Together

           This peaceful time was about to be disturbed. A stranger quietly approached Bob. He only saw the stranger as Tiger pointed at him quite vigorously. Bob turned his head in that direction, and saw that the person was nearing them with a knife in his hand. He was at a loss as to what he could do.

           But Tiger had an idea. He took off the collar and tossed it directly at the threatening stranger. Foolishly, but he had no reason to know any better, the stranger caught the collar. Bob was quick on the uptake, and pressed the shock button on the leash. The resultant shock wave made the man drop the knife and the collar, yell out in pain, turn, and run. Bob and Tiger were safe once more.

           Bob walked to where the stranger had been and picked up the collar. Tiger approached him, and Bob put the collar back around his neck. There was another smile, this time from both parties.

A Thought while Returning Home

           As they returned home, Bob had an idea. He was a little surprised, given the close relationship he had been developing over the last year with his pet, that he hadn’t thought of it before. But then he remembered the document that he had to read carefully and sign before he was allowed to purchase Tiger. He would be violating that agreement, but at this point, after what Tiger had done, he really didn’t care. It would be a secret between the two of them. Tiger’s kind were not the threat that the government thought they were, or at least Tiger wasn’t. It was decades since Tiger’s people had been conquered, the people of Earth, and they had been no threat for years and years to the new ruling race, the successful interplanetary raiders.

           They got home, and Bob told Tiger his plan. He handed Tiger a pen and paper, and the human began very slowly to write. It had been a long time since he had done that. He wrote in big letters Thank You Bob. Slowly and carefully, he wrote more about how much he appreciated Bob, that he could have treated him in a horrible fashion, as he had seen others of his kind being treated in that way by their owners.

           Then Bob asked him something that he hadn’t thought of before, “Did you have another name before we conquered your people? You must have been raised with one.”

           Tiger smiled and wrote, “Yes, I had one. But I would rather you continue to call me Tiger.” Now it was Bob’s turn to smile. “Thanks for that. Now take your wet coat off, so that I can put it in the dryer.”