Surprise for the good boy

I woke up to the shrill wail of Lucy in the morning hours of the day. I tried to open my eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight that fell right on my face. Turning away, I stretched nice and smooth and padded towards the kitchen, watching mom as she hurriedly made some spongy thing for our two year old Lucy. She glanced towards me and smiled. 

“Why, you woke up early, Chester?”

I tilted my head and plopped down near her feet, yawning widely. She bent down to give me a quick rub behind my ears, then took the bowl of food and ran towards Lucy. My eyes followed her thin figure into the room until she disappeared and I lay down there on the floor. My nose picked up the smell of roasted chicken, letting my mouth water. Had I been a normal street dog, I would have spotted and eaten the whole thing already. But I’m Chester. A house dog. A golden retriever. I can’t break the rules of the house. Moreover, why would I steal food when my mom and dad loved to feed me? I could hear mom making some weird noises to make Lucy eat. Lucy was undoubtedly very stubborn and wouldn’t open her mouth unless it’s for crying and yawning. I think mom would call me now to entertain her. Oh, it’s nothing more than giving her my paws so that she might get distracted enough to not notice a spoon coming towards her. Boring, to be very honest. I could definitely do more interesting stuff.

I stood up on all fours, stretched again, and headed outside into the garden. It had rained last night, so the lawn was damp and muddy. At this point I couldn’t stop myself from mentioning how ridiculously clean humans are. They love to walk clean, keep stuff clean. They don’t really understand the fun in rolling in this wet ground. I love to get all dirty, splish-splash in the puddles and roll in them. But mom would be really pissed off at me- I learnt that word recently- if I managed to print my dirty paw on her shiny white tiles. But that day, the weather was so good that I couldn’t resist sinking my paws into the cool, wet ground. Ahh! It felt so soothing! I rolled in the mud with great satisfaction, got up and shook myself. I then jumped into the big puddle near the gate and splashed the dirt all around. An immediate loud hiss stopped me.

“Excuse me, Mr Dog! I would be delighted if you could keep your excitement to yourself because I just finished licking myself clean.”

I turned to find Kitty, the house cat, an Exotic Shorthair she calls herself, looking up at me disgustedly. Her face was scrunched up as usual, perhaps even more scrunched as she stared at the mess I made with her glinting yellow eyes. 

“Oh hi Kitty! Nice weather isn’t it?”

Kitty merely growled and shook her thick furry tail.

“If you only knew how much I hated my name….” she murmured, licking her paws. 

“Okay let me help you with that cleaning…..”

“Are you crazy?? Of course not! I don’t want you to come any nearer!“ Kitty hissed at me again.

I didn’t speak. No wonder I hate cats.

“You know you could do your cleaning somewhere dry. What are you doing here anyway?”

Kitty ignored me and kept licking her grey fur. I decided to move myself away.

“Oh wait, dog. I came to talk to you.”

I turned, frustrated now.

“Listen cat, I have a name and I love it. You can call me that.”

“Geez! Okay Chester, I heard dad’s coming back home today. Aren’t you going with them?”

I had completely forgotten about that.

“Oh my God, you are right! I don’t know Kitty….i might not be going. I don’t usually go to the station.”

Kitty purred deeply as she shook her tail again and started slowly walking around me with her tail up in the air. 

“I think this time they are taking you.”

I rolled my eyes as she jumped up on my back and stretched out. “You do stink, Chester. I think you should consider a wash today.”

“But why do you think they might take me today?”

Kitty patted her paw behind my ears. 

“You know the rules.”

I groaned and shook my head. Kitty is a smart cat and I should give her credits for that. She knew everything that happened in that locality, which was no surprise as she could easily climb up the windows and shamelessly peep into all sort of late night talks. Her information would always be positively genuine and true. She was more than happy to share it too and that’s where the rules come. 

“Fine. One leg piece the next time I'm fed. It’s all yours. Now tell me.”

Kitty made a high pitched meow, a sound of satisfaction, and jumped off to the ground. She walked around once again and finally stood in front of me.

“Yesterday night, I was in mom's lap and I overheard her talking to dad on phone. I heard her saying it would be a surprise for you.”

My ears straightened at those words.

“Surprise? What surprise?”

“Something that would sound totally unexpected to you. Are you sure you want to know it?”

”I didn’t offer you my food for nothing."

Kitty shrugged and licked her paws.

“Well…. He is bringing you a-“

“CHESTER!! Good gracious! What have you done to yourself?? We don’t have time for a bath now!! Come on, hurry up! Let’s get you cleaned. We are leaving in fifteen minutes.”

With that, Leah, Lucy’s elder sister, scooped me up and ran into the house. I looked back at Kitty who was baring her teeth mockingly.

Leah dumped me into a wet tub and started the water. I should have been disappointed as she scrubbed all that mud off me, but my mind was somewhere far. What could it be? A ball? A new bowl? Maybe a bright coloured tag? Or am I getting a new bed? A special grooming kit? Maybe a big bowl of turkey? Oh I don’t know….if Kitty could have just hinted something.

I was soon dried up and left alone to gobble up my food while Leah dashed into her room to get ready. I thought of getting back to Kitty and asking her but she was nowhere to be seen. I can't risk going into the mud again unless I want to meet mom's wrath. Mom came out of her room with Lucy, who wore a frock and her curls were now fitted with a bow. She saw me and started giggling out loud, pointing out at me. Mom smiled.

“Yes, honey. He is coming with us. Now don’t you look handsome, Chester?”

Mom came and bent down to ruffle my back. She smelled of baby powder. She stood up and straightened her skirt and called out for Leah. Leah came out, carrying her bag. Mom attached my collar to a leash and we all set out for the railway station. During the whole car journey my mind was still pondering over the thought. Mom noticed my silence and looked at me, concerned.

“I thought you loved drives, Chester. Aren’t you excited to see your dad?”

I barked twice and let her know that I was perfectly fine. I was busy thinking.

We reached there in less than ten minutes. I had never been to this place before. The sight of a lot of people rolling big boxes behind them looked interesting to me. The place smelled strongly of something sour and acidic and it was burning my nose. Cleaning stuff probably. I groaned as I walked along the tiled ground, gazing at the numerous activities happening around. Mom and Leah sat on a bench, while I sat on the ground. I saw some street dogs staring at me. Some even bared their teeth. I just ignored them. After all, I didn’t come here to challenge them or to take over their territory. I had more important things going inside my head. The surprise; I still had no clue. The curiosity was burning inside me. Time was going too slow and the tracks were still empty. I kept looking at mom, who in turn kept checking her watch. 

Soon a loud horn was heard from the distance. Leah gripped my leash harder. I saw something approaching us very fast, clicking and chugging. I got scared and pulled on my leash. The urge to run away was killing me. Leah scooted me near her and grabbed my head close. I peeped from her arm as the thing called train came in. Geez it’s really long. I wondered what Kitty would think of this. I kept looking at the never ending monstrosity slowly move forward and soon I felt dizzy. The train slowly stopped in front of us with a hiss and I saw dad waving from one of the doors. I barked out loud, jumping out of Leah’s hands and ran towards him. Oh, how much I missed him! I jumped upon him and licked him all over his face as he laughed and ruffled my head gently with his caring fingers. His face still held that thick growth of hair which would rub my ears everytime I licked him. My crude way of affection grabbed the attention of other humans and I got some petting from them too. Everyone loves dogs. Once I was calm, he pulled out a box out of the train along with his bag. He then moved towards mom, kissed her on the mouth and took the giggling Lucy in his hands. I eyed the box that had lots of holes and smelled it. I sensed a movement inside it and backed off. Dad chuckled at me.

“That’s yours, my boy. Let’s open it, shall we?”

I was jumping up and down in excitement and curiosity as he opened up the box. They must be kidding me.

What walked out of it was a puppy, another of my breed. The little thing squinted against the light and looked up at dad with those big black eyes.

"Everyone, meet Charlie."

Charlie did a little bark upon mentioning his name and scooted near dad's feet, his little ears flapping against his face and his tail wiggling ever so fast. That's when he noticed me.

“Hello!” I barked cheerfully. “I’m Chester and….welcome to our family.”

He silently observed me as I came close. I touched his paw reassuringly. He did a bark and sprang up at me, licking my face, neck, oh I don't know where else. 

"Chester!!! Let's play!! "

We took him home and oh my God, he was a living store of pent up energy waiting to release itself. I doubt if I was so restless when I was small. He would always be running. Or splashing and snorting under the puddles. Or chewing on dad's new shoes. But anyway, by that evening he became dearest to us, even to Kitty, who now gladly joins his puddle party. 

“I think you both got along very well. ” Dad exclaimed at us.

I looked at Charlie, who was now busy licking Lucy's face, and silently agreed.It was the best surprise I could ever get. Not everyone would be lucky enough to get such caring mom and dad like mine. Charlie was definitely worth the wait. He was going to be my little boy.