All about a dog

All about a dog

Life was one big drab affair for David and family. For David it was the same old routine office job from 9 to 5 in the evening. On his return there was the all too familiar sight of his wife Emily sitting with Bubbles their little son trying to drive in the finer points of English, history and geography into his tiny head. The harder she tried the more confused the little fellow became. David would glance through the day’s newspaper to break the tedium or would go channel surfing the cable TV. Even the programs they showed were so boring that they would raise constant and loud yawns from him. The family consisted besides them, Fatso the second son who was in his last year in the school, nevertheless cared two hoots about his studies. There was an aura of overconfidence about him.  “Examinations may come and go, but I am here to make merry while I can”, seemed to be the motto of life for Albert, whom the family used to call affectionately as Fatso more because of his incredible bulk. Richard earned the nickname Bubbles by virtue of being the youngest. The household was complete with Mary alias Babydoll, the eldest daughter who was living with her grandmother doing her graduation in science. The house would come alive when Babydoll was around, but these days being the last year in college the visits were sporadic and even the mails were far too few.

Lazily David flipped through the channels on the TV as he cuddled cozily into his favorite couch. It had been another big day for him in the office where nothing would go right for him. He was admonished by his boss for some silly mistake he committed and ridiculed by his colleagues. Even the office janitor seemed to give him a cold shoulder when he ordered his routine cuppa. There must be some better things to brighten up life, he thought as he sat there mumbling to himself. The phone rang and he was rudely awakened from his world of dreams.

“Hey David, I have something for you” was the unmistakable voice of Mustafa his office colleague who was better known as BBC for his communication skills. But on this day even the news that he was a winner of a jackpot in the state lottery was not going to excite David.

“What is it Mustafa, today I am in a nasty mood and I don’t have time for your gossip.”

“How you wrong me, David, have I troubled you any time at home unless I had something important to tell you? I have a nice little puppy for you”. He knew David was fond of dogs. But on this day no news was good news.

“So what about it. I am having enough trouble at home even without a dog.”

“Wait until you see this one.” Without waiting for an answer Mustafa went to a great length to explain the pedigree of the dog and his lineage to a Royal family. “You better come and have a look before I change my mind and give it to someone else.”

David decided to go out and see what Mustafa was bragging about. Surely it was much better than staying at home. Mustafa’s home was barely 10 minutes drive from where he lived.

“Welcome David to this poor man’s home. It is not very often that I am honored with such visits.”

“My apologies. With Bubbles and Fatso facing the examinations in a couple of months, I have to spend a lot of time with them.” He lied blatantly.

After the exchange of pleasantries, Mustafa produced a pup from a carton like he was doing a conjuror’s trick. David could not believe his eyes when he saw the puppy. It was nothing like he had ever seen in his life before. It had golden mane and ash grey hair over its body. It looked at David as if it was pleading him to take it home.

“What is it called? It is a remarkable dog”, remarked David. Mustafa gave David an ‘I told you so’ look and said, “The previous owners used to call him Berry. They were very fond of him. They had to leave him behind as they were immigrating to Canada.” David put Berry in the carton and placed it gingerly in the back seat of his car. As he drove home he could see through the rear view mirror that Berry had ventured out of the carton and was gazing through the glass standing on its front paws.

“Fatso and Bubbles come out and see what I have brought for you.” David called for his sons as he rang the door bell.

They came running and were amused to find a dog so small and yet so cute. “He is so lovely, Can we keep him daddy?” Bubbles asked.

“Yes he is going to stay with us from now on”, quipped David as he cast a glance at Emily who was not impressed. “Who is going to look after him? You know these boys. They can not take care of themselves. How are they going to keep a pet?”

“No dad we promise that we shall take good care of him” Fatso and Bubbles replied in unison.

“I do not think it is a good idea. Besides all of you know how Babydoll is scared of dogs,” Emily reminded them all how Babydoll as a six year old ran away from a dog in fear and broke her toe.

“I am sure Babydoll is going to like Berry. Besides it is a lovable and playful Pekingese unlike the ferocious German shepherd ‘Tiger’ we had” David Said.

David could not imagine how a little dog could bring so much happiness in their otherwise monotonous life. It was a matter of time before Berry endeared himself to the entire household. It would be wrong to call him a mere dog, for he could show emotions ranging from expression of joy, innocence, naughtiness and pensive moods, but never showed anger. Emily made arrangements for the dog to sleep under the staircase by providing a worn out blanket and torn clothes. But Berry barely slept there. When he made sure that all of the household had gone to sleep, he would crawl into Bubbles’s bed and cover himself by Bubbles’s blanket, how he did that was beyond David’s imagination, needless to say that he had an uncanny knack of doing such things as if he was almost human. Soon David found out among other things that Berry was fonder of Bubbles and preferred to play and sleep with him. One thing Berry hated was to be alone. He always wanted company. When he wanted to go out he will fetch his leash and gesture to the door and make some funny noises. He was a fussy eater too often eating things which other dogs wouldn’t touch. Emily was amused to see Berry eat carrots and cucumbers as if he was on a slimming diet. He was not much keen on meat but preferred chicken instead. He also relished Bubbles’s chocolates. Berry did a strange welcome ritual when the children returned from school. He used to stand on his hind legs and do some kind of a dance. He was friendly to the entire neighbourhood while he used to chase cats with utmost fervor. But there was only one problem, most of the cats being larger in size than him used to look at him with utter disdain.

There was a big commotion the day he ran away from David household. A frantic David started looking for him in the neighborhood. When after a day’s search he was brought home, David found Emily in tears- tears of joy- for Emily had become so much attached to Berry as if he was like her Fatso and Bubbles. The most surprising thing was when Babydoll came home for her holidays, she spent so much time with Berry that her fear of dogs became a thing of the past.

Life is not what it used to be for the David household. With Berry around there was never a dull moment in their life anymore.