THE BUD SAGA

I’ve been telling you all about my writing site, and I think I’ve mentioned my ‘Bud Saga’ to most of you who read here. Heeding the advice from the writers who have read the story, I decided to get a copyright for it. It was done, and now the story is ‘on the shelf’ until I can find time to do something else with it. …like revise and search for a way to have it published…maybe. Because of Bud’s present condition, I’ve decided to start posting chapter by chapter here on my family blog. It’s my way of telling readers how and why I am so attached to this pit-bull. The first chapter is this morning, so here goes:

You want me to baby-sit what???

I had just come in the door when the phone rang. I was beat….it had been a long week at the office, so I let it go through the set five rings without answering. I'd check it out later.

The "later" only took ten minutes. It was pealing away again, and I hadn't even downed my first Friday night beer! I wandered over to look at the caller ID. The name aroused my curiosity…she NEVER calls here...so I grabbed the receiver a second before the voicemail could click on. What is that saying about fools rushing in...?

"Hello?"

"It's Helen. He said to call you, that you promised you'd help out. You need to come now!"

Mmm...I'm fine, thank you, and how are you? Okay, she sounded panicky. Maybe I wouldn't bring up the lack of polite small-talk. The "he" she was referring to could only be her wayward son, a friend of mine with whom I had spent many relaxing summer weekends. His house was deep in the bush, where a couple of day's absence of city noises was utter bliss. But my helping? And coming now? What was she talking about?

She was so upset, she didn't give me time to ask. Her words came out in torrents and she stammered in her hurry to explain. I only got the gist of it...he had been gone for two days, his dogs were alone at his house, he told her to call me to pick up the key, I had promised him I'd take care of the animals if he was to be away for an extended period...

What??

When I asked her to slow down so that I could understand, she dutifully repeated it all again, this time more clearly. While listening, I was casting about in my memory bank, searching for the moment when I would have made such a reckless promise. Uh...it was hazy, but I could see it. It was one of those cozy, wine-filled evenings, and I was sitting on the floor beside the fireplace, each of my arms cuddling a huge golden lab. They were magnificent animals, good-natured and well-behaved, probably because they had never been tied up a day in their lives. They were allowed to roam the immense property freely. The people in our party were discussing the pros and cons of owning canines. I was adamant in defending my pro stance. I normally try to be a helpful person, but a few glasses of wine tends to increase my willingness past all thoughts of inconvenience. My brother calls it the "mouth goes into action before the brain goes into gear" syndrome. Reluctantly, I admitted that I had probably made such a promise if the subject had come up. My reluctance was tenfold when I realized that we were smack in the middle of a Canadian winter, and this meant living in the bush. Alone. With a daily minimum ninety minute commute to work. Each way. Then the bombshell.

"I've been looking in on them until I could reach you," Helen said. "Could you make it up here by tomorrow morning? That little one, he scares me!"

My heart skipped a beat. I had forgotten that my friend had added a third dog about six months ago. I'd only visited him twice since then, when it was still a puppy, so didn't know the animal very well. It was a purebred pit-bull, and it probably wouldn't remember me either. This was NOT good!
(To be continued)


I’ll post it as I did on the other site – chapter by chapter. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Now it’s off to work I go. Have a nice day folks – the demons seem to be on vacation, so the sun is shining out there. It’s a beautiful winter’s day, and I’m SMILING!!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec