~ Two Hearts Can Race Together in the Night for Other Reasons…. ~
Late morning stretch and a sudden realization I was slated to work with Keira on her first crack at writing a column for our readers.
“Hey,” was all I said in a low-key greeting to Keira, not knowing if she was asleep while half under Mom’s office chair.
She wasn’t asleep by half; she immediately raised her head, bumping against the bottom of Mom’s chair, and declared, “It was Pru, not me.”
I sat, as is my habit when preparing to investigate an incident within the pack family, but… as a semi-retired sheriff with a deputy that I was looking directly at in that moment, I decided to return to the more pressing matter after just one inquiry.
“Mom and Dad know about Pru?”
Keira laid her head back down. “Pru was at the apology phase when I came back inside… Went from blank look, to denial, to excuses, to apology in record time.”
Relieved that no further action was needed on my part, I laid down next to Mom’s chair who was engaged at garden tasks outside. Before I could speak and bring up Keira’s column, she began pouring out her heart. Now, when I use the phrase “pouring out”, newer readers might not know exactly what that entails.
If Keira lays her head flat on the carpet, sighs, and quietly (nearly whispers) her discontent, you might as well settle in and get real comfortable because Keira will not only recount what is currently bothering her; she will list similar situations she has experienced, heard of, or dreamed about.
It’s not that she’s quite as bad as the blue burro in the Winnie the You Know Who series. It’s the long delivery of unrelated information that can be trying to an old dog’s soul.
I will spare you and just give you the Cliff Notes.
Pru had been teasing Keira about how Pru’s column was in print (tinyurl.com/k9t595w5), and now she was famous, and many such jibes. Keira took it in stride at first but then she started to get nervous about not being good enough or being a “foolish Golden” in Pru’s eyes. I admit that I took several short Grandpa naps during Keira’s list of personal affronts and disappointments.
The remarkable thing about Keira is when you allow her to express what’s milling around in her heart without much interruption, she resets as though the bluebird of happiness flew up her nose and nested in her brain. She goes from blue mood to beaming quicker than most two-leggeds I’ve known.
I was grateful for those little wing’s timing, and while that elusive bird was fluffing her nest, Keira resumed her sunny carefree Golden Irish lass ways and it was time for me to get to work.
“How’s your column coming along?”
Silence. I wasn’t surprised. Keira took a minute to think while still looking in the opposite direction. She raised her head again and gave the bottom of the chair a good thunk.
“What were the categories again Tuck?”
“Introduction, biographical, response to readers, recount a dream, pose a philosophical conundrum, observation of two-leggeds, interview someone, Dad doing something… uh… interesting shall we say, or a totally made up on-the-fly a’ la Douglas Adams kind of story.”
Keira stood part way up—managing to tilt the front of the chair enough to slide it back a half cur’s length. She then slunk low and backwards with just enough twist at the end to turn the chair away from the desk’s edge.
At that exact moment of dis-em-barking from the chair’s clutches, and Keira standing tall and wagging, Mom paraded into the office and plopped down on the already perfectly positioned chair to change her shoes.
“Did you do that on purpose, Keira?” I asked.
“Do what exactly?”
“The chair. Moving the chair.”
“I can’t help it, the chair is shrinking, and I have a hard time getting out.”
“The chair looks pretty much the same size as like forever. Maybe, it’s something else, Keira?”
“That’s what Pru said, but she’s part trickster sometimes.”
I couldn’t resist probing a bit further. “Did Pru say any thing else about the possible shrinking chair?”
Keira sat and scratched behind her ear. “Dad interrupted Pru before she could say much more to me about getting caught under the chair, except Pru said maybe my middle name should be Girtha, and Dad told Pru to shut it for a minute and get outside.
Keira switched position for the other ear.
“What was that fifth category again Tuck?” she asked.
“Let’s skip all those and begin with your introduction,” I said. “It’s the best way to start, and that’s how Pru started.”
Keira stood upright and dug her curled toes into the carpet, gave a rapid side-to-side reset, and declared, “My name is Keira Red Bear, and I am also known as K-Bear, a sworn pack Deputy of Tucker Oso the Sheriff of our pack. I am of the heart of emerald grasses, but I am a desert highland lass now.
“Mom found me in a breeder’s home as a young pup chosen and destined to continue the Golden line for that family,” she continued. “But my future pack Mom couldn’t stop thinking of me, and her friend made Mom turn the car around, and she bought me and brought me to a new pack home. I am a proud member of a four with four, and two-on-two pack with Hazel, Tucker, Prudence, Mom and Dad.
“I dream of ancient green lands and run with ancestors of great size and might. When it’s time to return to my home and family, I give a long mournful note of goodbye and promise to return.”
I was at a loss for words while Keira took a hind-paw swipe at an imaginary itch out of nervousness while waiting for my response.
“Keira, I always wondered what that long cry was about.”
“You’ve heard it out loud Tuck? I thought it was just in the dream. Well, that explains why Dad is always awake, wide-eyed and sitting up when I return. I thought he just came with me and was watching me play cause he’s always awake and breathing fast like I am when I return. I like how he gives me a good chest rub as our heartbeats slow.”
“I’m sure it’s one of his favorite times,” I said, not letting on how her occasional moaning midnight howls chill the whole family’s spines.
“So did I do enough to make a column Tuck?”
“We’re good for now,” I said. “There’s enough for Dad to pull something together.”
Keira was getting anxious to see what Mom was up to after she had changed her shoes and left the office.
I dismissed Keira with a nod so she could go find Mom while I was left to realize I’m leaving my legacy in very interesting paws.
~ With love and appreciation to all, Tucker Oso ~
