Puppy and Mr. Thunder
By Frederick J. Blahnik
Puppy was positioned in the front yard at 5:45 sharp this morning, wishing The Missus good-bye as he always did
His furry, unkempt tail was wagging back and forth like a flag in the breeze and he was smiling the biggest doggy grin a youthful cur could ever conjure
Mr. Lightning was frolicking in the background on this particular morning also, intermittently lighting up the pretty dawn sky with zig-zaggy yellow ribbons
When suddenly–not to be outdone–his jealous companion, Mr. Thunder, cut loose with an ear-splitting clap, terrifying everyone and everything in its pathway and reverberating throughout every little nook and cranny on Earth’s cowering surface
Puppy froze in his tracks then akin to a dripping icicle following an overnight temperature plunge during the Rebirth Days of late January
His handsome young head yanked upwards during the ensuing instant and he stood transfixed in the middle of our yard–absolutely motionless–surveying the heavens above for the source of that bizarrely loud sound so he could growl and test out his pubescent bark on the outrageously noisy, brazen trespasser before driving it out of The Missus’s yard in a snarling, heroic flourish…….while his puzzled white noggin shifted back and forth……..back and forth……back and forth……as he continued gazing skyward in vain pursuit of the unseen malefactor
But, lo and behold, Mr. Thunder’s temper had already cooled considerably by this juncture, and there were to be no more ornery outbursts from the perennially grouchy guy this morning
Thus after several seconds of fruitless celestial investigating, Puppy gave up on looking for the boisterous intruder and turned his attention once again to The Missus, who was currently driving out of the yard in a cherry red car on her way to work
His tail resumed wagging excitedly analogous to that of a terrified tadpole being chased by a starving largemouth bass, and Puppy yipped enthusiastically in a friendly salute to his evanescent master
Mr. Thunder–Yes, he with the hair-trigger temper and big blabbering mouth–retired to his lair to shamelessly slumber for the remainder of the day, and Puppy retired inside the attached garage for a hearty breakfast and quick five-minute nap before anxiously resuming his non-stop quest to learn everything there is to know about the strange world he had somewhat recently been born into…..
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