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Tilly (standard:adventure, 5681 words) | |||
Author: burke | Added: Dec 05 2005 | Views/Reads: 3312/2556 | Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes) |
Tilly is a dog who thinks she is a human, even after she gets born. Learning the truth she escapes from her mistress' home, nearly dying in the attempt. | |||
Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story With that panic taken care of Tilly started thinking about her stomach again. “Where’s lunch? Can’t a girl get anything to eat around here? Bring out the groceries. C’mon, move it, I’m hungry!” Tilly was so hungry she began to move around. Actually she rolled because her legs were too short for her to walk. Finally she found what she was looking for. Lunch. It came in a large, warm, soft thing that felt very much like a water balloon except this one was full of warm milk. “I was thinking about a cheeseburger, fries and a coke, but this is good, too. When Tilly was full, she drifted off to sleep. In fact she fell asleep before finishing her lunch. In her dream she reminded herself: “I’ll never do that again. Imagine, falling asleep at mealtime!” In the morning she awoke to hear somebody saying. “Look Ginger. Here’s a good big breakfast for you. Better eat it all because you have a lot of hungry mouths to feed!” Tilly said to herself, “that’s true, and I’m one of those mouths.” Then she set out to find breakfast. “Boy! I think I’ll have bacon and eggs this morning.” Poor Tilly Same old thing. Warm milk. Three days later Tilly was awakened by a light being shone in her eye. The left eye. ”Hey, now you cut that out! The girl here is trying to sleep. Then she realized she could see, even if it was only a little bit from the corner of her eye. “Whoopee! Now we’re getting somewhere. I’ll be able to read the menu and order whatever I want!” In another week Tilly had grown bigger, had more hair and was able to walk pretty good. But best of all she could see with both eyes. She looked at her surroundings. Not believing what she saw she looked again. “I’m in a box with high sides! And there are seven dogs in here with me? Surely baby people aren’t kept in boxes with dogs!” Then things got worse. A little dog came over to Tilly. “Hi, I’m Rover. What’s your name?” Tilly looked at Rover. He was a cute little brown puppy with a long tail. She snarled. “Beat it, Rover. I don’t talk to dogs. Take a hike, get lost!” Rover looked at Tilly, trying to figure out if she really meant to be cross, or what. Then he said. “Oh! You’re the rude one. I’ve heard the others talk about you. I feel sorry for you, and you’re such a cute little do....” Rover was interrupted and didn’t finish his sentence because another pup bumped into him. He forgot about Tilly as he ran away to play with other pups. “Imagine. The nerve of that pup, wanting to know my name. None of his business!” Actually, Tilly doesn’t know her name yet. When Tilly was eight weeks old the people person whom she thought was her mother, said. “Good news, puppies! Some of you might be leaving today. Won’t that be wonderful? Important people are coming from the city to see you, so be on your best behavior and I’m sure you’ll find a good home to live in. Ok?” Tilly, sitting by herself at the back of the box, thought over this information. “Hmmm. What’s happening here? Sounds as though she’s going to give us away. Hey! Not me. I’m not going anywhere.” While thinking to herself, Tilly almost missed the rest of what the lady was saying...”Yes, I’ll miss you all, but these nice people will pay good money for you pups, so please be good.” Being good wasn’t in Tilly’s game plan. She wasn’t going anywhere, money or not, whatever money was.Oh! That’s what you get when you sell something. Then she had a thought. “So, after she sells those puppies she’ll probably sell me, too.” Tilly got angry. “You can’t do that! You’re selling those puppies to be slaves! That’s not legal.” Tilly tried to say these things to her mother, but when she opened her mouth no words came out. She tried again. “Hurray,” she thought. “I’ve said my first words. Now my mom will listen to me. But there was a problem. Tilly had said. “ARF!” Tilly couldn’t believe it, so she tried again. “ARF!” And again. “ARF! Tilly was very upset with herself. “I...do...not...believe...it..!” She was afraid to open her mouth again in case more dog talk came out. This needed thinking over. She told herself. “Stay cool, Tilly. That’s what happens when people babies are kept in a box with dogs. All we need to do is get out of here and be with people for a few days. Now, how can I do that?” She thought for a long time. “Escape! That’s what I’ll do. Escape tonight? No, right away.” After a moment, she changed her mind. “Can’t go now, its dinnertime. I’ll leave right after supper.” She had a big supper. Not a hamburger, but dry food that her people told her was, “good for you!” For dessert she had warm milk. But Tilly didn’t escape after dinner like she’d promised herself. “First, I’ll have a nap, gotta keep up my strength so I can run fast.” “Ok all my puppies,” the people lady greeted them in the morning. “The city people will be here soon, so be on your best behaviour.” Tilly had just finished her breakfast but it wasn’t what she’d wanted; bacon and eggs or even waffles, so she was in a bad humour. “I don’t care who’s coming, I’m outa here anyway. As a matter of fact I’m going over the side of this box right now! Nobody is buying me!” She jumped, but not high enough. Again she tried but she couldn’t reach the top. Finally she collapsed in a heap on the bottom of the box, all pooped out. Suddenly, the people were there. Tilly refused to look at them. They were saying dumb things to the puppies, like kootchie, kootchie koo. Tilly began to feel sorry for the little puppies. “They better not try stuff like that with me!” Nobody did. The people were interested only in those cute little puppies who, fools that they are, were right up at the front of the box, jumping, barking,.and begging to be picked up. Tilly thought it was disgusting. Tilly sat at the back of the box watching the show. The next thing she knew two of the puppies were taken from the box. “Oh, do you like that one?” The lady asked. “Yes, but does it have worms? “No, she had worm medicine just the other day.” “Oh yeah,” thought Tilly. “I don’t remember that. But then, I really don’t care what you do to those dogs.” The visitors left with their new puppies. Now there were only four puppies in the box. And Tilly. Two days later Tilly still hadn’t managed to escape. Then, just after lunch a man and his wife came in. “We’re looking for a nice little puppy. Do you have any?” “Yes, I have five left. The choice of the litter.” Tilly heard all of this and looked around the box. “Funny, I see only four puppies. Wonder why she said there were five?” It really didn’t matter to Tilly .She just sat quietly at the rear of the box and ignored everybody. “They can have them all, for all I care!” “Oh, oh, that lady is looking at me!” Tilly tried to back even further away from the lady, but there was nowhere to go. “Come here!” That was Tilly’s people mom. “You, the black one with the white mane! This nice lady wants to see you!” Tilly cringed in the corner of the box, trying to get away. The strange lady picked up another puppy. “Whew! I thought she meant me. I’m saved!” Then she had a really strange thought. “Maybe I could use that lady as my way to escape from here.” In a few minutes she had her plan all figured out. “First, I’ll act cute, wag my tail, except I don’t have a tail. Ok then, I’ll just have to wiggle my bum. Same difference. Then sit up; I mean stand up on my back legs and look sad. They always go for sad looking things. Then when she takes me home, I’ll run away.” Slowly, Tilly walked towards the front of the box, all the while looking at the stranger with big sad eyes, and wagging her tai...behind. “Look!” said the lady, “that little dog is coming to see me. Let’s buy that one, she’s so cute.” The man replied, “na, why not get the white one? It’s friendlier. The black one seems to be anti-social. It would probably run away. Get the white one!” Then, to Tilly’s joy, the lady picked her up. “Oh. I think you’re so adorable! I’m going to buy you. Would you like that?” It was ok with Tilly because it fitted into her escape plan. “Alright,” the man said, “but I think she’d be a handful if she ever got loose.” Tilly laughed to herself. “Heh, heh, heh, you got that right, Buster, I’m as good as free right now!” Five minutes later Tilly and her new people were in the man’s car. It was the first time Tilly had been outside. It was November and cold. She was glad they had a warm car. While driving into town the lady said, “we need a name for this little girl. What do you think we should call her?” Tilly thought that over. She had some suggestions, too. “Why not,” she thought, “Pricilla, Jane, Margaret, Clare. I like those, but for sure, don’t ever call me late for lunch. Heh, heh, heh” Meanwhile, the man suggested, Rover, Pansy, Pooch, or Hey You! The lady didn’t like any of those names, then said, because their little pet was a Pekinese maybe her name should be, Tinkle, Twinkle. I’ve got it! We’ll call her...Tilly!” Tilly listened to these silly names and thought they sounded like names for a dog. Hearing that her name was to be Tilly, she thought, “Call me whatever you want but it doesn’t mean I’ll come when I’m called.” Then when Tilly was wondering when lunch would be served, she fell asleep in the arms of her new mommy. Although Tilly now knew her name, she still didn’t realize she was not a people. The car stopped in front of a nice house. Tilly awoke and looked around to see where she was. “Maybe we’ve stopped for lunch. She was correct because her new mommy said. “This little girl must be hungry.” “Oh, boy, I hope she gives me a hamburger. I can hardly wait.” When the car door opened Tilly forgot about her stomach. She could see freedom! Before the lady could get a leash on her, Tilly jumped out of the car, paused for a moment to savour her freedom, and started to run. But there was a problem. Tilly didn’t know where she was or where to run to. That didn’t bother her too much because she ran as fast as she could until she bumped into the steps leading to the front porch The steps were higher than her head. “I bet if I could jump up there, they’d never find me.” But try as she did she couldn’t even get onto the first step. Then the lady was beside Tilly. “My, aren’t you the lively one. Here, let me get your leash on and I’ll take you for a walk around the yard. You probably need to go to the bathroom.” Tilly wondered. “What’s a bathroom? I’ll worry about it later because what I need right now is to pee.” “Good dog,” the lady said as she reached down and patted Tilly on the head. Tilly was shocked to hear her new mom refer to her as a dog. She started to set her mom straight, but the only sounds coming from her mouth were woof, arf, arf, and woof. “Darn! I’ve done it again. They kept me in that box of dogs too long. I’d better soon learn how to talk properly or I’ll always sound like a dog.” The lady picked Tilly up and carried her into the house and straight to the kitchen. It would soon become Tilly’s favourite room. She watched, as a heaping bowl of good smelling food was put on the floor in front of her. Tilly was hungry, but the bowl was too high for her to reach over the side. She tried everything to get at the food. She pushed the bowl into a corner. No good. Then she shoved it around all over the floor. Also no good. Her last resort was to clamber into the bowl! “Hey, I’ve made it!” She thought happily. “I just need to get my back legs in then I can eat. But the scrambling she did with her rear legs caused the bowl to tip. Tilly and her lunch spilled across the kitchen floor. Surveying the mess she’d made, Tilly decided it wasn’t so bad. “At least now I can eat my food!” And she did. Every last bite. She gobbled, chewed, and slurped at the food. Then she licked and licked, moving across the floor after her food until, suddenly, she bumped into a big, black, hairy foot! She jumped back, but only a little bit. “I don’t know what that thing is, but I’ll worry about it later after I’m done eating. In less than a minute the floor was as clean as a whistle. Looking around, she noticed a last piece of her lunch. But it was right near that hairy foot. No longer being hungry Tilly took a second to examine the hairy thing. "Oh, oh! There are four of those things. That can't be a people. Wonder what it is?” Tilly looked up. Higher and higher until she got a crick in her neck and had to sit down so she could look up higher. At the top of the look she found herself staring into a great hairy face with beady black eyes and lots of teeth. “Wow! They look sharp.” The hairy face bent towards Tilly, sniffing and sniffing. Tilly was scared. Still sniffing, the face came closer and closer. Thinking she was going to die, Tilly decided to go down fighting. Baring her own teeth she jumped up and struck the black monster on one of its knees. To her great surprise the black monster backed away. Then, slowly, the monster came towards Tilly again. It didn’t seem to be angry. Tilly wasn’t certain, so she snarled and barked, trying to sound bigger than she really was. “Woof, woof, growl, snarl!” “Hey! Don’t you talk to me like that!” The black monster said. “I live here! I’m the dog of the house.” Pressing her luck, Tilly replied. “So do I, at least until I find some way of running away.” “Run away! You must be right out of your skull. You could never have it so good. Do you know this is the best place in the world to be a dog?” Tilly thought about that. “Maybe this is a good place for dogs, but not for me. I’m not a dog, so I’m leaving.” “Well, you sure look like a dog to me. You know where the door is. Are you leaving now?” “No, I’m going to have a nap first. I always get sleepy after eating. By the way, that lady calls me ‘Tilly’. What’s your name?” “That’s a nice name. They call me Buffalo.” “What a funny name. What does it mean?” Buffalo sat down beside Tilly and explained her name. “A long time ago when I was as small as you I watched a television show about cowboys and Indians who were trying to save some buffalo from being stolen by the bad guys. I was watching these big hairy animals on the screen when my lady suddenly said, ‘look! Our little doggie looks just like a buffalo’. And that’s how I got my name.” Buffalo looked down at Tilly, smiled and asked. “Do you believe that?” Tilly wasn’t sure. She thought maybe her leg was being pulled with a made-up story. But, on the other hand. Buffalo has never lied to her before, so, therefore it must be true. “Buffalo, I believe you.” Then, in a small voice she asked “Is it really true?” “Yes, sounds dumb, huh? But stick around and you’ll see our people do even dumber things.” Sleepily, Tilly asked, “like what?” “Well, the strangest thing they do is sleeping. They sleep only once a day, always at night. They eat three times a day, but feed us only once. Not fair! Although they usually give me some of their food. But the good thing is they never want a share of our food.” Buffalo waited for Tilly to ask more questions, but there weren’t any. Tilly had fallen asleep on Buffalo’s foot. Then she began to snore. Buffalo couldn’t believe how loudly that little puppy snored. “This is terrible! She snores just like people.” She left Tilly to sleep alone on the kitchen floor. In the living room Buffalo jumped onto a chesterfield, circled around several times for reasons unknown to her, and settled down for her own nap. She had to put her paws over her ears because she could still hear Tilly’s snores. Tilly awoke with a start. Somebody had placed her on a blanket. But that wasn’t what woke her up. It was the good smells! Food, maybe steak, or chicken, or hamburgers, or, or...can’t run away now, that’s for sure. I’ll get some good food before I leave. The doorbell rang! Tilly was sitting right under the dinger. ‘Rrriiinnnggg’! It went again. Frightened, Tilly jumped up and ran around the corner of the kitchen and collided with another hairy animal, knocking it down. “Sorry,” she apologized, “but get out of my way, will you?” Then she saw it wasn’t a dog she’d bumped into. It was...oh...a’ cat’! It was showing Tilly lots of claws and teeth. Also, it was talking cat talk and wasn’t being very polite, either. “Watch where you’re going, little one, or I’ll shred and tear you up for the recycling bin.” Tilly, hiding behind a door replied meekly, “I said I was sorry! That noise scared me. But who are you? Do you live here too?” “I’m not called anything because I don’t live here. The lady lets me in if I look hungry or cold, which means I’m here most of the time.” Then the cat asked. “Who are you?” Tilly was beginning to think that living in a people house was too complicated. “Every where I turn I run into animals bigger than me. I better run away soon. Maybe after supper and another nap.” “I’m called Tilly. I’m a people, even though some persons around here think I’m a dog. But don’t believe them.” “Oo...k.” drawled nameless cat, “you sure fooled me. I thought you looked just like a Pekinese!” Buffalo came running into the kitchen. “Tilly, why didn’t you answer the door bell? That’s our job around here.” “Sorry. I didn’t know that. Besides, it scared me!” Buffalo accepted the apology. “Don’t forget next time. By the way, look out for Snoopy, the biggest dog I’ve ever seen. And another thing. He has a cold nose. He’s still at the front door with our lady’s sister.” A minute later Tilly met Snoopy when he raced into the kitchen, stuck a long cold nose under Tilly’s stomach, flipped her over on her back, and proceeded to sniff her all over. Buffalo had forgotten one thing about Snoopy; his nose was not only cold, it was also wet. Tilly was too embarrassed by being rolled around like a barrel of flour to be frightened of Snoopy. “I’ll fix you, Snoopy. One of these days when I’m a lot bigger I’m gonna eat your lunch!” Later in the evening the people sat down to a huge dinner in the dining room Tilly watched incredulously as the food was put on plates and placed on the table. “A waste of time! Just put it on the floor where I can get some too. I guess people have to sit at a table in order to get fed. I can do that!” Tilly picked a spot near a chair and waited for her serving of food. Soon all the dogs were under the table, even though it was crowded. Tilly had a place near her new mom; Buffalo was close to the man, while Snoopy sat near his lady. Surprisingly, all dogs behaved, as if they knew if they caused trouble none would receive any tidbits. Tilly doesn’t know it yet but her big chance to escape will soon come. It happens after dinner when the lady’s sister goes into the living room where Tilly is sitting near the outside door. This door is all glass and Tilly is able to look out and dream about being free. “I would give anything to be free!” She thought. Tilly, sister lady asks, “Do you want to go out?” Tilly couldn’t believe her ears. “Want out? Bless you, lady.” Except, it sounded like, “Woof woof? Woof woof, woof.” Before the lady knew what was happening, and even as she called to ask sister. “Can Tilly go out?” She opened the door just as the answer came. “No! Don’t let her out without tying her up!” While all this talking was going on, Tilly was out the door like a small firecracker and running for the large white field which stretched away from the house into the distance. “Run, run!” Tilly told herself. “They’ll not catch me now! I’m free!” On the far side of what she thought was a field she could see a small mountain: “that’s where I’ll go. I'll live there and do as I please!” She ran faster and faster. In the distance she heard her lady cry out, “she’s on the ice! I wonder if it will hold her weight. Somebody go out there and bring her back!” The man’s voice said. “Don’t think so. Yesterday there was no ice at all. It’s too thin. Looks like that little dog is a goner, unless it’s smarter than it looks.” Tilly kept running. “What’s that noise? Sounds just like running water.” She’d answered her own question. “If that’s water, then what’s the other strange noise?” She thought long and hard before she figured it out. “Easy, that’s the sound ice makes when it breaks into small pieces.” Tilly pondered her own answer. “That’s why my feet are wet!” Tilly stopped running. “Oh my, not only are my feet wet, but so is my stomach. I’m cold, wet, and scared!” Tilly had started doing the right thing. She’d stopped running. Then she did another smart thing; she took a moment to think. She decided, because her feet were wet, to go to a dryer place. And that would be where she’d been just before her feet got wet. So she backed up, and up. Tilly was still in trouble because the ice kept on breaking and making her even wetter. “This isn’t good. If I’m not careful I’ll get completely wet and freeze to the ice and never get out of this mess.” Listening carefully Tilly could hear her people calling. “Tilly! Where are you? Come back this instant..!” That’s exactly what she wanted to do! Get off the ice. She was trying to do the right thing, but it wasn’t working. So.. Tilly thought again. “Maybe if I lay on my stomach the ice won’t break. Then I’ll use my back legs to push myself away from the open water. She started to crawl over the ice It held her up.... most of the time. A few times she came to thin spots and the ice gave way under her. She was getting wetter and wetter, and feeling very cold. Tilly knew she had to keep trying or she’d not make it to the shore. Looking up, Tilly saw she had a long way to go. She hadn’t realized how far she’d run on her escape try. Now she was getting tired and sleepy despite the cold. “I’ll just rest here for a minute or so,” she told herself. “That’s not a real good idea, Tilly. If you rest now you’ll never get up again! Tilly tried to look around to see who was talking to her, but she was too stiff and cold to move. “Who’s that talking to me? Who are you?” For a moment there was no answer, then she heard the voice again. But this time the words were slurred. “It’s cold even in here Tilly. Do something or I’ll freeze with you.” Slowly it dawned on Tilly that the voice was in her head. “Are you my conscience?” She asked sleepily as she put her head down on the ice. “Smart thinking for a dog! Of course I’m your conscience! Who else would be dumb enough to be out here with you?” By now Tilly couldn’t feel her feet, but even so she was beginning to feel warm and comfortable. She didn’t know that freezing to death could make her feel like this. She snuggled her head into what she thought was a soft pillow except it was actually broken pieces of ice. Still slurring her words the inner voice said. “Come on Tilly, there’s not much time. Get moving or we’ll be out here forever.” Lifting her head Tilly said. “What do I care; I’m only a dog. I thought I was a people but I’m just a dog. Nobody cares about a dog so why should I?” Then she put her head down on the ice. “So you just give up? Is that it?” Mumbling, Tilly replied. “I’m too sleepy to listen to you. Be quiet and leave me alone.” It was several seconds before the voice spoke again. “You’re a dog! You’re a dog! Tilly’s a dog! Maybe you’re smart for a dog but you’re sure not smart enough to be a people. That’s probably why you were made into a dog!” Tilly didn’t say anything. She was feeling comfortable and didn’t want to move. “Tilly. Can you imagine how those other little dogs will laugh when they hear about the dumb thing you did running out on the thin ice? They’ll think you’re really stupid, won’t they? I can hear them now laughing and laughing. Goodbye Tilly. I’m too cold to talk anymore. Goodbye.” Tilly was so comfortable she almost couldn’t think anymore. Except.. those little puppies... “Laugh, will they? I won’t let them laugh at me!” Then she got angry. “I don’t think so, at least not today!” She tried to move. “I’m frozen to the ice!” She mumbled through her numb lips. “My legs are short so maybe I can get loose if I stand up.” Drowsily, the little voice piped up. “You’re just a dog! You’ll never do it!” Really angry now, Tilly snapped back. “Why don’t you shut up? All you do is live in a warm place and don’t do anything except complain!” Tilly tried again and finally freed her front legs from the ice. The exertion got her blood flowing again, making her feel pain in her legs, like really sharp pins and needles. Just her back legs were stuck now. The inner voice kept quiet, having done its work. Tilly struggled, tugged, pulled and grunted, but remained stuck fast. She had to stop to catch her breath. She thought of those little puppies laughing at her. “I’ll show them!” Unexpectedly, her left hind leg came free. A moment later her right leg was free too. To nobody in particular, Tilly exclaimed, “A stupid dog can’t do that!” “True.” replied the voice. “But a smart one can. Let’s get going. I’m cold, tired and hungry.” “Me too!” Tilly wasn’t out of the woods...er..Water yet. She was a long way from shore. Because the ice was still breaking under her, she decided to try rolling her way to safety. It worked! After six complete rolls she could feel firm ice under her body. Carefully, she stood up, ready at any moment for the ice to crumble beneath her. Didn’t happen! Looking at the shore where her people were still watching, she saw them heading into the house. She heard her people Mom say, “too bad. She was a stubborn little puppy; I’ll miss her.” “Wuf, bark bark, bark.bark! (Hey, I’m coming, I’m coming!”) Tilly began to run. There were still some puddles of open water, but she dodged or jumped right over them. She ran as though a boogey man was chasing her. She dashed into the house before the people could close the door. She ran right to the kitchen, tripping over her food bowl in the middle of the floor. Buffalo was busily licking it clean “Tilly! I didn’t think you’d be back!” “Well, I am! Sure didn’t take you long to eat my supper, did it?” “I’m sorry. But I really thought you’d run away like you said.” Then Tilly’s people Mom ran into the room, so excited that all she could say was, “you poor little doggy. I was sure you had drowned. Don’t you ever do that again!” She picked Tilly up in her arms and gave her a mighty hug, then carried her into the bathroom where she was given a warm bath. Soon Tilly was placed in her warm bed and given a piece of roast beef left over from dinner while the lady tried to extract a promise from her to never run away again. But Tilly was fast asleep, dreaming about her next escape. End Tweet
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