Dog Story

Camera #1: the bedroom.

Mai is watching a movie on her laptop, headphones on. Suddenly, Manly (the brown dog) appears in front of the bedroom window, dashing back and forth, wagging his tail in excitement. Mai shushes him and orders firmly: “Leave it!” He’s probably hunting geckos and iguanas again. A minute later, Biela (the white dog) rushes into the bedroom at full speed. The laptop’s power cord goes flying in the air. The fur ball shakes her little body left and right, unable to contain her excitement. She stands on her hind legs and starts walking straight up in the room. Unperturbed by the dog’s clown act, Mai tells her to calm down, sends her off and closes the door. She returns to her movie, finally in peace. A few moments later, Cedric shows up at the bedroom window. “Hi Sweetie!” she says before sighing to herself: “Why can’t I simply watch a movie by myself?”

Camera #2: the front gate.

Cedric is coming back from his daily sunset surfing session. He pushes the heavy gate leading into the backyard but it refuses to move. Every day he leaves the gate slightly ajar so he doesn’t have to carry the heavy key ring into his surfing shorts. But this time his gesture lacked precision: the gate is locked. Cedric doesn’t have the key, and the intercom is broken. He starts calling Mai from behind the 9-foot high fence. No answer, but Manly appears on top of the stairs, wagging his tail so hard that his butt and hind legs are shaking as well. “Go get her!” Cedric says. The dog runs away and comes back a minute later but instead of Mai, he brought his partner-in-crime Biela. Seeing her master outside, the white dog starts wagging her tail frantically as well. “Go get her!” Cedric repeats. The two canine companions disappear for a few minutes before returning to their observation deck on top of the stairs, watching their master stuck outside. Cedric calls Mai a few more times, but no one comes. He observes the perimeter around the gate, grips the wall corner in one hand and the fence post in the other, lifts himself up, climbs onto the wall and over the fence, does a tightrope-walk on top of the wall, almost falls when one of the posts goes loose, and finally makes it to the top of the stairs. Manly and Biela welcome him in euphoria: he pets them affectionately then walks to the bedroom. “Hi Sweetie!” says Mai as she removes her headphones.

If Manly and Biela could speak, how many more stories would they tell us?

Cedric, 11/30/2011