Not so long ago, I woke up one morning to water all around my little bed under the table. It was the middle of the coldest winter we ever had. Everything outside was covered with ice and snow, and it seemed everything inside was soppy wet. What a horrid muddle to wake up to. Before I got out, I realized Mrs Thistle was on the phone getting someone to come out and see our problem, so I knew the mess would not last forever.
Pretty soon, I got up the courage to leave my warm nest, and ran through the water to the open slider door and hopped out. It would be a whole other story to tell you what happened when I got outside to the “land of ice and snow”, and what happened when I came back in the house to let the piles of snow melt off my feet. I will just tell you, that day did not start out as one of our ordinary days, and it was a little strange all day long.
After breakfast, and morning wash up, a big tall man named Fred came to our door to see the problem. He looked around inside, and soon I could hear him under the house shouting “ Mrs Thistle, I found the problem”. I bet you can guess what was under the house, but if you can’t I shall tell you. One of our pipes had burst.
Fred worked for a little while under the house, and outside in the yard, and then came in and said he would have to go away for a while to get another tool, so he did.
Mrs Thistle was busy mopping the floor so I thought I would snoop around outside and see where Fred had worked. Pretty soon, he was back, so for a while I followed him until he went back under the house. I wandered my lovely yard until I noticed the front gate to the street was wide open. I had never seen that before.
In a flash, I was outside in the driveway and a lady appeared, patted my head and scratched my ears. It was lovely. She was saying she had to keep going on her walk, and said I could come along if I wanted to. I thought to myself, ‘why not, everyone else is too busy to play with me, and I love to walk’. A new adventure began for me, one I will not forget for a long time.
We began our walk going up my street which I had done hundreds of times, but I did not have a leash on. I did not have to walk at the side of the road, I could run anywhere. It was great fun, no cars came, and I could sniff all kinds of new things. When we turned on to the big main road, it was the same thing. The lady did not seem to mind where I ran, but it was not so much fun for me. I didn’t know where I was, and there were CARS. Cars just zooming back and forth and I had to play “jump out of the way” each time a car came because I was never sure if they could see me. This was fun for a little while, but soon I was just plain scared. The lady did not stop or pay much attention to me, so I decided it was best just to follow behind her big clunky shoes. I did, never letting the big shoes out of my sight. After what seemed like ages and ages and ages, she turned into a driveway and went into a house. This is where trouble began.
A big grumpy man met us just inside of the door. He asked the lady –“What on earth is that you have brought home?” He bent down and began to look me over, while the lady explained I was just some little mutt who had followed her for miles. I was insulted, as I am not some little mutt, I am Mrs Thistle’s best pet even if I am a small Scottie, and SHE asked me to come for a walk! Lucky for me, the man began to search my collar, found my name tag, and I heard him pick up the phone calling Mrs T. He told her what had happened and he and the lady would put me in their car and bring me home. Thank goodness for my bright red name tag, I was going home. The man was VERY cross with the lady.
After what seemed like a long ride on the floor in the back of the car, I was lifted out and Mrs Thistle was waiting in the driveway with Fred the working man. Both of them appeared to be overjoyed to see me and I will tell you I was the happiest dog on earth. The lady, who I now think of as a dangerous stranger, was telling her story of how I was a silly dog who just followed her and certainly did not know how to behave on the main road. Mrs Thistle just held me tight and thanked the man very much for reading the red tag and bringing me home.
When we got settled in the house Mrs T. told me what had happened while I was away. She had been cleaning up when Fred came running in the door shouting—“I left the gate open, I forgot, and I CAN’T FIND CHARLIE ROSE”. They had both rushed out to our street, Mrs Thistle on her walker, and Fred running up and down the street calling “Charlie Rose come, come for a biscuit”. The phone rang, so they rushed in the house and found out I was being brought home. Mrs T. said she was so happy, she cried. She patted my head and asked me please never to do such a thing again as she had been very scared. I so wished I could talk and tell her that I had been very frightened too, and I promised myself not to take off with a stranger again and have to deal with cars on the main busy road. I could have been “squished Charlie”!
Maybe when you have read my story, you will remember a time when a stranger asked you to go somewhere. I hope you were smarter than me and did not go. If this has not happened to you, I hope you will always remember my story, and NOT GO WITH STRANGERS. Something could happen to you that might be very very scary and just not fun for you or your family.
My story could have had a sad ending, but did you guess what saved me? I bet you did----my little red _ _ _ . It told my name, where I lived, my phone number, and who my family was. I hope all of you know this important information about yourself, and know to tell it if you get into an uncomfortable place.
Love, Charlie Rose.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
