Plot Bunny #3: First Scene

     Isaiah wove his way through the lunch line like all the other children, but his mind was not on food.  His imagination painted a scene before him where he and his faithful dog climbed a treacherous mountain, forded a raging river flood, and fought an attacking pack of hungry wolves.  Nearly every day now, he dreamed of the adventures he would have with his dog; and nearly every night he prayed for God to please give him a puppy.

     "Earth to Isaiah!" called his good friend, Carl.  "Are you going to sit with us, or are you just gonna stand there?"

     Isaiah flushed, embarrassed, and hurried to join his friends.  Carl was already sitting with Jake and Roger at a table near the center of the room.

    “One of our hound dogs had puppies,” Jake said.  He drew circles in his soup with his spoon.  “Anybody want one?”

     “I would but I got to ask my dad,” Isaiah said, with a glimmer of hope, leaning forward with his arms on the cafeteria table.  A hound dog would be good for adventures.

      “I thought you wanted a wolf pup,” Carl objected.

     “I did, but my mom said there was no way she was going to have a wolf at her house,” Isaiah grumbled.

      “Wolves scare me,” Roger said.  He was a small, timid boy with black hair that fell across his eyes.  “Can we talk about something else?”

      Isaiah scoffed.  Imagine being scared of a wolf.

      “Wolves are one of my favorite animals,” Isaiah said.  “I like wolves and collies and big dogs like that.”

      “Can we talk about something else?” Roger pleaded again.

     “My aunt has one of those little tiny dogs.  It weighs only 15 pounds,” Carl said.

      “Those are cute,” Roger said.

     “They aren’t even real dogs,” Isaiah protested.  Roger was such a wimp sometimes.  “You couldn’t do anything fun with them.”

     “My aunt dresses hers up in clothes and paints her toenails,” Carl told them.

     “Ewwww,” Jake gagged.  “Dogs aren’t supposed to wear clothes.  That’s why they have fur!  My dad would never let me work the hounds again if I ever took a notion to put a sweater on one of them dogs.”

     Isaiah pictured one of Jake’s hounds wrapped up in a fancy sweater and started laughing.

 

BONUS MATERIAL:

     That night, Isaiah asked his dad if he could get one of Jake’s hound puppies.  His dad said no.

     “We don’t need a dog and a dog doesn’t need us,” his dad said.  “Those hound puppies will find good homes, and hopefully they will go to somebody who knows how to hunt with them.  Hounds were made for hunting, and you have never done hunting with dogs before.”

     “I could learn,” Isaiah said eagerly.

     “If you want to learn, then you need to get yourself a job working with the men around here that have hunting dogs,” his dad said.

     “I sure would like one of those hound puppies,” Isaiah said, trying his dad one last time.

     “My answer is no,” his dad answered, and that was the final word.

 

     Isaiah’s dad was right.  Within two weeks, all of the hound puppies found good homes with hunters in the area except for one.  That puppy got adopted by an older couple and was destined to grow up as a house dog.

 

     A few weeks later, Isaiah was exploring the banks of the Silvertwine Creek.  SIlvertwine Creek ran through their woods about a half mile from their house.  Usually Isaiah could find crawdads burrowed in the ground near the creek, but he had found none that day. 

     Finally he gave up and headed back to the house.

     To his surprise, his dad and mom were in the family room waiting for him.  Isaiah decided they had not been waiting long because his dad still had his coat on.

     “I got you a dog,” his dad said.

     Isaiah’s heart started pounding.  A dog?  A real live dog?  His very own?

     His dad unzipped his coat and revealed a little furry creature. 

     It was a tiny dog -- probably half grown -- but it could not have weighed more than five pounds.  The little thing wasn’t any bigger than dad’s boot.  It's hair was long and wavy.  It was a golden color around the face and chest, and it was black across the back and tail.

     Isaiah had never seen an uglier dog.  It wasn’t a hound.  It wasn’t a collie.  It wasn’t a wolf.  He didn’t even consider it to be a real dog.

     “I picked her up from a family over on Southside who couldn’t keep her.  Poor thing has had several different homes in her puppyhood.  She needed a home, and I knew Isaiah wanted a dog, so I couldn’t refuse.  She is a beautiful little dog.  She will give Isaiah good training on how to care for a dog.  Her name is Georgianna.”

     “Georgianna!”  Isaiah exclaimed in disgust.  His eyes pleaded with his dad: please let this be a joke.  “Dad, she is not even a real dog!”

     Isaiah’s dad frowned at him.  “She is your dog.  I expect you to care for her,” he stated, and that was the final word.

 

     His mom and dad left Isaiah in the family room with the dog.  Neither one of them understood Isaiah’s deep disappointment or his prejudice against the little dog.

     He looked at the little puddle of a dog that was sitting on the floor.  “Georgianna,” he muttered in disgust.

     Georgianna immediately jumped up into Isaiah’s lap.  Isaiah quickly redeposited her onto the floor.  “I don’t want a lap dog,” he growled.

      Georgianna tried again to get into Isaiah’s arms, but he wouldn’t let her.  So the little dog gave up and curled up on Isaiah’s feet instead.  When Isaiah went in the kitchen to eat supper, Georgianna followed him and sat at his feet while he ate.  When he went back in the family room and sat on the couch to read his history book, she again laid on his feet.

     To Isaiah’s surprise, he felt his heart softening a little.  After all, real dogs are supposed to lay at their master’s feet.  Isaiah could feel the heat and weight of the little dog on his feet.  If Isaiah didn’t look down, he could pretend that the dog on his feet was really the head of a majestic wolf stretched out beside him.

     Isaiah’s dad brought a dog crate into the house for Georgianna to sleep in.  Isaiah set it up in the family room.  Then he locked the little dog inside and went to bed.

     Georgianna began to bark and whine.  She did not like being left alone in the big dark family room.

     Isaiah tossed and turned on his bed.  Finally he got up and moved the crate into his room next to his bed.  He made sure Georgianna was securely locked in the crate, and then he crawled back into bed.

     For a moment it was quiet.  Then Georgianna gave a little whimper.  Isaiah hung an arm over his bed and wiggled his fingers where Georgianna could reach them.  She licked his fingers, and was satisfied that she was not alone.  Then boy and dog fell asleep.

 

     The next morning, in addition to his regular chores, Isaiah also fed and watered his dog.  Then he pulled on his coat and boots and headed outside.  As he shut the door behind him, he heard Georgianna whine.

     “She’s too little to be outside, I guess,” he told himself.  “If I had a real dog, we could go exploring together.”

     Isaiah started running, but he only made it to the edge of their big yard when his mom called him.

     “Isaiah!  Your dog is barking and whining!  I can’t have her making a racket when I am on the phone.  You need to take her with you,” his mom said.

     “Mom!  She’ll slow me down,” Isaiah shouted back.

     “Isaiah, she is your dog.  You have to take care of her,” his mom answered.

     “Bother!” Isaiah muttered to himself.  He trudged back to the house.

     Georgianna met him with happy barks and licks.  “Come on then,” Isaiah grumbled.

     Outside Georgianna was a completely different dog.  At first, she was startled by everything. It was like she had never been outside before.  She tucked her tail and ran a few steps every time the wind blew. 

     Well, there was no use taking a frightened dog exploring.  Isaiah lay down in the shade and resign himself to being lazy.  Georgianna immediately lay next to him pressing her body close to his for comfort.

      But Georgianna didn’t stay still for long.  Feeling safer by Isaiah’s side, her curiosity began to overwhelm her.  She sat up suddenly and lifted her little black nose to sniff the breeze.  How interesting!  The wind died back down, and Georgianna started to lay down again.  But something was moving in the grass only a few feet away.  It was a grasshopper.  Georgianna had never seen a grasshopper before, and she was fascinated.  She crept closer and closer.  Isaiah lifted himself up onto his elbow to watch.  Georgianna’s tiny body was quivering with excitement.  She was very close now.  Ever so slowly, she stretched her neck to reach the large insect.  Then, just before she touched it, the grasshopper leaped into the air and landed several feet away.  Georgianna was so startled that she erupted in a fit of barking.

     Isaiah laughed.  “What a greenhorn,” he chuckled.  Georgianna ran back to him with her tail wagging delightedly and licked his face.  She knew that somehow she had made her young master happy, and she was eager to do it again.  She ran back across the grass in search of the grasshopper.

      Isaiah clambered to his feet and followed her.  The two of them teamed up to hunt grasshoppers.  Sometimes Isaiah, with the advantage of his height, saw them first.  Then he would call her attention to it.  She would leap toward it with both front paws, and Isaiah would laugh as she did her best to catch it.  When the grasshopper escaped, she would put her nose to the ground and criss-cross the yard in search of another one, with her tail wagging excitedly the entire time.

     It was sort of fun, actually.