Story Hour
DRESS UP YOUR PET
Written by Gene B. Williams
|
Click here for the archive page with a list of previous stories. Please remember that all materials on this website are copyrighted. No reproduction without express permission. |
As usual, Barbara and Cindy went to the computer at the first of the month and visited Nicker Stories. Each month they would read the entire issue then print a bunch of copies of the calendar – one for each of them and others to hand out to friends. Of course, the next step was to make plans for all the fun things they could do that month. Nicker’s calendar would give them all sorts of ideas! (You. too!)
January 1 is Zee Day. It’s for people with a Z in their name, like Eliza or Ebenezer or Zelda or …. Well, it’s also a day when you can pretend that you have a Z in your name. That’s just what Barbara and Cindy did. Zarbara and Zindy printed Nicker calendars for themselves and for others – then Barzbara and Cindzy began to think of things to do for Zanduzary.
Zarbara and Zindy got a treat for their cat (see January 2 on Nicker’s calendar) then planned to go to bed early (see January 3 on Nicker’s calendar) so they would be rested to see who knew answers to odd questions (see January 4 on Nicker’s calendar). Looking through the calendar they decided to make their own peanut butter (see January 24 on Nicker’s calendar) and the next day try to put it back into the shells (see January 25 on Nicker’s calendar). Zindy … I mean Cindy … loved horses and right away wanted to begin drawing horses for Chinese New Year (see January 31 on Nicker’s calendar). This gave Zarbara … I mean Barbara … another idea.
Look at January 14 on Nicker’s calendar! That’s what Barbara told Cindy to do, and you can, too.
“Look, Zindy, here’s a Dress Up Your Pet Day!” (Did you look at the calendar yet?)
For days and days they thought up all the different ways they could dress up their pets. With four dogs, a cat and a horse, their ideas were endless – just as your ideas would be. It was a little like Halloween in the middle of winter. They even talked about the birds and squirrels in the yard, which is where Mom and Dad finally put a stop to at least that part.
“No wild animals!” they said. That meant they couldn’t try to dress up squirrels or deer or even the neighbor’s cow. No ants, no bees, no birds, no rabbits, no frogs.
Then Mom and Dad said, “You have to promise to give the pets a bath first, and clean up after.”
Mom added, “But, not the cat. Giving a bath to a cat is not a good idea – at least not THAT cat.”
Cindy went to get the big galvanized tub from the horse barn while Barbara hooked up the hose. The dogs were well behaved, except Maggie. She wanted nothing to do with any of this and kept trying to sneak out of the tub. All of them took every chance possible to shake their bodies. The water flew off. Even though the dogs were IN the tub, and UNDER the hose, Cindy and Barbara were the most wet and messy at the end. And muddy! It didn’t help when Maggie jumped out. Both girls tried to catch Maggie but ended up sitting in the mud.
They went inside to get showers of their own. When the girls came back … the dogs proudly showed them how they’d been out rolling in the dirt. A muddy puddle was still around the tub. Muddy doggie prints were everywhere, even on the door. Making it worse, opening the door to let the sisters out … let the dogs in. Now the dirt and mud and doggie prints weren’t just outside. They were all over the floor. . They were on the chairs (two of which were knocked over). They were on the couch. They were a map to show where the dogs had gone once inside to run and romp and play and … make a muddy mess.
“Dress Up Your Pets Day” had become “Mess Up Your House Day.”
SIGH!
Worse, they were HAPPY filthy dogs. Still worse, the father looked at the dogs and said, “I thought you were going to give them all a bath. They look awful. If you’re going to dress them up, you’d better get busy.”
Mom said, “WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR LOVELY HOUSE???”
Once again, Cindy got the big tub while Barbara hooked up the hose.
Once again, the dogs were sprayed down and scrubbed down and brushed.
Once again, the dogs shook and shook until the girls were a sopping mess.
Once again, the dogs ran out into the yard and rolled in the dirt – only this time they weren’t quite so muddy. When they came trotting up with big doggie smiles, they knew to stay well away from that tub and hose. Now the dogs wanted to play chase and tag. The girls with just two legs were no match for the dogs with four legs. The dogs had twice as many legs, and there were twice as many dogs.
SIGH!!!
Once again, the girls got themselves cleaned up. But this time Cindy had an idea. No tub. No hose. “We’ll just use brushes,” she said. “They love to be brushed.”
It took a while, but this time instead of running away, the dogs were all pushing in to get brushed at the same time. Even the cat came up to get brushed. (And the horse waited his turn, too.)
Then came the costumes.
SIGH!!!!!!
With that came another circus of animals protesting and having too much fun at the same time. The harder Barbara and Cindy tried to dress up their pets, the harder the pets tried to get them off.
They put yellow baby pajamas on Gimmy. He pranced and danced and hopped and got out of the pants-part before the girls could get bunny ears on Maggie, who rubbed those off before they could get the ballerina tu-tu on Mabel, who got that off before they could strap the cowboy outfit onto Gus, who immediately thought the holster was a chew toy and … chewed it off. The others helped and got into a squabble because Gus wanted the entire holster for himself. Gimmy’s pajama pants ended up in a bush and somehow Maggie’s bunny ears were up in a tree. The tu-tu was nowhere to be found, although shreds could be seen all over the yard.
“Dress Up Your Pet Day” wasn’t working out as planned. Not AT ALL! Barbara and Cindy were worn out. The dogs were worn out. The horse was still waiting to get brushed. The dogs were still only half in costume – if that much – and the rest of the costumes were scattered all around to be picked up by the two exhausted sisters – after they cleaned all dirt and muddy footprints.
SIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cindy was just thinking that Valentine’s Day the next month would sure be a lot easier. Suddenly Barbara sat up in her chair. She had a big smile. “We haven’t dressed up Ernie yet!”
Well, Cindy had gone along with things so far, and even had some fun, but this was too much. Dress up Ernie? She looked at her sister and said, “Ernie is a FISH! Just how are we supposed to dress up a FISH?”
Barbara said, “At least he won’t go running around the yard or jump on the couch!”
CAPTION: THE REAL ERNIE, DRESSED UP NATURALLY
Did you like this story? If so, please send us a note to tell us. Then tell your friends to come visit Nicker Stories.
|
Like this story? |
