Sniff. Sniff. Lap, lap. Nuzzle. Nuzzle. One eye opens. Long pink tongue swipes across face. Yuck. Close eye. "Go away, Bella". Whine. Whine. Nuzzle. Nuzzle. Shaking head with tags jingling. Pant. Pant. Whine. Whine. Plop. "Get off me, Bella"! Whine. "Groan. Alright, alright. Just a minute. Where's Reggie"? No sign of her. Whispered, "Reggie! Reggie!" Nothing. Whine. "Fine. Forget Reggie. Let's go Bella'.
Out to back yard. "Nice out. It's actually cool, Bella." Bella is busy doing her duty. Chirping birds. Cars leaving. The lawn chair beckons. Settle down, relax, close eyes....Woof! Woof! Woof! Whine. Whine. "Bella what's wrong?" Open eyes to see Bella running up and down the length of the side fence. Get up. Walk over. Get slightly run over when trying to see what she is so excited about. Nothing there.
"Be quiet, Bella"! Go back to chair, try to relax. Jack and Peanut come racing out of their house. Woof! Woof! Woof! Jack and Peanut are barking their heads off. Their mom comes out and starts yelling at them. Bella races to their corner and watches. Jack and Peanut are getting screamed at. "Bella, come here girl!" Ignored. "Bella! Come here!" Ignored. "Bella!" She trots over, smiles at me. I get her leash ready, reach for her harness--She takes off on a dead run. "Bella!" She comes back over. I reach, she leaps and runs away. "Great. It's play time with Bella." Unfortunately, I can play the way she wants. The knees, especially the right one are in pain and won't work. Fun.
Richard comes out with Reggie, then leaves to take Mom to the bank. Mandi wanders out and settles down in a chair. Bella runs amok and Reggie keeps a wary eye on her. Bella has run her over too many times. Reggie is ready to go in. Bella is not. Mandi stays out with her, while I go in with Reggie. Soon, "Bella! Bella!" The door is opened. "MOM! Bella got out and I don't know where she went". One thought drifts through my mind....."Great! Just Great!"
"Mandi, where did she go?"
"I don't know".
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I don't know! She was gone by the time I got to the gate".
Mutter..."You go that way and I'll go this way". Mutter. "Stupid dog". Mutter. "Damn knee". Mutter. "Bella! Bella!" Both of us are shouting. Mandi talks to the new neighbors at the end of the street. 'Nope, we haven't seen here".
"MOM! She didn't come this way!" I hear a dog barking. I recognize that bark anywhere. "Bella!" Where the heck is she?" She didn't come as far as I limped. "Oh crap! She didn't go in that backyard did she"?
I walk back up our driveway and peer between the branches of the 7 foot hedge between our's and Donika's house. "Blast it all"!
"Mom, where is she?"
"Right there"! I yell back. Yep, there's Bella. On the other side of the bushes in my neighbor's back yard.
We call, We cajole. We threaten. We bribe with treats. Bella won't come. "Fine! I'm going through it somehow." I say.
"Mom you're hurt and in pain. I'll go get her". Mandi begins the pushing and probing to get through the thick tangled bushes. Finally, after a lot of scratches and stabs, Mandi gets through. "Bella"! She shouts. I try to watch as Mandi tries to get the runaway dog back. Bella, on the other hand, does not want to come back yet. She is having fun. Mandi calls, cajoles, threatens, and tries to grab her. I hear a thud. "Are you okay?" I yell.
"NO! I just twisted my ankle and pulled to muscles". Mandi is now ticked off and fed up. She limps back to where she went through and begins the squirming and twisting motions needed to get back through. "Dumb dog"!
"I'll go get her". Mandi doesn't want me to, but I get through that tangled mess and don't do to much to my knee, just twist it the wrong way. "Ouch! Bella come here. Come here, girl. Come on sweetheart. Be a good girl. Come on". Bella in her wonderful mood of being disobedient takes off running around the backyard.
To make a long story short, (I know, too late). I finally get Bella, put her leash on, and crawl back through the bushes. It took us 45 minutes to get her out of my neighbor's backyard and while this is going on, Reggie is in our house barking her little head off. No treat for Bella. She didn't even offer to take one. In the door, unleashed, and lies down by my chair tucked in by the bookcase. Reggie, runs around, takes the treat, and heads for the bedroom to go under the bed and eat it. Mandi growls at Bella and limps toward the couch and plops onto it. Me? I limp in, look at them all, turn and limp into the bathroom to get the bugs and twigs off of me from the hedge. I come back out, sit on the other couch and put my knee up. Richard walks in the door and says: "Come on and help me unload the car"! Mandi and I look at each other and just get up and go....what else could we do on the morning that was......
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