How About a Cookie? by Jena Galifany

In celebration of Pet Month, I want to share a short piece I wrote after watching my dear pet, Puppy Dog, watching the neighbor kids at a birthday party. I could only imagine what was in her mind. She's a Golden Retriever/Terrier mix with a wonderful disposition, even at the age of nearly 13 years old.

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How about a cookie?

I was outside on my rope, enjoying one of the first warm days after the long cold days. The trees were budding and the grass was just long enough to make a comfy lay-down spot, which I took advantage of. There was a loud ruckus from the next yard. I couldn’t believe my doggy eyes. They were pulling a person from the house and had a rope on him. He didn’t fight them as they pulled him to the tree. They threw the rope over a branch and hauled the poor guy up. He still didn’t struggle. I got excited, wondering why they were doing this to the guy.

The people all clapped, even the smaller people in the fancy clothes. Just when I thought it was over, a big person came out with a long stick. It was too big to make a good fetching stick but the guy seemed to be happy to have it. I stood up from my lay-down spot and watched. To my horror, they wrapped a cloth around a small person’s face and turned him around a couple of times. They gave him the stick and he started swinging at the man in the tree.

YIKES! I couldn’t stand it any more. I had to call for help. I had to do something. I was on my own rope so I knew the person on the rope in the tree couldn’t go anywhere either. We were both stuck. I sounded the alarm. I barked… and barked… and barked. I knew my person would be out quickly to see what I needed. When she came out the door, I showed her with my eyes what the problem was. I barked again, telling her to go help the guy in the tree.

She laughed at me. Was she as crazy as the people hanging the guy in the tree and hitting with a stick? I’d have never thought so. She sat on the ground beside me so I sat, too, to watch the horrible happening next door. After several of the smaller people took turns hitting the man in the tree, he split into pieces. I held my breath, watching with eyes wide. His insides spilled out on the ground and the small people laughed and dived to grab handfuls. It was awful. I turned toward the open door to my house. I couldn’t watch any more.

As I walked slowly in to the house, my person followed me.

“Don’t worry, Puppy. It’s only a piñata. You must think they were killing someone.”

Then she said the words that made my world right again.

“How about a cookie?”

(c) 2009 Jena Galifany
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I hope you've enjoyed Puppy's story as seen through her eyes...well, her eye. She was blinded on her left side by a car many years ago while playing in the street. No matter what happens in her life, it can be corrected by a cookie. Cookies make her world all better. She's stood by me for the writing of each of my seven published books and was the first to celebrate every contract with me. (A cookie party, of course!) I can't imagine living or writing without her and pray it is a long time before I have to try.

Cheers!