SISTERS
By francy Dickinson
Twitter @MissBusyBiz
It had already turned out to be a great day. First the walkies with mom where Polly and Anna, two very small and very white teacup poodles, had an extended journey around the neighborhood. Mom was in a good mood and wanted to stretch her legs and the dogs followed suit. How fast they had to walk to keep up with her. Each of her steps took eight of their steps so they ran along and kept close to her side. The day was wet and they avoided puddles and big rocks on the side of the road.
They looked terrific of coarse, they both had their pink JuicyDogCouture jackets on with the hoodies up to keep their hair bows from getting wet. Their pink jackets matched their mom’s pink rain slicker and her pink mud boots. They walked along at a good pace and smelled the grass and jumped over the occasional puddle. They used Mrs. Johnson's side yard for potty. Mommy had cleaned it up with her packet of baggies from the stylish leopard print wallet hooked onto her belt. There was a treat waiting at Mr. Mondale’s as they walked past his back sliding door and waited for him to see them there. Once they caught his eye he hurried over to the door and slid it quickly open.
"Hello there, girls. How is your walkies today?" he said with his kind voice. He nodded to mommy and then reached down and gave each of them a small treat that he had bought special for his little girlfriends. Mr. Mondale had lost his wife a few months before and the short visit from Polly and little Anna was eventful for him each day. They bounced and wiggled as he gave them a head pat and off they went as their mom nodded to him and pulled on their leads. She kept them on their journey. Polly looked back and smiled at him as she ran to keep up with her mom and sister.
There was a scary large bull dog barking at the next home they passed but mom had checked and the gate. it was closed, as they hurried past. Both the little dogs caught a quick movement in the next yard and watched it go up a tree. A squirrel, running as fast as it could to get into the safe branches way up high. Lucky that squirrel was fast because both dogs had stopped and barked at the squirrel, pulling hard on their leads. Polly noted that you can’t let them get away with running around willy-nilly. The least that the two little girls could do was tell the squirrel off and keep her high on the branch. The two dogs did not see that they were just a head taller than the squirrel, in their mind's eye, they were giants.
Mom had quickly jerked the leads and they turned and ran to catch up with her walking and passed the huge grey house. This house was very big and always dark inside the windows. They once were attacked by the owner's large dog, just a few months ago. It had come out of the back yard on a run with snarling teeth and nasty breath and bit at Polly's bottom and it had drawn blood. But mommy had reached down and brought both of the dogs up into her arms to save them. She yelled at the dog until the owners came out to drag the beast back into their back yard. They had apologized but mommy always kept their leads pulled close when they passed the house.
There was a quick sniff of Barney, the beagle, who was out in his front yard while his mom picked up the mail. He lived just down the street. Barney was always nose to the ground, smelling out invaders that might have been in his yard and rarely had time to play. They moved on for another hello to Tallulah, the Bichon, that was sitting on top of her couch by the front window. Mommy took them on the wet grass and they tip toes through it to get to the window. They excitedly barked at each other while Tallulah jumped up and down, wildly wagging to come out and play. Her mom was at work and so she could only blow them a kiss as the two little poodles kept walking on their trek back home with mommy.
Mom stopped at the letter box and collected the mail and then walked slowly around the front yard . She pulled a weed here, grabbed a empty soda can and picked up a small branch that had blown down in the last big wind. The little sisters were busy smelling for intruders that dared to come onto their property. Mom put her armful of greenery and garbage in the recycle bins and they went into the house through the garage.
Both of the dogs sat right down on the rug inside the laundry room door and waited for mommy to take off their leads and dry their feet with the pink towel. Mom took off their walking hoodies and ran a quick brush through their hair so they looked fluffy. She cleaned out their eyes and gave them both a hug. Then it was time for them to sit very still as mom opened the treat jar and gave them each a little treat. It tasted so good but they were both thirsty from the walk so they followed mommy into the kitchen to get a cool drink from their pink water dish, painted with
Princess on the front - of course. Mommy waited until they had left the bowl to reach over and refill it with the filtered water pitcher. She put down the mail and a catalog for
Niqqi's World fell to the floor. The girls smiled because they knew it meant something new to wear or a toy to play with when mommy got her dog catalogs.
It was time for their early lunch and mommy had it all ready in their special bowls. Down the bowls went with the kibble all mixed up with some chicken gravy momma had served with dinner last night. The girls ate their small meal and danced around again for their “after dinner treats”.
The excitement of the walk and their lunch had taken both of the little girls into a slower pace and they watched their mommy start to prepare her own lunch. Mommy sang a little tune about her cute little doggies and worked around the kitchen opening the refrigerator and pulling out things to make her afternoon sandwich and yogurt. They knew there was nothing coming until she was almost done with her meal. Then she would save a small bite for each of them.
Polly lead the way across the clean kitchen floor into the puffy bed that sat right in front of the sliding doors to the backyard. As Polly’s nails clicked on the tiles little Anna followed her sister. Polly got into the bed and began to turn around in a spiral to find just the right spot and then sank into a ball. Little Anna then slipped in right next to her using Polly's bottom as her head pillow. Their little dance had been done so many times they easily slipped into their comfy pose. Their bed was right on top of the heater vent so it was warm and cozy and they hugged each other as their eyelids got heavy listening to mommy sing a silly song and they slipped into sleep to dream away the afternoon.
It might have been a noise that woke up Anna. She was surprised at the darkness of the room, she whined a little and Polly's head popped up. They both jumped out of the pink polka dot bed and ran to the back door where the noise had come from. Confused at the source of the noise and wanting their mom for direction, they started to run around the room in the darkness looking for her. Not finding her in the kitchen they ran through the hallway to the front room. Where they tripped over all their stuffed toys scattered around the room. Anna had stepped on the cell phone toy and it made a noise like a ring tone. Not smelling or hearing mom in there they ran down the hallway to the bedroom but the door was closed. The little dogs sniffed under the door to see if they could get their mother’s scent but got nothing.
They were not used to the darkness and did not know what happened to their day. They had fallen asleep in the day and usually mommy woke them up with little bits of her lunch. Then they would follow her up the stairs to her office where she would work on her computer all day. They would rest by her office chair in another puffy bed that she put in just the right place for them to look out the window and still watch her type. She would give them treats each time she took a break and stretched or walked around. Often times she threw a ball or a toy for them to fetch and they would play tag or pull toy to keep busy. But today there was no one up in the office. Polly had gone up the dark stairs to check it out and Anna had stayed at the bottom watching her and too afraid to follow. There was nothing in the office but the hum of the computer and the flash of the screen. Mommy had a big screen and Polly could see it was on but bubbles were floating all over it.
Polly and Anna were both the same age and sisters, but Anna has been the tiny one in the litter and she was shy and stayed close to her sister for safety. Polly was never afraid, even though she was super small she was very brave and felt it was her duty to take care of her little sissy. But mom did not leave them alone without telling them she was going and she did not leave them without goodbye treats and the music playing on the kitchen counter radio. The house was very, very quiet. No mommy, no noise, no new smells...Polly and Anna were both worried. Where had mommy gone and why had she left them there without telling them?
The girls sat next to the front door and looked out into the dark. The front porch light was off, so they could only see into the darkness. They sat very still and listened for any sound they could get. The neighborhood was all dark and nothing but the tick of the regulator clock in the front hall could be heard.
Anna was frightened, she whined and Polly sat closer to her to calm her down. Polly was trying hard to think. When had mom ever left them alone without telling them? She could not remember. When mom did leave she left in the car, maybe Polly could hear her out by the laundry room to the garage. She ran around the corner of the hall into the kitchen and through to the back door to the laundry room...but there was no sign of mom there either, their leads were still hanging by the back door and nothing else looked out of place. She sniffed under the door to the garage and smelled nothing, so she went back to her sister standing in the dark kitchen. Anna was smelling around the floor and found her bowl with a small piece of sandwich and she ate the little treat. Polly quickly checked her bowl and found her little piece of ham sandwich and ate it up. Mommy had left them treats so maybe they just didn't hear her leave. Maybe everything was OK after all and they should just sit by the front door and watch for her to return. They could always hear her car coming down the road and she loved seeing them barking and dancing at the window when she turned into their long driveway.
Polly and Anna sat on their favorite cushion that was covered with Hello Kitty material and placed right by the front door side window. They sat in the dark staring outside trying to see any movement in the darkness. They did not rest, they just sat and watched for movement. They did have a start as they saw a raccoon and her little ones walking down the front drive. They barked at her and told her to get off their property and she moved on pushing her little ones as they passed around to the side of the house. They returned to the darkness and quiet until Anna barked at a cat. It was the monster black cat, Hilda, from next door that thought she owned the neighborhood. She walked with a strut and came right up on the porch and looked at them through the window. Polly was appalled, after all who did she think she was? She barked and barked and finally growled a warning to get off their porch and Hilda nodded her head and slowly turned and walked off into the darkness. Anna was so happy she had left she took a deep breath and went into the kitchen and had some water. Then she went into the laundry room and whined at the door. Polly ran to her thinking she had found mom. Anna was whining and moving around because she had to piddle and she wanted out. But no one was there to let them out so she went over to the corner by the laundry basket and did her business. Polly worried; mommy was not going to be happy when she found that mess when she came home. Both dogs ran back to the front door window to wait.
The house was so quiet and then lights began to come on across the street, front porch lights and car lights were coming into the driveways with mommies and daddies coming home. There were voices and doors opening and closing and the two little girls listened very hard to hear their mommy's car.
As they watched all the activity they thought they heard a noise in the back of the house. They sat in the dark and looked at each other becoming very silent straining to hear. A moment later their ears perked up and they heard a small noise coming from their mom's bedroom. It was Polly that bravely ran down the hall again and listened at the bedroom door. She bent down and put her nose under the door and sniffed hard, squeezing her eyes tight to concentrate on any smell or small noise that came from behind the door. What was it? It sounded like a vibration on the floor, then it hit her. Her mother’s cell phone was ringing on silent, it must be in her room.
Polly made a decision; she ran back to Anna and pulled at her to follow her. Anna was quiet and very worried, she had sunk down onto the pillow by the front door and she did not want to move but Polly demanded her attention. Together they ran to the bedroom door and Anna began to scratch at it. Polly knew she could not open it, how could she get up higher and get at that handle that mom always used? She was so small and the door was so tall. Polly and Anna looked at each other and then on a dime Polly ran into the living room where her toy basket was and she picked up two toys at once. Running back down the hall to the door she dropped them and then Anna joined her. Back and forth they ran to the basket and back to the bedroom door building up the toys higher and higher until they looked like a mountain. Anna carefully climbed on top of the toys and stood tight and Polly jumped up on the back of her sister and grabbed at the door with both paws. She hit the door handle, but at the same time the toy stack scattered and Anna dropped down and Polly fell over her. Anna whined and Polly started to restack the toys with the bigger ones on the bottom this time, until the stack was a higher mountain than before. Anna carefully stood on the top of the toys and Polly jumped up on her sister again and this time she was just able to reach the door handle and twist - the door opened and the two dogs tumbled into the bedroom.
They scrambled to their feet and started to run around the room in the dark smelling every corner and retracing their mom’s steps towards the bathroom. The bathroom floor was cold and the room was so quiet as they crept across the tile floor. They knew their mom was there, they could feel her breathing. Mommy had slid down to the floor and was spread out with her feet and arms in all directions. The dogs slowly were smelling her feet and legs, then her arms and up to her head. Mommy did not move, they were surprised because she had always reached out and touched them, she would kiss them and hug them when she had been gone. But this time she was just quiet, so the dogs pushed at her to wake her up. Anna whined a little and was pushing on her mom’s arm. She wanted to get under it to be close to her but it did not move. Polly was up at her mom’s face and she was licking it and smelling at her mouth, there was an odor on her lips and her cheeks were cold. Polly knew this was not good, something bad was happening to mommy and she needed to get her help, she would have to call the neighbors and have them come over and take care of mommy.
Polly nudged Anna and the two little ones ran together through the bedroom and leaped over the toy mountain and out to the front door. They began to bark at the neighbors and alert them to the problem. They barked and barked and yet no one came. They did hear Barney in the distance and they thought he got the message and would tell his mom that they needed help, but he was just a beagle. They barked until their throats were sore and they were shaking with worry. Anna went quiet and just crouched down and put her head on the window ledge and whimpered. Polly knew this wasn’t working. She would have to do something else to get help. She sat quietly thinking as she nuzzled Anna to calm her. Then a thought came into her mind, just a small thought - but a thought that just might work. She pushed at her sister to follow her and she began to run up the stairs to her mother’s office.
She reached the top of the stairs in the dark and smelled a bone that she had left the other day in the corner of the hallway. She ran over to check on the safety of the hiding place and then carried on towards the office. She jumped up on mommy’s chair and Anna followed her and then stepped over Polly to sit on the desk top. Mommy had a jar of treats there and Anna was checking it out to see if the lid was off.
Polly could see the huge bright screen and watched the bubbles bouncing all over it and then she hit the keyboard. The screen made a flash and there in front of her was a long line of pictures of all her anipal friends on Twitter. She was so happy to see them, they would know what to do. Mommy checked in with all of them each day, they all knew mommy and her two little white poodles. As she sat and typed she would read off the messages that each of their pals had sent and talk out loud as she typed a return message back from the two little sisters. They had their own avatars (tiny pictures) and mommy would take pictures of them often to share with the other anipals.
Polly looked down the list of her pal's avatars in Twirl and she could see her dear friend Sid. Now Sid was a very practical guy and he would know just what to do. He would always help Polly out of problems when they would send tweets back and forth. Polly’s paws hit the keyboard just like her mom and she pounded and pounded but nothing happened. Until Anna leaned over to look at the screen and accidentally hit the Enter Key. A
beep came out of the speakers and Polly knew that when her mom sent messages there would be a beep, so she was sure the message went out. She was feeling so much better that she had told Sid to come over and help them. Right after that a few
bings came over the speaker and Polly and Anna looked at the screen because those bings meant there were messages just sent to them. But Polly did not know how to read those messages.
The list of anipal pictures rolled down the screen and when it stopped it was on little Niqqi. Polly was so happy to see her, Niqqi was one of her best friends and a part of group that her mother called
The Pink Pups. It was a group of very sweet little girl dogs, that spent a lot of time talking about shopping, clothes and fun things to do. So, Polly hit the keys again telling Niqqi to have her mommy come over and help. Once again nothing happened until Anna leaned over and licked Polly’s ear and when she did she accidentally hit the Enter Key again and a
beep popped out of the speakers. Just like before there was a return of
bings, but no way for Polly to know what they said. The screen just kept rolling and the pictures went by…Oh, there was TweetiePie now that dog knew how to rescue dogs in need. Then the sweet face of Jinx was up and Polly knew she lived by a big lake and would be able to take a boat here. Suddenly there was Luna her dear friend that was the prettiest doggie of all. Luna’s picture rolled away and Jimmy the Boston terrier was up. Polly adored Jimmy and she knew if nothing else, he would give her a smooch. He always gave everyone a smooch. As the screen refreshed and rolled again it was Sam the Poodle on the top of the list and she was so happy to see him. Polly once again pounded the keys in desperation, “Sam, Sam I need help”, she pounded. Sam was a very smart dog and she knew he could help her, he was always suggesting things for Polly to do. She knew she could count on him to be there. But nothing happened. Smokey’s picture rolled around and the lady with the little dogs in a pram was up, then Mattie and Barley, the Trailer park dogs-the avatars just spun down the page and she saw Fudge a very difficult cat that always had the right answer to any question. Anna adjusted herself to be closer to Polly and hit the Enter Key again. The
beep and the chorus of
bings were going off like shots into the night.
Then just as the rolling of all the pictures stopped there was a picture of her good friend Gwenie, a Princess of a dog. She was a corgi, just like the Queen’s dogs, and she would certainly help her. Her mommy was a great friend to mom. Before Polly could pound out another message to Gwenie the phone rang. It was mommy’s business phone right next to the computer. The two little girls sat and watched it ring and then their ears perked up and their heads tilted as the answering machine picked up the message. They knew the voice, hooray, it was Gwenie’s mommy talking.
“Hi Carol, I’m just letting you know I think that someone has hacked your Twitter page information and is sending out garbage messages under your name. You better check it right away. The stuff coming out is just a bunch of letters and numbers, who knows what they will do if you don’t handle it soon. Hope it works out and send me a quick e note to let me know you got the messa” Just as Gwenie’s mom was going to finish her word Anna hit the phone button and the speaker clicked on. Both of the dogs were barking and howling to Gwenie’s mom and telling her what happened. “Help, send us help!” they howled. But the phone went quiet. No sound came back and the red light was blinking not steady.
Polly sat looking at the phone and knew that this was not working. No one had heard her and no one was going to come and help them. All they could do was go back down to be with their mommy until she woke up. The two girls jumped down from the desk top and chair and ran back down the stairs, with Polly in the lead they ran down the hall and jumped over the toy mountain and back through the bedroom to their mother still quiet on the floor.
Anna ran back out in the hall and brought back her baby dollie and sat it right down on mommy’s tummy and then Polly left and got her blankie and brought it back and put it down by her moms side. The dogs sat on the blanket and waited for mommy to wake up, they waited and waited and the room was very quiet and very dark. Anna had curled up with her head on her dollie and her eyes focused on her mother’s face and Polly was sitting very still on the blanket thinking. She wanted her mom to wake up so she could tell her how happy they were to see her. She wanted her to know how they had been all alone and missed her when we was sleeping, but mom remained quiet with no movement at all. Their mother’s breathing was so small that there was no sound. They had settled into their vigil and sat there for what seemed like hours just keeping her safe and giving her love. The dogs were calming down now that they were next to their mom.
Suddenly, a large crash hit the front door. It was so loud that both dogs jerked up and looked at each other. Another bang hit the door again and the dogs took off barking. They ran through the bedroom and sailed over the toy mountain and took off down the hall using their high attack barks. They could see very large men, as tall as trees, coming into the house and they barked nasty and started to drool. They had to protect their mommy at all cost. The men were coming towards them down the hall, more and more men carrying suitcases and marching right at them. They ran back over the toy mountain and into the bathroom to protect mommy. Polly stood right on mom’s tummy next to dollie and little Anna had the door. Their barking was frantic and in such high pitch tones that the men were effected as they entered into the bedroom and turned on the light switch. The room lit up and they could see the wild eyes of the dogs in the bathroom.
One of the giants moved closer to the bathroom door and called out to the others that he found her. The dogs were not going to let him in. Polly stood her ground and it was the tiny Anna that was aggressive, growling and finally attacking the man’s ankle. He yelped and lifted his leg with Anna still attached and he shook it hard trying to release her. He yelped again and used a very mean voice to call to the other men to get the dogs. Polly was barking and had run towards the man to protect her sister.
Just as the men were putting down their suitcases and putting on some gloves to grab the dogs. A voice called out. “Don’t hurt the dogs boys, just stand back and let me take them. Just stand back please and let me through so I can take the dogs.” Polly recognized the voice, it was Mr. Mondale and she stopped barking for a moment as he pushed through the bathroom door and bent down to pick up Anna. “Let go Anna," he said and pulled her by the back of her neck and she released her hold. The large man made a yelp again and shook his leg.
Mr. Mondale moved over and picked up Polly and tucked her under his arm and then he grabbed the dollie toy and small pink doggie blanket and swooped the girls out of the room. He sat on the bed where they could still see all the men coming and going but they were out of the way. They watched as the mean men worked over momma on the floor.
Polly and Anna were tucked inside Mr. Mondale’s sweater to keep them warm and he wrapped their blankie around them too. The two little dogs were shaking and barking out at the men bothering mommy. “Don’t you worry about them little ones, those men are helping your mommy, she’s sick. Just calm down now.” He said in a quiet and calming voice. Mr. Mondale held them very tight and very close and they could not wiggle out of his arms. His big hands were gently caressing their heads and ears and he was rocking to keep them calm.
The big men brought in the gurney and put mommy on it and took her out of the house. Polly was growling a low growl as one of the men came close to talk to Mr. Mondale. Polly worried, “What was going to happen to mommy?”
“She should be OK.” said the man that Anna had attacked. Mr. Mondale got up to address the man and held tight on to the dogs to keep them controlled. The man continued “It looks like a diabetic shock and she passed out. We have her breathing deeper and her pulse is strong again. She did hit her head as she fell and that will be a welt for a while. I think an overnight at the hospital is all it will take. They will check her out and make sure her head is clear and her sugar levels are in normal range, then she will be back home and just fine." Mr. Mondale thanked the man and apologized about the dog bite.
“Oh, no problem sir, we get that with all house calls with pets. Those little dogs can be even more aggressive than the big ones trying to protect their people. Glad you were here to help them out. Now they won’t be left alone in the house. Those two are quite the talk of the town tonight. We got calls in to 911 from all over the country saying that something was wrong at the house. I guess the lady had Twitter friends that had been alerted by the dogs actually trying to send messages. One of their pals called the house and heard the dogs barking wildly and got concerned. Apparently the misses takes very good care of the dogs and it was out of character for them to be alone and so stressed. So, off we came to check it out and when there was no response we felt we had to make an entry. The door is a mess, but at least the lady is safe. Yep, those dogs are famous tonight - saving their mom like that.”
Mr. Mondale smiled and hugged the little ones still tucked in safe in his heavy sweater. “Well if you knew them like I do you would not be surprised, they have always been very smart and love their mommy very much." The two men shook hands and the rescue man left the room with a slight limp. Mr. Mondale followed him through the maze of toys by the doorway and down the hall to the front door that had been kicked in during the emergency entry.
He took the dogs into the laundry room and switched on the light and got the girls put into their leads and took them outside for a quick potty call. Then he took them through the garage until he found some scraps of lumber and a hammer with nails. They returned to the kitchen where he closed the dogs in the room as he worked in the hallway - nailing the front door shut.
He let out the dogs and they all roamed around the house making sure it was safe to leave for the night and then he gathered up the dog things he would need for their overnight stay. There were coats to put on for the walk home, dog bowls for water and food. A Ziploc bag filled with kibble, a towel to wipe their feet and a baggie container for their walkies. Of course baby dollie and the pink blanket which he noted was hand made with a Hello Kitty on the front and fun pink feathers around the edges, it was all simply a must. The girls had a leopard print overnight bag on rollers right by the cupboards with a pink poodle dog printed on the front and he loaded it up with their various goodies. Little doggies needed more stuff than he did for an overnight.
The girls wandered around the house still nervous and worried but when they heard the word “walkies” they both started to jump and do twirls. He gave them a treat each and walked out of the house leaving it safely locked down. As he checked the perimeter of the house he was thinking he would have his home full of fun tonight with the two little ones to care for and then tomorrow they would all go over to the hospital and bring their mommy back home. He would have to talk to her about all their friends that helped them when they were in trouble. He had never been on Twitter and had no idea you could make friends on the service and actually have them care enough to make 911 calls to help you out of trouble. Maybe it was time for him to get on the Internet more and maybe a little dog to keep him company would help him. But how could there be any dog as smart and girlie sweet as these two little sisters.
He smiled as the girls danced around and excitedly ran in the dark, smelling the ground and looking at him for reassurance. Anna was glued next to Polly and they were thrilled to be out and about. Polly was thinking of her anipals and how in the end, Pink Pups do rule. The three of them walking down the street; the two little girls working hard to keep up with his steps and Mr. Mondale pulling their fancy overnight case heading towards home.
Long before I began my time on Twitter I read a piece on a dog named @frugaldougal and his mother, Lynn. They were gathering #anipal parents from Twitter and giving a #Pawpawty. This pawty (as it is called in Twit talk) is for fun and for collecting money towards animal charities. At the time of the article they had collected a total of tens of thousands of dollars (at a $1-$5 a hit). 
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