Monday, October 20, 2008

Lizard in a Pot

It was a normal run of the mill Wednesday. We have our routine. Jack and Taz come to the side of the bed to say "good morning". Taz is too tiny and short to put her paws on the side of the bed but Jack can readily put his paws next to me and likes to smell my breath. It's a morning ritual. Jack and Taz are Toy Fox Terriers.

After our morning walk, allowing my dogs to explore and discover and with this being their time for bodily functions...the sun is barely up and it's a nice refreshing walk enough for me to wake up!


I didn't notice anything different in our day but after our afternoon walk which is about 3:30 (sometimes that differs)....Jack and Taz sit patiently in front of the laundry room waiting for me to hand out treats. First, it's cut-up apples, then it's a few crackers -similar to animal crackers but we call them "cookies". A word that has to be said in codes otherwise Jack and Taz's ears will go up thinking they're getting another treat. In this case, the codes are: Cookies = CO; Bones = BO; Stick (as in pressed rawhide stick) = ST. I think you get the picture.


Back to the treats. Taz is my stubborn one. I always have to tell her to sit before handing out treats. The rules are...they have to work for their treats. I don't just hand them out. If they don't sit - then no treats! As Taz was getting her little rump ready to sit I noticed she was sniffing around the front hallway where I have Indian pots on the floor, stuffed animals and a silk flower arrangement under a table in that foyer. Hmmm, I wondered...what is so interesting over there. Maybe it was the air freshener plug-in or maybe the silk flower arrangement smelled. I did a quick sniff myself and didn't smell anything. I shook my head and thought that's weird.


The next day Jack did the same thing. Either before or after our treat time he too smelled around the Indian pots and under that foyer table. After careful looking I did my own snooping. I saw a dark image inside the pot and for a second I thought – ugh, a spider or some scary insect. I was brave and looked inside that pot a bit closer – it was a dead lizard! It was beautiful, glossy and gray. Who knew how long it had been in that pot but it was definitely dead.


I know dogs can pick up even the smallest scent but A Lizard in a Pot?

------

short story written by Terre



No comments: