Etwas the Elf

Etwas the Elf
Our heroine, photo by Maia Ycot

Friday, January 13, 2012

The elf and the incorrigible dog

Once upon a time, Etwas the Elf was running through the forests of green grass, under the canopies of clover and around the stems of tall flowers when a white paw from above crashed into the hillock.  Etwas found herself between a pair of black claws.  "Yipe!" Etwas hollered.  "Watch your step!  There's people frollicking down here."  The paw rose back into the air but then came down in the same place and this time, Etwas needed to leap sidewise to stay between the claws.

"Oh, well for crying out loud.  That's enough," Etwas declared.  She bounded on to the dog's paw and shimmied up a long, fuzzy leg to a fluffy, white chest.  She grabbed the longer hair and continued her assent swinging from clump to clump of canine fur.  The dog was shedding, however and on Etwas' third swing, the clump she was holding onto came loose.  Etwas plummeted back to the mud, although the clump of dog hair cushioned her fall so much that she wanted to nap.

The white paw rose once more into the sky and came back down on Etwas' head, pushing her and the clump of white fur down into the mud.  Etwas crawled back up the leg, this time at the breach, she went up the side which was steep and hard but with the perseverence of someone about to tell another person a thing or two, Etwas made the spine and was bounding up towards the neck when another clump of hair gave way and down went the fur and down came the Elf.  Once more, the shed fur made a soft and even warm landing.

Then the rain began to fall and the dog wandered off towards shelter.  Etwas pulled the one clump of fur over on top of her and was delighted to find it was not only soft but waterproof and she spent a cozy night  in her pup tent.

And ever since then, Etwas remembers that while canine behavior might change with the weather, dog hair is forever.

1 comment:

  1. I'll have to remember that. Canine behavior changes with the weather.

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