Bit 10, Hot toast with vegemite.
Bitssy was terrified. She could only think of having her throat ripped out by a mangy yellow monster. Solid with fear and unable to move her head, Bitssy's eyes darted around the unfamiliar setting. She could see the front fence, a barrier to her escape to the front. A side fence, sentried by dark spiky unfamiliar plants, acted as another barrier. The timber wall to her immediate right side blocked the view of any other means of escape and became a torture holding cell.
Her heart, pounding in her throat, spurted overheated plasma into her ears and brain. Bitssy could feel herself going faint with alarm.
"I'm going to die," she thought sadly to herself, "I'm going to be murdered and nobody will help me."
The big person had an amazing ability to understand Bitssy's body language. She gently reached out to stroke Bitssy.
"Come over here, my darling Bitssy. Come and sit with me." She patted the space right beside herself and then scratched Bitssy behind her ear. "Come on Bitssy, come and help me watch the children play."
Still frozen with terror, Bitssy just stood, silently crying and hoping that Caramel wouldn't hurt her big person, Marmalade or the children.
"I love them so much," Bitssy thought, "I hope they know that."
Bitssy forced her head to move, to make final eye contact with the big person she loved most. Caramel quietly growled, and Bitssy felt the warm stream of urine run down her two back legs and pool around her back feet. Her long furry tail, usually erect and wagging, now hung limp and dragged in the urine.
Matty began to laugh, "Look, look, Bitssy peed herself. Yuck. Bitssy peed herself."
"Oh gross," Cindy squealed loudly enough for the entire street to hear, "Bitssy did a pee. That's disgusting."
Poor Bitssy. Never had she felt so ashamed and such a failure, so weak and badly behaved in front of the people she loved most. Her fear though, was gigantic. It towered way above her embarrassment, and she could do nothing to soothe it. She still stood, shaking, and just wanted to die quickly.
The big person jumped up from her chair and hugged Bitssy.
"It's okay my darling. It's okay. You're safe with us. Don’t you worry about peeing on the verandah. I'll clean it up."
Just like a fussy, do everything right Mother, Cindy complained, “But the germs? Dog pee has bad things in it, things that can make you sick and weak and I don’t want to catch an awful thing!”
“Don’t you be too concerned about that Cindy. There’s all sorts of ways to get rid of germs. I’m not about to let you become sick while you’re at my house.”
The big person stood and walked the full two strides to the front door. Opening the screen and stepping inside, Bitssy saw her chance. This was it. Escape. Escape back into a world where she was safe. Just as Bitssy was ready to run, helpful little Matty grabbed Bitssy by the collar and began to lead her away from the urine germ puddle. Her head was competing in a tug-a-war of choice. Bitssy wasn't sure whether to run for the door with Matty dragging behind her, or to growl and warn Matty off so that she could escape. Bitssy knew she couldn't do that. How could she ever growl at a child or leave them to be savaged by the monster? In the split seconds that it took these thoughts to play through Bitssy's mind, it was too late. The big person was inside and the screen door had closed.
Bitssy faced her fear. She turned and looked toward Caramel. Caramel also saw her chance and flew straight for Bitssy. A terrible fight erupted, like a volcano spewing its fury over all in its path. Caramel had Bitssy pinned to the ground, against the wall, and was ripping into Bitssy's ear and neck. The sound of tearing flesh and ripping muscle was louder than thunder on a dark, dark night. Blood was flicking toward all points of the compass and the early evening curlews began their sorrowful death cry.
Bitssy, knowing she was finished and about to go to dog heaven, gave up. Somewhere far away, behind the funeral call of the curlews, Bitssy could faintly hear the voices of children, her big person and the ferocious growls of a violent wild wolverine. Louder than anything else though was a voice within Bitssy's own head, "my home, my space, and my privacy".
That one loud little voice travelled throughout Bitssy's body like the warming feeling of hot toast and vegemite. Perhaps it was the vitamin B from the vegemite, or perhaps it was Bitssy's belief in her own space, but whichever it was, it gave Bitssy courage; courage to not die, but to tell Caramel to back off.
Bitssy fought to her feet, smashing the crushing steel hunter’s trap from her leg. She became aware that her friends were trying to drag Caramel off her, the big person fully entangled in the momentary pause of the fight and Cindy, screaming and whacking into Caramel with a wire broom. Bitssy shook her ear free from Caramel’s filthy mouth, threw back her head and loosed the wolves that had been hiding deep inside the fear spot in her stomach. The wolves galloped out of Bitssy's mouth, free at last.
"Don’t touch me Caramel. Not ever," Bitssy howled. "This is my body. My home. My space. My privacy. Leave nooooowwwwwww!"
Her power regained with the assistance of the wild, pack hunting wolves, Bitssy looked at the scene around her. The children, big person and Marmalade were all still on hyper alert, somewhat like wolves themselves. They were waiting for Caramel to dare to break the power of Bitssy's inner strength. Caramel did again growl and flash her thunderous eyes, until she saw the raised broom quickly losing altitude from Cindy's determined little arms. Matty’s stout little leg, raised in a kickboxing position, was just waiting to place that final wolf attack into the monster’s heel. Defeated by all the arrows fired at her, Caramel slinked away, humiliated that she wasn’t top dog, dragging her bruised feelings along the ground. A bull ant must have stung her on her soft underbelly because Caramel yelped, did a high somersault and ran across the road, whimpering, her tail between her legs.
Matty begun to laugh and jump up and down, filling his mouth with stretchy, sticky nose mucus that clung to anything it touched, "Look, look, Caramel peed herself! Yuck. Caramel peed herself."
Not in the least worried by flicking mucus or yellow pee, Bitssy was trying to move her broken, injured body so that she could make eye contact with the wolverine that had come to visit just at the right time. She wanted to thank the creature for helping the others to scare Caramel off. But the wolverine must have already made its escape, revolted by Caramel’s unneighbourly behaviour, because there was no wolverine to be seen in her immediate support group.
Bit 11. Off Caramel Smells Like Rotting Lime.
Bit 12. A Dog's Body
Bit 13. The Goodbye Van.
Bit 14. Caramel on Toast.
Bit 15. The Final Dreaming.
Eulogy.
To purchase Bitss of Caramel Marmalade on Toast please visit this eBay store: Duncan's Emporium Gifts and Curios. They are selling the book at only A$12.00 plus postage. RRP is $15.00 (+ p and h)
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