Last Monday, whilst imbibing at Midnight Rock (as is my want), I was confronted by a rather unsettling sight. To wit, a creature struggling in the ditch opposite. It was attempting to stand up, but failing miserably, in an amazingly similar manner remarkably, to some of my customers at closing time. Intrigued by this lamentable spectacle, I ventured gingerly across the thoroughfare, carefully circumventing the myriad of trikes in order to ascertain the nature of the situation.
To my astonishment, the creature was, in reality, a puppy. It was in the last throws of life, and ready to shed off its mortal coil. Not being a dog person, I was somewhat at a loss at what my next course of action should be. I called the girls over and told them to pour water over its weakening body in a last-ditch attempt to rehydrate it to some extent.
We then proceeded to offer some small amounts of food but, alas, it was too weak to eat. The animal was in a pathetic state of existence, consisting of mere bone and skin. Its breathing was shallow and clearly the poor dog was on the verge of breathing its last breath. Around 30 minutes had passed and I was in no doubt that this dog was not long for this world.
At that moment, I remembered that Jeff, a good friend and neighbour of mine, owned a dog, and might be able to shed some light on the crisis. I requested his assistance and he gently wrapped the dog in a towel and took it to his establishment for some rest and TLC.
I looked in periodically expecting the worst but, to my astonishment, the scrawny puppy was making headway and up and about, looking a thousand times healthier. It was a sight for sore eyes, much like Optrex. I recalled how, some six months prior, I had stumbled upon a kitten, no more than a few days old, in the garbage at Midnight Rock. (Perhaps ‘stumbled upon’ is a poor choice of words under the circumstances). However, I digress. The point that I am striving to make is that my kitten, aptly named ‘Midnight’ (as she is as white as snow), is now thriving and chasing the local toms away with all the veracity of a bar girl hustling for LDs.
Kudos to Jeff, and should he be in the unenviable position of unearthing an animal of the feline species, we have an agreement that he will propel it with all haste in my direction.
Every dog, so they say, has its day, and this one certainly has had his! A shaggy dog story with a (hopefully) happy ending. Yet another gaffe in the literary department that I trust you will disregard in this instance.
Herewith, the subjects in question:
