Murphy Doodle--the Witness

penny is my fence doggie  friend

 my dog friends are so much fun to play and run with in the backyard,  sometimes penny comes over and we play gentle on days when she does not want to play with me and somedays we play chase and roll and bark bark bark

oliver is my brother

when my brother, oliver, comes over or i go visit him, we run, roll, and bite just like when we were puppies, oliver is brown and white and i am black and white, people think we look alike, how can that be ? 

when bebe comes over we run, run, and run, bebe likes to drink a lot of water and play in the water, i do not like to play in the water but letty makes sure that bebe has a big bowl of water to drink and splash in

bebe likes the water better than i do

bebe makes a mess in the water, her gold long hair and even her tail get wet when she sloshes in the bird bath or crawls in the tub, i prefer to run the fence line and bark at squirrels

one warm day before the rains came bebe and i spent the morning running around the yard, letty came out to fill the water bowls and something bad happened to her

she does not remember so i have to help her and tell what happened

after she filled the bird bath with more water for bebe letty turned to walk back in the house and i ran out into the yard to play

bebe ran after letty in leaps, on the third leap she hit letty's left leg and i saw letty fly in the air toward the yard, she landed on her yard side shoulder and head then did not get up and go inside 

i never saw that before except on tv when i watch football, it is called blindsided and i think it really hurts everyone who gets hit like that

i have been blindsided by my doggie friends sometimes and it can make me roll over, i get up and run after my doggie friend, but letty did not get up and chase bebe

one day penny blindsided me 

then i heard letty scream and cry

jack didn't come help because he was not home, i didn't know what to do, bebe kept running around letty and letty kept screaming, i almost howled like i do when the siren rings on some days

when i saw letty crawling to the back door i knew i had to help, i began to get underneath her body so it did not drag on the back porch, she was crying, i heard her say thank you murphy, help me and i did

at last she got on her knees and opened the back door, bebe ran in first and i was so mad i almost ran after her to bite her, but i stayed with letty

inside letty stopped moving and laid down on me and cried cried cried, i whimpered because she was on top of me, then bebe sort of helped when she stood in front of letty and barked, that made her move

at last she reached for her phone and called for help, bebe left with her family, and jack came home

i think if letty could walk on four legs like i do she might not fall so far to the ground

jack looked at letty's hand, her ring finger was crooked, her ring finger leg was crooked and her ring finger ankle was crooked, it did not look like letty's body, i backed away and wanted to cry,

then they were gone

i stayed home and protected the house just like jack told me to, when they came home letty crawled on the couch where i sleep and went to sleep, 

this is me sleeping on my corner of the soft couch, letty would not share a picture of herself, she said my words had to show the picture

many days passed and letty slept on my couch with her legs up on stacks of pillows, she wore blankets around her, it looked strange, her foot is bigger than my head, maybe

no matter what she could not walk very well, and she had to walk with help from a red wheeled cart, or jack, she could not throw my toys, whatever bebe did really hurt letty and now letty cannot play with me,

now she sleeps in bed and i still worry about her

i miss playing with her, but jack is the best, he plays with me, we walk every morning even when he has to put on coats, he throws the frisbee for me, he feeds me, and he puts water down for me

he even feeds letty, i see him stand at the stove where letty used to stand and i can smell food, breakfast is the best time because he gives me left overs,

he even stands at the sink and makes noises like letty did with the dishes, he pushes a machine across the floors that i chase and bark at, but he does not stop, he says he is helping letty feel better

now she can walk very slowly in a big boot, but she does not go outside and play kick the ball

friends come over everyday to play with me and bring her food, i like that part,

i crawl in bed with her at night now just to make sure she is happy and then i get down

she is happy because i hear her laughter and i know she will be better and playing kick ball soon

Dear friends, yes the fall was bad, but the good thing is that I was in great physical shape from strength training, walking, golfing and stretching. If  I had not been so very healthy I might have broken a leg, a wrist, and an ankle. 

 I saw this at Physical Therapy Central before I fell. Now I don't think it is as funny as I once did. 

IN--BETWEEN

Covered in neutral tones of grey walls with shiny dental pics glaring at me from the side of the angular arm, the dentist chair smelled new. Our dentist looked younger than I expected, fresh in bold pink scrubs, hazel brown eyes filled with excitement of her first year as Doctor Z. 

I remained as relaxed as I could be, eyes searching for the old posters on the walls and ceiling of alligators grinning, cartoon characters wagging floss and toothbrushes. My grown children will miss those posters, too.

No signs of older times appeared except in my imagination. I could hear Doc Jackson from the back of my head asking me all about my golf game while all the time in dental assistant, often times his wife, Norma Lou, began organizing the tools on clear tray, steaming hot from the sanitizing waters. The glass windows in the building on North Main and 2nd N.E. were glazed over. No pictures, no colors, but lively one-sided conversation with Doc. At thirteen I would see the dentist many more summers. 

Then I felt the hands on my left cheek, the numbing agent complete followed by the needle that appeared longer than a sewing needle; some things don't change. 

Relax and breathe deeply, go to your happy place....She suggested. I wanted to scream but was afraid to choke.

A few slow deep breathes later, I found myself standing next to the two horses in a pasture not far from home. They come to the barbed fence when I don't have the dog with me, allowing me to rub their noses even without food in my hands to tempt them. The stallion is always the first while the palomino hangs back. This time she gently nudged her head toward me but a sharp pain from the barbed wire shook me. 

The dentist grimaced. I'm sorry she said, "I need to numb your jaw a little more." 

When my eyes closed again and I could breathe easily the fence didn't exist. The palomino knelt and I climbed on her bare back. I could only see prairie and hills ahead, no busy intersections or sirens blaring. She trotted to the lower forty acres out toward the creek that was filled with cool spring water. She dipped her head to drink, slapped the flies with her tail. I giggled until a drool slide down my face and neck. It felt cold against my hot skin. My tongue filled my mouth and made no effort to help me.

"Are you ok?" the dentist asked.

I wanted to tell her to let me run with the horse again across the prairie lands of green and yellow, and leave this chair behind, but I couldn't.

Do you need a break? This will be long procedure and I don't want you feel it. 

My headed nodded up and down and sideways, I had no control. 

The noise, the stinging stopped. My mouth felt the cool water sprayed around. I wanted to smile but couldn't. The trickle of water ran down my throat taking me back to the horse, and she slowly pulled up her head and trotted down the side of the creek bed and off through the blooming yellow wildflowers in motion from the breeze of the butterflies feeding. 

My eyes opened and suddenly I coughed. My mouth my cleared and I could feel the water once again trickling down my throat. Would this never end?

Hang in there, we are almost finished. Then we will prep you for the crown. You've been very calm the last hour....

Part of me laughed and I was reminded of a statue I'd seen in Tulsa of a young girl carrying a basket through a spring garden. She seemed so alive to me, but bronze never moves unless in a dream. Her body stretched skyward like a ballerina. Smiling I could hear her sing and her feet lightly touching the ground but not breaking the flowers. A fairy I thought, a very real and child-sized fairy. Cool breezes circled us as I joined her in the flower dance. My body life-sized but light airy with a bronze colored fairy at my side. The Cardinals peeped in the distant trees, telling others of their view. The Bewick wrens on the branches beside us ventured out to sing for us. 

One bird touched my cheek and I awoke, my mouth empty, dry, then wet, then gurgled clean. I followed their directions awake and methodical. The dental assistant placed a damp cloth on my forehead and assured me all was done and my mouth was healthy. Time to take a breath and sit up slowly. My jaw felt swollen and sore.  

Stepping outside I noticed the birdsong in the tree across the way, a mockingbird.