by Karen Duvall
The holidays are upon us and most people decorate their homes for Christmas. I used to when my kids still lived with us, but not anymore. Want to know why? It may come as no surprise that my four rambunctious pets would annihilate any attempt at having a Christmas tree. I don’t even want to think of how my house would look once they got their furry little paws on it. Nope, all of my holiday stuff is boxed up and collecting dust in our attic. That’s where it will stay indefinitely.
Speaking of destruction, that’s my fur-kids favorite pastime. Entertainment for the four-footed. And they don’t do it alone. They act in teams.
Last week, you witnessed Teddy and Kinsey teaming up to get Sammy off the bed so they could have it all to themselves. It’s usually Cody and Sammy who join forces, and their goal is often to get the dog involved in order for their dastardly plan to be the most effective.
(Please forgive the lack of photos, but Photobucket.com isn’t working at the moment, it keeps erroring out. I’ll try to add photos later when, and if, the site gets its act together.)
Sammy: Pushes something across the kitchen counter with her paw. I almost got it.
Cody: What’s taking so long?
Sammy: It’s heavy.
Cody: That’s because it’s made of silver. Don’t you just love Dad’s silver rings?
Sammy: Shiny. Gives the ring a final shove and it topples over the edge.
The ring bounces on the kitchen floor and rolls under the table.
Cody: Scampers to the ring and bats it with his paws. Wow, look how fast it rolls.
The ring disappears under the couch.
Sammy: Well. That was rather disappointing. What next?
Cody: Leaps up on the counter and sits next to Sammy. Look! A stack of envelopes.
Sammy: Oh, yeah. Dad just brought those in from the mailbox. Mom called them “bills.”
Cody: Oooh! Kinsey loves paper.
Sammy: She sure does. No need for a shredder in the house with her around.
Cody: Nods. Wanna do the honors?
Sammy: Shakes her head. Nah. It’s your turn.
Cody bats at the envelopes until they all fall on the floor.
The sound of clattering toenails echoes from the hall and Kinsey appears from around the corner.
Kinsey: Are those for me?
Sammy: Yep.
Kinsey grabs an envelope with her teeth and scurries into the living room so she can lay down and hold it between her paws while ripping it to shreds.
Cody: Hmm. What else is up here that would look better on the floor?
Sammy: Eyes the bag of frozen bread left out on the counter to thaw. That smells like food.
Cody: Steps over to the bag and gives it a sniff. Twitches his whiskers. Yuck.
Sammy: I bet Kinsey will eat it. She’s like a goat. She’ll eat anything.
Cody: I’m gonna need your help.
Sammy: Sure. Walks over to join Cody in batting the bag of bread to the edge of the counter.
Cody: Just one more little push. Nudges the bag until it falls to the floor.
Kinsey comes running in from the living room with strips of soggy paper hanging from her mouth.
Kinsey: Yum! Chomps into the bread.
Sammy: Our work here is done.
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Karen Duvall is an award-winning author with 4 published novels and 2 novellas. Harlequin Luna published her Knight’s Curse series last year, and her post apocalyptic novella, Sun Storm, was released in Luna’s ‘Til The World Ends anthology in January 2013.
Karen lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and four incredibly spoiled pets. She is currently working on a new contemporary fantasy romance series.
http://www.karenduvallauthor.com/
https://twitter.com/KarenDuvall
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This is exactly why we don’t decorate for Christmas anymore. Can’t even buy a poinsettia. All because of our one pet, Katie Cat. I even find drawers open and the contents strewn around the floor. At least she hasn’t learned how to open the pantry and closet doors….yet.
LOL, Pat. 🙂 I had a cat years ago who loved opening cabinet doors. Every morning I’d walk into the kitchen to see all the lower cabinet doors open. I just wished he’d taught himself how to close them, too.
This year will be interesting for us. With a new and rambunctious puppy in the mix, I’m not sure what to expect! Old Reliable just ignores everything unless he smells an edible morsel. Then all bets are off.
I used to have ornaments made from dog biscuits. “Used to” being the optimum phrase. The dog we had before Kinsey thought they were delicious.