3 Heads & a Tail (22 page)

“
This is Mimi,
”
says
the
lady
, getting excited, as if
she
'
s
arranging a date.
“
Mimi
,
honey
, this is Glen.
He
'
s t
he offspring of a Crufts Champion.
”

A
soft whine
emerges
from the shadowy back o
f the shed and a small L
abrador steps
forward into
the light – a
perfectly formed, very golden L
abrador.

“
You!
”
I whine
.

“
You!
”
she whines
back
.

I can
'
t believe my eyes!
M
y perfect dream from th
e park! Miss Posh Lab!
Miss doggy
-
baby! My tongue
hangs
out in shock. I suck
it back in
quickly before I look
a total idiot
mutt
.

“
I
'
ve seen you in the
park!
”

“
I
'
ve seen you too,
”
she
says
, her
eyes wide with surprise. She has
really long lashes and
lovely ears. Her nose i
s
a little wet, but not too wet, h
er eyes big and brown.

I realise
I
'
d taken too long to reply
'
cos I
'
m just gaping at her
.
“
Voof
! S
orry
,
I
'
m just so surprised. I have to tell you, t
his
isn
'
t
my idea!
”

“
Nor mine!
”
she
says
.
“
Apparently you
r
dad i
s a Crufts Champion, so my owner picked you!
”

“
I
had no idea,
I just found out myself. I know nothing about my parents.
”

“
Really?
”
she asked, her eyes widening and then softening.
“
That
'
s sad.
”

“
I know,
”
I reply
, milking the moment a little. I could stare into her
big brown
eyes forever.
Snap out of it, I
tell
myself, but I
can
'
t
. My tail
is wagging like it
never wagged before. I
think
my bum
may
go flying off with the momentum! If it does, I hope
it hit
s
David
smack
in the face!

“
Do you think they hate each other?
”
asks
the
lady
standing behind
us
.
“
They are
doing a lot of barking and whining
... I
'
m not sure
if
this was a good idea. Mimi looks scared.
”

“
Maybe they will quiet
en
down,
”
replies
Tosser, as if he kno
w
s
anything about dogs.
“
Maybe they are getting to know each
other.
”
Weirdly, he
'
s
spot on there.

“
I didn
'
t think you even noticed me in the park,
”
says
Mimi, shyly.

“
Are you kidding?! I notice you every time you
'
re
there. I
t brightens my day. I
thought you
didn
'
t notice
me!
”

“
But I did!
”
S
he
gives me
a
big
doggy
grin
.
“
I did, but I was with the dog walker and
she
doesn
'
t slow down. I couldn
'
t stop really. But I did see you... especially when you
flew
into that tree!
”

I cringe.
“
Voof! V
oof! You saw that? No! T
hat
'
s so doggy emba
rrassing!
”

“
But
it w
as so funny!
”
she replies
.
“
I thought you looked cute! I wanted to find out if you were
alright
, but
the
next time I saw you, you looked well.
”

“
Thanks.
”

She
is
so cute herself. This
is
a dream come true.
She noticed me! She
'
s talking to me!
But the circumstances! I
plummet
straight b
ack down to Earth. What
to do? I can
'
t go through with this! I want to get to know her
, take things slowly. I
'
m not a hello ma
'
am, bam, thank you kind of dog. And s
he is
perfection.

“
Glen!
”
says
David, sternly.

I turn round and Mimi turns at the same time. We look
at each other and then at the two humans. I
can
'
t
do this.
“
Don
'
t wo
rry,
”
I
say
.
“
I have a
plan
, but next time I
'
m in the park
can I
talk to you?
”

She smiles.
“
If y
ou don
'
t, I will be voofing angry! My name is
Mimi.
”

My tummy wobbles and
I smile back.
“
I
'
m Glen.
”

Then I pretend to have a very big fit. I
'
m b
arking, spinning, jumpi
ng, making weird whining noises
and then I
try
to hump the
lady
'
s
leg. That
does it. It works.
David
and me are sent packing. I wink
at
Mimi on the way out. What a day! What a dog!
What a beaut! Life was beautiful. Suddenly I
feel
I
can fly and
I look
up
with happiness
at the pigeons. Well, maybe that
'
s
an ambition too far!
It
just
shows you never know how a day is going to turn out.

“
Walkies
,
Glen!
”
yelled B
en. He hadn
'
t lifted the dog lead off the hook
before the golden Labrador was by h
is side, looking up with his dopey
eyes.

“
Wow, you
'
re keen today!
”
observed Ben, clipping his lead on.

Josie appeared at the top of the stairs.
“
Are you taking Glen for a walk?
”

Ben looked up. Well, obviously!
B
ut then he thought he needed to get over it and be polite.
“
Yes
,
I am.
”

“
Do you mind if I come?
”
asked Josie.
“
I could do with some fresh air. I
'
ve been working on a story
for my magazine
and it
'
s going nowhere.
”

Going nowhere – I
know the feeling, thought Ben.
“
Yeah sure,
”
he said, as coo
l
ly as he could manage.

“
Great, I
'
ll just gr
ab my bag!
”

“
Looks like we have company,
”
he
said, stroking Glen
'
s head.

The dog grinned with his tongue out, his brown eyes shining. Ben studied him.
“
You
seem pretty happy lately...
h
appier than usual. Whatever you
'
re on, boy, I want some of it.
”

Glen stared back happily.

“
If only you could understand what I
'
m saying,
”
said
Ben
with a sigh
.
“
I bet you
'
d be really good at
giving me
advice. You
'
re probably the only one who really knows me.
”

Glen stared back. Ben looked at his
blank
, happy face and patted him on the
head
.
The dog
whined a little.

Josie
hopped down the stairs. Glen jumped up, wagging his tail, and
she gave him a big hug
.
“
Hey
,
Mr Softy
, h
ow are you today
?
”

Ben opened the f
ront door and they emerged
into the dayligh
t. The brightness made them
blink
as
they trotted down the steps and towards the park. All three were in their element around nature. They had a lot in common really. Josie smiled at the silver birches and the lovely little wild flowers, their heads nodding in the breeze. Ben gazed
up
at the pale blue sky, furnished with wi
sps of silky white cloud, lost in his thoughts.
They headed towards the lake, which was full of ducks and a few swans. Some geese sat on the bank of the lake and birds chirped in the trees lining the edges.
Glen trotted along happily between
Ben and Josie
, sniffing the grass and flowers,
and
dodgin
g the bad-smelling stuff
.

Glen
stopped abruptly
. Ben
looked down as the lead
pulled backwards
, waking him from his daydream.
In front of them
was another R
etriever
Labrador
. Ben
noticed that
her coat was
very shiny. A young woman was walking her
, dr
essed in jeans, trainers and a T
-shirt saying
'
Fur coats are beautiful animals worn by ugly people
'
. Cool
message
, he thought, smiling slightly.
The girl had long brown hair, worn
in two
long
plaits. Ben watched as she bent down to stroke the dog, which had stopped walking, just like Glen, and was staring at him.