Bonzer Words!: Odie, Odie, Odie! Come Here Boy
Penny White's splendid tale takes you into the mind of Odie, a pit-bull terrier.
Penny writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
It’s an emergency. Betty’s brother is ill and she must be with him, but no one is free to look after her 14 year-old pit-bull terrier who suffers from arthritis and has never been in a kennel in his life.
“He is so gentle, Penny,” Betty assures me, “Loves his food. Give him something to eat and he’s a friend for life. And he’s a wonderful guard dog. You won’t have any intruders while Odie is around, but I wouldn’t trust him near strangers. He’s very protective. I’ll bring him down and introduce you just before I leave for Sydney.”
Friday morning. Odie morning. My husband is not feeling well. After an ECG and blood tests he is admitted into St Vincent’s hospital. I wait with him for the doctor’s diagnosis. All is well, but Tom must stay for a couple of days. Odie will go into our garage until I get home.
It is pitch black when I pull into our driveway and I hear a sound that makes my blood curdle. A deep-throated, hound-of-the-Baskervilles woooof. What will happen when I open the garage? Woooof. What if he thinks I’m an intruder and knocks me to the ground? I immediately imagine strong teeth clamping on human bone—my bone. The houses on both sides are in darkness. Leave Odie in the garage until daybreak? Betty would grieve. Poor Odie. Garage clicker in one hand, mobile phone in the other, I pre-dial 000 and imagine yelling, “Help, I’m being mauled by a pit-bull.” Not a brilliant idea, but the best I have at the time.
Slowly the garage door rises like the opening scene of one of Shakespeare’s tragedies. To be, or not to be? The light comes on. I plant a smile on my face. My throat feels tight, my mouth dry. “Odie, Odie, Odie!” I yodel in a squeaky voice. “Come here boy.”
Nothing. My finger still on the send button, I repeat my hopefully friendly high- pitched call.
“Odie, Odie, Odie! Come here boy.” I see a head as big as a boarding house pudding peep out from behind some boxes. Two beady eyes size me up. Will those massive paws hit my chest and knock me to the ground, hot breath fogging my glasses? I remember a hospital biscuit tucked in my handbag and hold it at arm’s length.
Odie
Dumped. Forever. Bad dog. Dark. Big boxes. No food. Unloved. Nothing to eat. Starve to death. Noise. Car. Strange car. “GO AWAY”. Strange singing. “GO AWAY” Uh, oh. Garage door rising. Strange person. Singing. Scary. Back. Hide.
Biscuit? Food. Oh boy. Friend. Friend for life. Must be Penny.
Penny, Penny, Penny. Come here girl.
© Penny White
