My Two Writing Teachers colleagues and I are hosting the 16th Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge, in which teachers from around the world participate by posting a story per day.
This year, the SOLSC gives me a chance to record memories of our little dog, Indie, who died in January. I want to write these down while they are still fresh, so that my family and can read them later and remember not only Indie, but little slices of life across the years.
Our friends all loved Indie. They had nicknames for him. His fur was very wiry, so they called him, “Our little Brillo pad.” His tail had a funny thick shape to it, so he was, “Sausage Tail.” His full name was Indiana Jones, so he was called, “Itty Bitty Indiana,” or “Harrison Ford.” He was also known as, “Bear Hunter,” “He’s a Killer,” and, “The Legend.”
Indie loved it when friends came over. He would go from person to person looking for pats (and food). He loved being held. When he was picked up, he would just stay in that person’s arms all night if they let him (and they often did). Sometimes he’d even fall asleep in their arms as they walked around, or sat at our kitchen island.
If Indie were on the floor when someone was sitting at the kitchen island, he would whine and cry until someone picked him up. It wasn’t until a few months ago, just before he died, that I realized that he may not have been crying to be picked up. Instead, I think was crying for crumbs. So much fell from the counter when my kids ate, that another nickname he had was, “Our Little Vacuum Cleaner.” I am 100% positive he thought they were intentionally giving him treats. I think he had come to expect the treats, and when he didn’t get them, he genuinely thought he should cry to remind us. In other words, he had trained the humans to either drop crumbs, or pick him up.
During parties, Indie would roam the crowd, getting pats from everyone. He liked to be right in the center of the action. He was not one of those dogs that goes and rests in another room, or hides out when there’s a lot of people. He wanted to be right underfoot.
Because of that, he had one last nickname — Party Dog.