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MINNIE
From Sullivan's Short Stories
MINNIE
Minnie was an exceptionally bright dog. She recognized
over a hundred words, plus she could recognize her own name
and those of her family, Rick and Liz.
Rick reached down and patted her head. "Wanna go for a
ride, Minnie?"
One word in that sentence got Minnie's attention. Ride.
Her ears perked up, her eyes brightened, and her tail was
wagging furiously as she ran to the car. Rick opened the rear
door of the car and the little dog leaped onto the back seat.
As the car moved along the road, Minnie poked her head out
the window of the passenger side; Rick never opened the other
window. Minnie was in doggie heaven. She loved to feel the
wind in her face and to sniff the delicious smorgasbord of odors
passing by.
Now they were passing through a woodland, and many smells
came to her nostrils. She inhaled the odors of the various kinds
of vegetation on the forest floor, and occasionally caught the
smell of a forest dweller. As they passed a swampy area, she
sniffed curiously at the odor of a strange creature, one that was
unfamiliar to her.
Suddenly, without warning, the world of Minnie was turned
upside down. She caught the smell of an animal that she
recognized, and a moment later she saw the large antlered animal
bound out of the woods, running straight into the path of the car.
She heard a loud screeching sound, and at the same time was
thrown head-first out of the opened window. She landed, unhurt
but dazed, in a water-filled ditch. She looked up to see the car,
with Rick inside, veering into the path of another car. There was
a loud crash as the two vehicles collided. The large animal was
safe, and running into the woods on the other side of the road.
Minnie waded out of the muddy water and shook herself.
Still dazed, she took in the scene. Rick's car was overturned and
lying on its side, but the other car was still upright. She saw a
man get out of the other car, but Rick did not emerge. She ran to
Rick's car and crawled in through a hole in the broken
windshield.
Rick was not moving, and blood was seeping from a wound
on the side of his neck. Minnie pawed at his arm, and barked,
trying to awaken him. When that failed, she began licking his
face. She heard a voice.
"Hey, Buddy, you OK? I've called 911 and help is on the way."
Minnie looked up. The man from the other car was speaking.
In her dazed and confused state, she saw the man as an enemy.
She showed her teeth, then growled and barked.
The man backed off. "Whoa, fella, I'm just trying to help. I'm
your friend." At that moment another car pulled up. It was
making high pitched noises and showing flashing lights.
The occupant of the second car, who was wearing a big hat,
walked up. Minnie started barking even louder. "Looks like you
got a problem with the dog."
"Yeah. He's been keeping me away since the accident. He
ain't very big -- looks like part beagle. But he's ready to attack
whoever gets too close. I tried coaxing, but it didn't work."
The hat moved closer. "Its not a he, it's a she. Anyhow, we
gotta get her outta there. The medics will be here any second,
and we gotta get her out before they arrive." He pulled a big stick
from his side and began yelling and beating on the car with the
stick.
Terrified, the still dazed and confused Minnie stood her
ground. The hat crawled up on the car. He reached down
through the opened window and made a grab for her. He got her
by the collar on her neck and pulled her out.
"It's OK, Girl. I'm not gonna hurt you."
She recognized "OK girl," and the man's voice was soothing,
but she was still in a state of shock.
Holding her tightly, he jumped to the ground. At that point
another car with flashing lights pulled up. The man relaxed his
grip on her collar and she squirmed out of his arms and jumped.
She hit the ground running, and immediately went for the woods.
"Hey! Come back here, Girl. There's gators in there!" He
whistled sharply. "C'mere. Girl! Oh Lord no..."
She looked back to see the hat trying to catch her, but she
made it into the woods. She kept running until she was sure that
she had escaped her enemies.
***
She continued on into the woods, and as time passed she
began to recover. She was no longer dazed and confused, but she
realized that something terrible had happened and that her
beloved master was hurt. She paused, torn between going back
to help him or going on. But too many enemies were there, and
she decided to keep moving.
Something in her dog mind told her to return home, that
maybe Liz could help. Somehow she knew the general direction
that she must follow. She set out.
Presently she came upon a creature whose smell she
recognized. It had rings around its eyes, its back was humped,
and it had a large bushy tail with rings. It growled and spit at her.
It was almost twice her size, but she growled back just to show
that she would not be intimidated.
After a few moments, she decided it was a standoff and
continued on her way.
A while later she came upon a smaller creature, even smaller
than she. It had large ears, and quickly hopped away at the sight
of her. She ran after it, enjoying the chase. But it soon
disappeared, and she gave up.
She went on until she came to the swampy area. Since the
swamp was lying between her and home, she continued. She
waded through muddy and sometimes watery areas until she
came upon a narrow creek. It was too wide to jump over, so she
would have to swim. She was ready to jump in when she smelled
the odor of the strange creature, the same odor she had smelled
while riding in the car.
Then she saw it. It might have been a small log floating in
the creek, but she saw the eyes protruding above the water. She
watched, fascinated, as it moved along the surface of the black
water. But she should be safe, she thought, as long as she kept
out of the water.
It glided through the water, making not even a ripple as it
turned and came toward her. The creature came close to the
bank, and suddenly the water seemed to explode. Its huge jaws
were open, big enough to hold her entire body. She jumped back,
narrowly escaping the jaws as they clamped down.
She began barking and growling at the beast, even jumping
toward it and feinting an attack. Her efforts, however, only
resulted in her sliding closer to the water's edge.
The beast came out of the water. Surprised, she turned and
ran. She was forced to move at top speed, for the creature could
run surprisingly fast. Minnie was slowed down by the soggy
ground but managed to keep ahead of the creature. The creature,
out of its element, quickly gave up the chase.
She decided against swimming the creek. Instead she
followed its course, hoping to find a way to cross it. After a long
while, she found it. A tree had fallen across the creek providing
her with a bridge. She eyed the water below, and gingerly
stepped on the fallen log. It was wet and slippery, and halfway
across she lost her footing.
Her heart raced at the thought of the creature that might be
waiting in the murky waters below. She struggled to stay on the
log, but it was too slippery and she splashed into the water. She
paddled furiously, and managed to reach the other side safely.
She shook herself and moved on.
***
It was almost dark when she reached dry ground on the other
side of the swamp. She was hungry and sleepy now. She
surprised another hopping creature, which bolted at the sight of
her. She gave pursuit, but this time not for the joy of the chase;
she saw it as a meal. But this one also escaped. Still hungry,
Minnie found a spot on a small hillock and bedded down for the
night.
Dawn came, and she continued her journey. The sun was
high in the sky when she heard a distant rumbling. The sky
turned dark and a heavy rain followed. She darted under a patch
of scrub brush, the only cover available. The flashing light and
thunderous noise frightened her.
The storm blew over and Minnie, soaked and shivering, went
on her way. The sun came out soon afterward, giving warmth
and drying her coat. During the second day of her journey, she
encountered several more small animals, the kind that Rick called
squirrels, but as with the other small animals, she was unable to
catch one. She was no hunter; Rick and Liz had always provided
for her.
Near sundown she came to a small stream. It was narrow,
shallow, and the water was clear. She drank her fill and waded
across. That night, she again bedded down hungry.
***
On the afternoon of the third day, as she made her way
through patches of palmetto, she abruptly stopped and sniffed the
air. People. Dogs. Food. She followed the smells, and shortly
thereafter she sighted a house.
She approached the house cautiously. A dog started barking,
and moments later two men emerged from the house. She halted
as they approached her.
"Well, looky what we got here, Clyde. Just what the doctor
ordered."
"Yeah, we won't have to go out lookin' for more bait for ol'
Bully." He chuckled. "With the fights comin' up this Sunday, he
needs the practice to get in a mean mood."
Minnie didn't understand what the men were saying, but she
sensed that they were not to be trusted. She backed away. One
of the men ran into the house, and moments later he returned with
something in his hand. Meat. He held it out. "C'mon mutt, here's
a treat for ya."
Though she was starving, she refused to go to the man. He
broke off a small chunk and threw it on the grass, about halfway
between them. Keeping her eye on the man, she advanced
slowly, then gulped down the food. He broke off another small
chunk and threw it down almost directly in front of him.
Still not trusting the man, she hesitated. But hunger overrode
her mistrust. She quickly moved forward, intending to grab the
meat and run. But one of the men reached down and grabbed her
while the other slipped a chain around her neck.
"She's OK to handle, has her rabies tags on her collar.
Belongs to some dude named Rick Morrison…or used to." Minnie
backed away, but the chain tightened. The more she pulled on
the chain, the tighter it got. She eased up and the chain loosened.
The men dragged her into a fenced area. Minnie was used to
a fenced yard, but this one was different. It was much higher
than she was accustomed to. There were several cages in the
fenced yard, one of them holding a small dog, about Minnie's size
and another held a cat. Two bigger dogs were not caged, but
were chained. The chained dogs snarled and barked at her as she
passed near them. She sensed that the chained dogs were
dangerous. Though they were much larger dogs, she defiantly
growled back.
"Spunky, ain't ya. That's the way we like 'em, cause you'll
make good bait for ol' Bully. He needs to keep in practice by
rippin' critters like you to pieces."
They passed a circular pen in the middle of the yard. Minnie
sniffed, and smelled the foul odor of death coming from the pen.
She was led to a cage and thrown in. She looked pleadingly
at the men, hoping they would bring her the rest of the meat. The
small chunk had merely whetted her appetite. She was also
thirsty, and found a small amount of water in the bottom of a pan.
She lapped it up, then looked at the men and whined.
"Want the rest of that meat and some water do ya? When
tomorrow comes, food and water will be the least of your
worries, mutt."
He then retrieved the meat and threw it to one of the chained
dogs. Here ya go Bully boy. Build up your strength for the
fights.
Minnie watched as the men left and entered the house. She
searched for a way out, but there was none. At dusk, one of the
men came back bringing food to Minnie, the other caged dog,
and the cat. It was a small amount of food, and not as tasty as the
meat, but she hungrily gobbled it up.
The man then filled her water bowl. "Don't want ya dyin' on
us before Bully gets to ya."
Feeling sated, Minnie lay down on the hard concrete floor
and curled up. The floor was cold and hard, but she was
exhausted from the past three days and sleep came quickly.
***
The next morning the men came for her. They dragged her
from the cage and led her to the circular pen. One of the men
held her while the other wrapped something around her snout.
"Gonna muzzle ya so ya can't bite. Can't risk ya getting a lucky
bite and injuring ol' Bully."
One of the big dogs was brought to the pen. A door was
lifted, and the big dog eagerly entered.
"Ha. Ol' Bully looks like he's ready and rarin'. Good boy!"
One of the men lifted Minnie. At that instant she heard a
familiar high pitched sound. She looked to see several cars
arriving. All the men were wearing big hats.
The man holding Minnie dropped her and started to run.
"Hold it right there, or I'll shoot. Hit the ground…Hit it!"
Both men fell to the ground.
Clyde Fischer and Francis Wilder, I have a warrant for your
arrest.
"You got nothing' on us. You just see a few dogs around. You
gonna arrest us for that? You can't make this stick."
"We've got videos showing the both of you participating in dog
fighting, and using this pit here in your own back yard to stage fights.
"If that's not enough, We have witnesses to testify that you were
illegally gambling at fights."
The big hats talked to the men some more, and then led them
away.
One of the big hats was familiar. It was the one at the
accident, who had chased her into the woods. The man looked at
Minnie, then at his partner. "Hey, I know this dog. She belongs to
Rick Morrison, a guy who was in an accident a few days ago. The poor guy asked about his Minnie as soon as he came to.
"He'll be overjoyed when he sees her, and I'll bet she'll be happy,
too."
He kneeled down. "You can't run away from me this time,
you're fenced in." He clapped his hands gently. "C'mon Minnie.
Let me get that muzzle off."
Minnie knew now that this man was a friend. She came to
him, wagging her tail.
The End
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