Month: November 2022

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldoggers. Lady Human, let’s dance!

Me:  I’m not very good at…

Doodlebug:  Aw, come on. It’s fun. Sidestep, front step, jump. Here, grab my feet. See, I can dance on two legs, too.

Me:  Dancing is not really my thing. Never has been.

Doodlebug:  Watch how I do this. Jump, jump, pull.  Jump, jump, pull. No, Lady Human, not like that. You are supposed to dance, not fall over.

Me:  Your dancing style is a little too heavy duty for me.

Doodlebug:  Bulldogs never do anything light duty.

Copyright 2022 H.J. Hill All Rights Reserved.

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Me:  Okay, settle down time. Come on, boy. Come on, Sweetie.

Doodlebug:  Nope. I’m fine right here.

Me:  No, you’re not.

Sweetie:  We just doing us, Lady Human.

Me:  You’re doing bulldoggery, which is ten times worse than being bulldoggy. Now come on in the other room.

Sweetie:  I think not. What are you doing now?

Me:  I’m trying to pick you up. It’s like wrestling an 80-pound concrete block.

Sweetie:  Cool!

Doodlebug:  Try to pick me up, Lady Human.

Me:  No, you’re a 75-pound rock. What’s going on?

MoonCat:  We are doing the bulldog thing.

Me:  You, too?

MoonCat:  Yep. Pack member. I have to start sometime.

Me:  Well, I guess I’ll just have to take these cheese crackers with me then…

Doodlebug:  What? Crackers? Wait for me!

Sweetie:  Crackers? Why didn’t you say so? Crackers change everything.

Doodlebug:  Okay, everybody. Bulldoggery is cancelled…well, postponed at least.

Copyright 2022 H.J. Hill All Rights Reserved.

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: What do you mean “king”? I don’t remember voting for you.

Doodlebug: No vote necessary. Facts are facts. I’m in charge of the pack which is everybody.

Me: Uh, beg to differ. Number one – I am in charge. Number two – I am not a bulldog, thus not a pack member.

Sweetie:  Awww, Lady Human, you are one of us even though you are not nearly as good-looking as we are, but you can’t help that, I know.

MoonCat: Meow. Me, too. Pack member.

Doodlebug: Yes, even though you are not now and never will be a true bulldog, join in.

Sweetie:  This is getting out of control. What next? Chickens? Monster lizards? Bugs?

Doodlebug:  Chickens…I dunno…maybe, but I definitely draw the pack membership line at bugs. They don’t listen to instructions, and they try to take over everything.

Copyright 2022 H.J. Hill All Rights Reserved.

     I have dreaded writing this post for a whole month. No, I have dreaded it longer than that, maybe for years.

     Stella passed away one month ago today. She went fast, quietly, in her sleep. Her legs were relaxed.

 Had she been standing, they would have been in a running position, the way they always looked when she would chase a squirrel.

     Later that day, I came across a cartoonish sketch I had made of her years ago in the same running pose. The caption read, “Flying Stella: I can’t feel my feet touching the ground.” And I realized that had become for her quite literally true. Fly, girl, fly. See you later.

Copyright 2022 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.