Hello, Goodbye

Hello, Goodbye!

Douglas found it great fun, hiding in the empty boxes and wrestling
with the old newspapers. Today was his most exciting day of all. It was
even better than his first birthday last week, when Chaz took him for a
special walk where there were many lovely new smells. Boy, did he have
fun!

When today came, everybody got up for breakfast early. Fiona went off
to work and Chaz stayed at home as usual, so Douglas wasn't prepared
for what happened next. The doorbell rang and two strange men came into
the flat. Chaz said "Good, you're early. Where have you parked?"

"Just outside in the street. Nice dog. Just like Dougal in the Magic
Roundabout! Is he friendly?"

"Yes, he's a softy! Don't mind him jumping up, he's excited at seeing
new people. As he's not very big, he doesn't hurt anybody and that type
doesn't shed any hair, so he won't mess up your overalls. By the way,
is the outside gate closed?"

Douglas thought "What a cheek! I make a very good guard dog! I bark at
the slightest noise during the night and then it's up to Chaz."

One of the men said: "It's shut now, but we'll have to prop it open
while we're moving the stuff. It'll cause all sorts of problems if we
have to open it each time we take something out to the 'van."

Chaz picked up our 'warrior' and replied: "In that case, I think
Douglas will be better in the bathroom. We can shut the door and he can
stay in there while we're loading."

That was sneaky. He wasn't expecting to be picked up! Chaz tightened
his arms round Douglas and carried him to the bathroom. Then he tossed
him in and shut the door quickly before he could dash back out again.
Douglas scratched and whined at the door, but nobody came to let him
out. He heard the other man say "Won't he be lonely in there?" and Chaz
replied "No, he'll soon stop and have a sleep. He must be tired - he
had us up half the night. I'm sure he guesses there's something going
on!"

Then there were lots of bumps and bangs. The men started tramping up
and down the outside stairs shouting things like "to me" or "Your end
down". It was a great puzzle! What was happening? Douglas could just
see their feet by squinting under the bathroom door, but why one of
them always walked backwards was a mystery.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" That was Chaz's voice! Douglas barked to
remind everybody that he was still in the bathroom. "Oh, all right. You
can come out now", Chaz said and opened the door. "We're just going to
have a rest and a 'cuppa'. You can say hello to everyone now they're
sitting down."

Sure enough Douglas found, there they were - all sitting on the sofa
smiling at him.
But where were all the chairs, the television and the hi-fi? Gone!
Someone had stolen the furniture! All that was left was his favourite
sofa.

Chaz brought cups of tea and they all started to talk about something
called soccer. They soon ignored Douglas, so he decided to go and tell
Fiona that something strange was going on. The front door was open a
crack and he could see down the steps. Whoopee! The gate was open, too!
He squeezed through the door and down the stairs. Nobody saw him go, so
he had a clear run to get out into the street.

There was a tremendous commotion when Chaz couldn't find Douglas!

"Where's Douglas? Oh God, the gate's open, he could be anywhere! It's
the first time he's been out on his own, where would he go? Wait a
minute, he likes the beach - it's just over there, behind those houses.
I'll have a quick look and see if he's gone there. In the meantime, you
look after the house, I won't be long... Douglas, where are you? Come
on Douglas..."

"Righty-oh, Sir. We've got a few things to finish up here before we go.
That's all you want taking?"

"Yes, the sofa and the rest of the bits stay in the flat. Won't be
long."
With that, he left the men and jogged to the beach, but Douglas wasn't
there!
He wasn't in the supermarket car park next door either. Chaz tried
everywhere until the men had to leave. He was worried because Douglas
had never been out by himself and could get kidnapped or lost. What was
he going to tell Fiona?

He started to walk to where Fiona worked, making up the story he was
going to tell her as he went. He hadn't got far, when who should he see
coming in the opposite direction? Yes, it was Fiona, holding on to
Douglas with a string through his collar! What a relief!

"What happened?" she asked.

Chaz told her and asked how she had found Douglas, especially as she
didn't know he was missing!

"It's very simple", she grinned, "he found me! He came all the way to
the back door of the factory and barked until Maggie let him in. As
soon as she opened the door, he rushed in and found me upstairs. I was
worried something had happened to you, as you weren't with him and he
was excited about something."

Chaz laughed "One of the men forgot to close the street gate after
they'd loaded the van with all the bits we are taking. Douglas must
have thought we were going without you and came to tell you. It's a
relief to find him - I thought he was lost."

"Never mind, dear, he's all right now. Let's put his proper lead on and
we'll all have a good laugh when we get to our new flat. He must be
cleverer than we thought! Come on, Douglas, we're all going to our new
home together, but first we have to check everything is all right in
the old one!"

With that, Fiona put Douglas' lead on and they all walked back to their
old home. They let Douglas say goodbye to the back garden of the old
flat with all its interesting smells and then they all got in the car
and went to their new home.

One thing still puzzles Douglas, five years later. Everybody he meets
walks one way - forwards. Do you know he still checks their feet to see
if they are walking backwards, like the removal man in his old
home!

1108 words
Copyright J. Cheyne 2001