Folks ask me ‘bout the magic in my fables, if they’re true and how they came to be. So I’ll tell ya bout one of the first magical fables what took place way back in the 1600s. It’s bout one of my doggies named Rascal.
Ever week when I’d return from my trip to town, my doggies would come a runnin’ to meet my buggy, tail a waggin’. Durned mutts didn’t have too much sense though. They’d run in front of the horse and practically git trampled and killed.
Twas the reason why I never took ‘em to town cuz I knew they’d git excited ‘bout the new surroundin’s, and run wild over to meet folks to say ‘hello’. Shure as shootin’ they’d run across the street and git runned over by a carriage or horse.
Well, one day I was fixin’ to go to town and noticed my doggies sleeping. That was my opportunity to sneak out cuz they always gave me the sad eyes when I left ‘em at home. So, I snuck off to town. What I didn’t know was Rascal heard me leavin’ and came after me. Normally I say to her “stay,” and bein’ an obedient doggie, she’d stay. But since she warn’t around fer me to say “stay” she took this opportunity to run up behind my buggy and jump on back. And along came that rascally mutt.
During the ride to town Rascal fell asleep, so I still didn’t notice her when I arrived. I done my rounds to the bank, the livery, the barber shop, the general store and finally got me a hot lunch at the saloon, then started back down the street to my buggy.
Fear struck my heart.
There was Rascal searchin’ fer me on the other side of the street. I didn’t want her to see me cuz I knew she’d come runnin’ and, not havin’ human smarts, she wouldn’t look both ways before crossing. Horses, buggies, stagecoaches and wagons were zipping down Main Street with no mind fer those what stepped in the way.
My only hope to save her was to turn around and cross back a ways so’s she couldn’t see me, then walk the boardwalk where it’d be safe if she came runnin’. But as I turned I heard her frantic barking.
Rascal seen me!
“STAY, RASCAL STAY!” I yelled.
I looked at the traffic passin’ from the north and the south, then looked at Rascal and could only think of what was about to happen. Tears hit my eyes and I closed ‘em.
When I opened ‘em agin, there was Rascal sittin’ on the boardwalk, stayin’ right where she was. She never knew how bein’ obedient, even when she just wanted to see me, was what saved her life. But more magical was what happened cuz of her obedience.
I crossed the street when it was safe, and Rascal jumped up on me with her tail a waggin’. Then she said “did you get me lunch too?”
I said “wait a minute! Did you just say sumpin?”
She said, “you betcha. And by the way my name isn’t Rascal, it’s Tiva.”
