From the age of around 10 to 13yrs I live in Hampshire on a housing estate for military families in a place with the memorable name of Middle Wallop. Although my parents didn't much care for living on a modern housing estate, I was happy there. I loved being able to step outside and knock the doors of friends nearby. I loved being able to wander down to the park, the cinema or up to the NAFFI shop and find plenty of other kids hanging around playing or getting into mischief. And when I think back on those groups of kids, despite having an excellent memory I can hardly put a name or a face to any of them. But there was one character who was nearly always there. Oscar. I will never forget him. He was all the things you could want a friend to be.
Most of all, Oscar was reliable – always available when you were looking for a friend to play with. He was sensible, loyal to us all, highly intelligent, patient, kind, calm, amusing, selfless and undemanding. Most of all he managed to join in the fun but to behave with maturity. Consequently Oscar was popular with everyone and was always included in whatever game or adventure was happening on any given day. Parents did not worry about their children if Oscar was with us.
Now I'm sure most people would agree that there is hardly anyone they knew as a kid who was good to be with ALL of the time. Everyone is annoying, unkind or boring sometimes, no? That is true, but this case is an exception, because Oscar was a dog.
I don't think anyone actually knew who Oscar belonged to. He wore no collar or dog-tag. Mostly a brown Labrador with a slightly pink nose, he was always there or somewhere nearby. Oscar was not like most dogs we knew. He would share our food but he never pestered us. We even believed he was unable to growl or bark until one day he needed to defend us from an aggressive guard dog we encountered when wading across a river.
The estate we lived on was large, nearly a circular mile in diameter, but if Oscar wasn't there you only needed to call his name and he'd be there as quick as a flash. Nobody saw where he had come from or where he went back to at the end of the fun. And no owner ever came looking for him, not even when he accompanied us miles away on long, whole day expeditions. Oscar was a mystery, an enigma, but one we never questioned.
If you like dogs, or your dog likes dog stories, check out Stories To Tell Your Dog It is available as a paperback from Amazon or Createspace, and as an e-book from:
Amazon UK
Amazon.com (or by entering the title and author into your local Amazon website)
Smashwords (all formats)
N.B. You do not need an e-reader. You can download a Kindle App for your computer or download the book from Smashwords as a PDF or plain text file.
Other books by the same author are available on these sites and the paperback travel book Long Road Hard Lessons is available from Waterstones Bookshops in the UK.
Most of all, Oscar was reliable – always available when you were looking for a friend to play with. He was sensible, loyal to us all, highly intelligent, patient, kind, calm, amusing, selfless and undemanding. Most of all he managed to join in the fun but to behave with maturity. Consequently Oscar was popular with everyone and was always included in whatever game or adventure was happening on any given day. Parents did not worry about their children if Oscar was with us.
Now I'm sure most people would agree that there is hardly anyone they knew as a kid who was good to be with ALL of the time. Everyone is annoying, unkind or boring sometimes, no? That is true, but this case is an exception, because Oscar was a dog.
I don't think anyone actually knew who Oscar belonged to. He wore no collar or dog-tag. Mostly a brown Labrador with a slightly pink nose, he was always there or somewhere nearby. Oscar was not like most dogs we knew. He would share our food but he never pestered us. We even believed he was unable to growl or bark until one day he needed to defend us from an aggressive guard dog we encountered when wading across a river.
The estate we lived on was large, nearly a circular mile in diameter, but if Oscar wasn't there you only needed to call his name and he'd be there as quick as a flash. Nobody saw where he had come from or where he went back to at the end of the fun. And no owner ever came looking for him, not even when he accompanied us miles away on long, whole day expeditions. Oscar was a mystery, an enigma, but one we never questioned.
If you like dogs, or your dog likes dog stories, check out Stories To Tell Your Dog It is available as a paperback from Amazon or Createspace, and as an e-book from:
Amazon UK
Amazon.com (or by entering the title and author into your local Amazon website)
Smashwords (all formats)
N.B. You do not need an e-reader. You can download a Kindle App for your computer or download the book from Smashwords as a PDF or plain text file.
Other books by the same author are available on these sites and the paperback travel book Long Road Hard Lessons is available from Waterstones Bookshops in the UK.
No comments:
Post a Comment