"Poppy" Can Fly! ...

I just heard an incredible story, whether true or not depends upon ones' level of gullibility ... it concerns the perils of a beloved family pet ... a three-pound Chihuahua appropriately named "Poppy" to be exact ... now Poppy isn't your ordinary, every day, three-pound Chihuahua, oh no ... seems Poppy can fly! ... or so it seemed ... reports have it that Poppy was out in this family's backyard doing what any red-blooded, Mexican, three-pound Chihuahua normally does ... all of a sudden, Poppy's master, a nine-year-old boy, heard what he described as "something awful" ... "it was a terrible yelp" ... "real loud, and we heard wings flapping, and we looked back, and Poppy was flying right up there in the sky above our house" ... seems some type of large bird had picked up Poppy and whisked him away ... "it kind of looked like he was in both of it's talons, and the bird was flying up as Poppy was looking down, terrified and whining piteously" the tearful boy said.

The distraught family spent hours searching the nearby streets and neighborhoods for poor Poppy, but couldn't find him anywhere, thus making for a long and tumultuous night for all concerned ... "it was a very sleepless night because of everything that kept going through my mind, was my little dog being torn apart?" ... "it was hard to imagine that he was going through something like that!" said the boy's mother ... "when I went to sleep, I'd lost a little hope" replied the nine-year-old ... but joy cometh in the morning! ... after a night of tossing and turning, relief showed up right at the front door as the boy's dad was leaving for work ... it was Poppy, still in one piece, despite being somewhat dirty, disheveled and scratched up ... "I just broke down in tears because my little Poppy was back!" exclaimed the overjoyed and surprised lad ... wildlife experts say some large birds can lift animals twice their own body weight ... pet owners should stay close by their pets when outdoors, or use a leash ... indeed, this moving account brought to mind another similar experience which occurred years ago involving our mutual friend and acquaintance Grandpa DooLittle ... my memory is as follows:

A while back, Grandpa and Grandma DooLittle came under relentless attack from a thieving and pretentious, overgrown raven wearing a ragged suit of course feathers as black as a shiny lump of coal ... the airborne larcenist would sit around all day at various vantage points of sufficient height watching for anything worthy of blatant pilferage, it would then swoop down and swipe whatever happened to tickle it's fancy at the time ... although, the bird's poor lack of judgment and untoward behavior appeared to be compulsive in nature, for each of the many items "swooped and swiped" would always reappear undamaged and in their original locations within two or three days ... none of the items were of any real benefit or use to the big fowl ... among the list of objects taken at one time or another were numerous pieces of silverware, sets of keys, reading glasses, writing instruments, watches and last but not least -- Grandma DooLittle's false teeth which had been left soaking in a bowlful of baking soda and warm water on the kitchen window sill ... Grandpa had often pondered bringing about immediate cessation of this inglorious menace to society's existence with a well-placed load of birdshot from his trusty Long Tom shotgun, but reckoned the miserable wretch to be more of an entertaining nuisance than genuine threat ... besides, the mangy reprobate seemed to be a bit of an independent and artful thinker ... such as himself!

However, most notable of all thefts had to be Grandpa DooLittle's prized, antique, hand carved Meerschaum pipe ... each evening after supper, Grandpa would go out on the porch to sit in his rocking chair and smoke that grand pipe ... this particular evening, after settling into his chair and loading that pipe with his favorite tobacco, Grandpa noticed a loose shoelace on one of his old brogans, so he gently placed his now lit Meerschaum on the porch rail and bent down to retie his shoe ... when he raised himself back up and reached for his pipe, his pipe was gone ... in the distance could be heard the sound of wings flapping as Grandpa looked up just in time to see that pesky raven lifting up, up and away with his beloved Meerschaum pipe clenched tightly within it's crusty beak ... Grandpa DooLittle was beside himself as a lone tear crept down his wrinkled face ... not so much because of the untimely theft of his Meerschaum, he knew from previous dealings with the unscrupulous critter that his pipe would most likely reappear unharmed on the porch railing within a day or so ... no, Grandpa DooLittle was more perturbed with the realization that he wouldn't be able to enjoy that fresh tin of tobacco until that bird decided to return the Meerschaum, his only pipe!

A few minutes later, in front of the general store, Grandpa Poteet and Uncle Virgil Hunnicutt had settled in for their usual evening game of checkers ... now Uncle Virgil was resident scholar, philosopher and near genius, rumoured to be well over one hundred years-of-age, and thought to possess an IQ of galactic dimensions, consequently, due to his tediously protracted longevity, this dignified centenarian was hard of hearing and nearly blind to boot ... sometimes after supper, Grandpa DooLittle would go down to the store to watch his fellow curmudgeons play checkers, so when Virgil Hunnicutt saw this frowzled creature all of a sudden drop down out of the sky and come to rest perched on a nearby wooden crate, intently staring down at the checkerboard, a smoking Meerschaum pipe sitting proudly in it's mouth, he couldn't help but proclaim ... "DooLittle, it probably ain't none of my business at all, but you'd better cut back just a tad on your intake of do-it-yourself liquid intoxicants ... you're beginnin' to look as haggard as a tired, ol' crow!"


--sja.