MISTY ISABELLE BARNUM

The Dachshund Who Wouldn’t Wear Her Ribbons

Dale Hudgins Copyright 2001

Monday, December 10, 2001

Chapter 1

"Misty Isabellyyy, where are you, come out come out wherever you are!" Petey her brother said, calling out to his sister, they were playing a game of hide and go seek and he was trying to find her, hoping she would bark or say something, when he called her name like that, because he knew that she couldn’t stand for him or her other brothers or sisters to call her that, or any one else for that matter.

Misty Isabelle squirmed and pushed herself further down into the pine needles that was covering up the bed of Marigold flower plants so he couldn’t see her and she bit her tongue and didn’t bark once or say anything, she was determined not to let Petey find her, even though she knew what he was doing by calling her Misty Isabelly, she wasn’t going to let him make her mad this time and lose this game of hide and go seek, and he wouldn’t have found her had it not been for the fuzzy rainbow colored caterpillar that was creeping along on those Marigold flower leaves beside her and that was heading straight for her, or so it seemed. The caterpillar didn’t even notice the little black Dachshund puppy that was covering itself up in the pine needles, he was too busy eating his lunch, just munching along sampling each Marigold leaf as he went and was making his way straight for Misty Isabelle as he sampled the leaf buffet, although it was only the one course buffet, all Marigold leaves, but to this caterpillar, he was very much interested in sampling each and every leaf on that plant, to him, they all tasted just a little bit different, and he loved to gobble them all up, one bite at a time, he didn’t know it, but his gluttony was about to get him in big trouble and cause himself to have a big fright, because he was about to run right into Misty Isabelle, but the caterpillar didn’t know how determined Misty was, not to be found by her brother Petey, and she wasn’t going to bark, or run and hide, or do anything, even though caterpillars scared her silly. She didn’t like the way they looked, the way they walked or pulled themselves along, with their backs moving up in the air, it made her want to run and hide, ‘cause they were so scary looking with all that fuzz sticking up in the air off their backs when they moved along, "Creepying along is more like it," she thought, and they had those strange looking bug eyes, and made her very nervous when they looked at her with them, when she had on occasion met up with one or two, here and there.

 

Chapter 2

"Man, oh man, these are some very scrumptious leaves, I want to eat you all up, yum yummy, for my tummy." Harry the rainbow colored caterpillar said, while he was munching the last bite of the leaf he had bitten off, and was rubbing his tummy and began to stretch, he was getting a little bit sleepy from this big lunch he had just had, and as he leaned back stretching each part of his body, he began to slip on the leaf he was standing on, there was still some dew left on it from that night before when the dew fell onto the leaves and everything else. Harry tried to grab the leaf above him, but just missed it as he was sliding off the wet leaf he was on, and then he let out a big bug yell, "Whoa, helppp," and as he came to a stop and wasn’t sliding anymore, he saw the face of this huge black monster, it was looking right at him with it’s teeth bared, and he could hear it saying to him in a whispered voice, making a hissing sound as it spoke, "You be quiet or I will bite that leaf off right out from under you, and toss you over into the neighbor’s yard, they have a cat, and she just loves caterpillars, she will eat you all up, so, don’t you say a word, because I don’t want Petey to find me, I bet him a T-bone that he couldn’t find me this time." The monster said to him, and Harry began to quiver and shake, and then said in a very shaky voice, "I know who you are," then as he recognized the monster, he said in a much braver tone of voice, "Yes, you’re Misty, Misty Isabelly, the Dachshund puppy, with the ‘round about tummy."

"Grrr, my name is not Misty Isabelly, it is Misty Isabelle Barnum, and I don’t have a ‘round about tummy, and I warned you to be quiet, grrr." Misty growled again at Harry, and then without warning, she bit off the Marigold leaf that he was on, and while holding the leaf with him still on it and hanging on for dear life now, she stood up and then tossed him over the fence, leaf and all, and as Misty heard a hissing sound, it was Jerry the Siamese cat, and he had woken up from his nap when Harry and the leaf landed on his tail, and he then jumped up and arched his back and began hissing at Harry and was about to pounce on him and eat him all up, but Harry was lucky this time, because Jerry’s master, Brandie, picked him up and held him in her arms, just as he was about to pounce on Harry and eat him.

Harry let out a great big sigh and began to smile, as Brandie and Jerry went back into the house, and he could hear Brandie scolding that cat for trying to eat him all up, and he had another reason to smile, because at that time, he could hear Petey laughing because he had found Misty and her hiding place, and he then heard Misty saying, "You wouldn’t have ever found me, if it hadn’t been for that dumb old caterpillar making me mad, but you won fair and square, your T-bone is over there on the mat at the front door," Misty said to him, "I hope when, if you bury that bone, I hope that you never find it." She muttered under her breath.

"Harumph," Harry said, clearing his throat, and then said aloud to himself, but in a low enough voice so that Misty couldn’t hear him, "dumb am I, well, I will show you one day, who is dumb and who isn’t, Misty Isabelly, Barnummm." Harry said, dragging the word Barnum out, as he gathered himself together, and dusted himself off, and then begin to make his way back to the Marigold plants, all this excitement had made him hungry again.