Category: Family Publisher: Moyhill
Type: Fiction
Copyright: December 31st 2013
ISBN-13: 9781905597413
Price: $5.06 (eBook)
An articulate collie tells his own story
Sam met his new owner when he was three weeks old. He first noticed her smell and the warmth under her chin where he happily snuggled and dozed. The book is rich with his adventures and experiences and the friends he met along the way. These included Henry a very disreputable ferile cat who taught Sam to talk 'Cat' and how to behave around felines.
He also describes his various travels and his love of music, namely that of Shania Twain.
Excerpt
1. In the Beginning
I was only three weeks old when I first met my mistress on an unusually warm Irish spring day in May. I was busy drinking milk at the time and barely lifted my head when I heard voices in the back yard where I had lived since I was born.
It was warm and comforting lying next to my two sisters as we snuggled close to my mother’s fur and from time to time a gentle lick would dampen my fluffy coat lovingly.
I was already bigger than my sisters but my mother was determined that we should all be treated with the same care and attention as each other. She was an experienced mother and she knew how to raise strong and healthy babies. This would be her last litter and she lay quietly and contentedly in the straw lined kennel.
Full of milk and very sleepy, I sensed movement in front of our home and lifted my eyes blearily. I could just make out two very large shapes but was not afraid as the smell from one of them was familiar.
Since the day I was born I had been picked up daily and held high in the air whilst a deep voice rumbled into my small ears and a strong but unthreatening scent filled my nostrils. I have no idea what the voice was saying but it sounded kind and I had no fear of it.
I was also used to a smaller body with little hands that pulled at my fur and tickled my tummy. I loved these small hands and the chuckling sounds that the shape made as it played with me and my sisters.
This new being was different and despite my desire to fall asleep after my lunch, I pricked my ears up and turned my face in its direction.
I heard two voices making soft sounds and then felt myself lifted up in the air and held closely against warm and human scented skin that was different from the smells I was used to.
I snuggled in against this scent and fell asleep hearing a soft voice saying a word that seemed to echo in my head. This was the first time that I heard my name and I have been called Sam ever since.
The days passed quickly and my sisters and I became more adventurous with lots of rough and tumble and nipping at heels and tails. We were allowed into the kitchen of the house occasionally and we spent more time with the little person with the sticky hands who chased and cuddled us as much as would let her. We soon learnt that there were certain behaviours that were not considered acceptable most of which involved teeth and making puddles on the kitchen floor.
My mother was content to let us roam around the house as she lay in a sunny patch of the yard where she rested away from her noisy and growing brood. We still pestered her for milk from time to time even though we were now eating some small dried pellets as well. They tasted funny and we all still preferred lying side by side close to our mother whenever we could but I sensed that she was beginning to get impatient with us and would often stand up and move away.
I was getting used to my new name as my mother’s master started using it whenever he came into the yard. One day I heard his deep laughter as his small daughter also called to me. I did not understand at the time but it seems Sam was the first word that she ever said bypassing Dada and Mama in favour of her best friend. Trouble was she called my two sisters Sam too which must have been very confusing for them when they went to their new homes and were given different ones.
Anyway, back to my new mistress and her husband who had never seen me before. As soon as I heard my name I bounded over to the two of them and was made a wonderful fuss of. My new mistress picked me up and tucked me into her neck which I licked and savoured. I remembered her scent from her first visit but this time my eyes were open and I was able to look into her eyes as she gazed down at me.
“Hello Sam – you’ve grown so big.” She looked over to the man and held me out to him.
“Here you go darling, meet Sam,” she said passing me into his strong hands.
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