Flight, bite, and sonar sight…part 1 “The Capture.”

“Goggles?” “Check.” “Hats?” “Check.” “Snorkels?” “Check.” “Nylons and rubber bands?” “Check check.” “Flippers?” “What?” Stephen asked. “Just checking to see if you are checking.” Jarred replied, and then continued. “Flashlights?” “Check..” “Bait, Nets, and Cage?” “Check, check, and check.” Thus ended the check off list for Stephen and Jarred’s little over night Quote “Camping” End quote, trip. Yeah right, “camping”. But, were they going somewhere illegal? Nope. Were they going frog hunting with nets? Nope. Could it be that they were on some kind of deep sea hunt looking for Davey Jones locker or Red Beards treasure? Nope, not this time. This time the boys were out looking for the latest ‘Dare Marbles’ game, loser’s requirement. And that was one of the funniest things about Dare Marbles. Most often it didn’t matter who lost. Both boys would get involved in the Dare. And of course as was par for the course, they both would end up getting caught and consequences would always follow. And this time all was steering that direction as well.

The mission you ask? ‘Find, catch, and release into Jarred’s sister Sandy’s room…not one, not two, but three furry flying bats.’ Oh Mercy, Mr. Myers would say. Even with our extra sensitive nose and hearing, we dogs still can’t detect everything. However, this time, I felt like I was K-9 clairvoyantly able to hear the screams that would be violently tearing though the neighborhood and I could definitely smell the punishment that was way beyond inevitable. Side note: Dogs don’t pray, but if we did…… “Dear Lord, please don’t let any bats get me. I’m just a growing pup and I’ve heard of a dog named Cujo.” Scary.

The boys headed out around 6:00 o’clock. It wouldn’t be dark for a couple of hours and it would take almost that long to get to the cave and set up camp. ‘Cave?!’ Nobody said anything about a cave. Else I would have turned right back around and found my way to the foot of Mr. Crow’s recliner. Sometimes I wonder why I follow these two around so much and so blindly. Must be the treats. Anyway, the cave was at the opposite end of town than was the big pond. I don’t recall if the cave had a name or not, but I called it Big Scary Cave.

We walked past the only fire hydrant in town painted red white and blue, which marked a half way point to the cave. After a short “sniff and visit” by me we passed by Butch, the so called 8th grade bully. Butch was almost the size of a high school senior, and had almost as much facial hair. The great thing about Butch was, if you were on his good side you had it made in the shade. And fortunately for Jarred and Stephen, they were on his good side. You see, I was being teased by some 7th graders, while tied up outside of the grocery store (Had I not been tied I would have just followed the boys in. And though that was cute the first time, the manager didn’t appreciate me playing tug-o-war with the butcher and his rope of link sausages), so Butch knocked one boy down, and gave another a monkey bump on the forearm. Then while giving me the once over to make sure they hadn’t hurt me when Stephen and Jarred returned he nearly knocked them on their behinds thinking they were going to harass me too. Of course they do harass me now and then, but I get even. I am not above swiping a baseball card or sling shot, or cap gun, or any other of their prize possessions, and hiding them in the shoes of the other family members. Now the only real soft side to Butch, be it inside or outside, was a liking for animals. Not true for most other Bullies that this dog has had the displeasure of meeting. Butch and I were buds.


"Hey Butch." "Hey Butch." They boys said in unison. "Hey." Replied Butch, with no real enthusiasm, until................."HEY, HENRY! Com'er boy." He gained a smile, squatted down, and took all the chin slurping I could give. The boys didn't bother explaining the cave trip, Butch would not have approved. Well, nobody would have approved to be quite frank. But they had it all planned. While scratching me behind the ears, Butch quietly mentioned he was headed over to his ex-girlfriend’s house to retrieve his small music collection and the hamster he gave her for Valentine’s Day. After Butch and I had one last nose to nose and a hug, we parted ways. The cool thing the boys thought was that Butch was the only boy in town who could go around being all lovey dovey with animals and no one ever said a word. Partly because there was compassion for the animals, and partly cause Butch could squash anyone who’d try to tease him.

The cave was scary. The boys put up camp about 80 yards away, behind a very big bolder. They wanted to be able to have a campfire to escape to, but knew if the Sheriff saw it from in town, he would have been up there in a heartbeat to see what was what. Now, about that check list. Most if it was self explained. But a snorkel, nylons, rubber bands? What was all that for you ask? Well, ya see, Stephen was sure that he heard his brother Paul tell of a story that if a bat bit you on the tongue you would turn into one, sooooooo. AND, while breathing through the snorkel the boys didn't want any bat poop to fall into the tube while they were breathing in, cause well that would just be gross, hence the nylons and rubber bands. And the bait was a few pieces of fruit from Mrs. Crow’s kitchen.

The hunt and capture was on with few problems. There was the one bat that wouldn't let go of Stephen's Goggles. There was the pile of bat poop that Jarred stepped in. And there was the fact that it started to rain, so they lost the fire, and got wet right down to their skivvies. How ever, to the boys the price was worth it. The night after, would turn out to be quite an eventful evening.................

Obviously to be continued................. Henry