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A Word in your Furry

by Desormais 

Posted: 15 August 2010
Word Count: 998
Related Works: A Word in your Furry • 

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“Oh, before I forget” said Rex, watching Sheila spoon kibble into his breakfast dish,
“that cat next door wants a word with you”.

Sheila put the dish down on the floor and went to fill Rex’s water bowl. He sighed, staring disconsolately at the unappetising heap of dry brown biscuits, remembering happier times when breakfast had consisted of moist and tasty tinned dogmeat. They’d discussed it of course, before adopting this “healthier” diet.

“It’s so much better for you, Rex” Sheila had said, “it’ll prolong your active life.
And besides, that tinned meat makes you fluff. It’s anti-social.”

“That wasn’t me, it was Bessie” Rex had always protested, but once Bessie died it had become clear who the real culprit was.

Sheila returned with a full water bowl and placed it beside the breakfast dish.

“Which cat do you mean? Dinah?”

“No” Rex said, talking with his mouth full, “the new one, Felix. Black and white, lives on the other side”

“Oh. I know the one you mean. Does he want to make an appointment?”

“No, he said he’d catch you around sometime.”

Sheila leaned against the sink, feeling vaguely irritated. Most of the other birds and animals accepted that she worked on an ‘appointments only’ basis. It was much more orderly, keeping the species separate. She’d got the idea from the zoo, where she regularly paused at each cage in order to chat. Some days it could take a full morning to cover the chimpanzee enclosure.

Still, she never turned a client away. Felix would be accommodated when he showed up.

She was hanging washing on the line when Felix strolled out from under the bushes.

“Good morning” the cat said politely, eyeing her from a distance.

“Morning Felix” she said, removing pegs from her mouth. “Did you want a word with me?”

“I did rather” said Felix. He sat down and started casually washing the side of his face with his paw, taking care to reach behind his ears. “It’s about my human.”

“Mrs Howard?” said Sheila, who had yet to make her new neighbour’s acquaintance but had gleaned her name from the postman.

“That’s her. I’m a bit worried. She’s not very well, been in bed for a few days. I wondered whether you might call on her. There’s only so much a cat can do.”

“Oh dear” said Sheila, who really was a very sympathetic soul. “I’ll pop round later. How will I gain entry, if she’s in bed?”

“No problem,” said Felix, standing up and stretching his front legs out in front of him, tail thrashing wildly in the air. “I’ll fix it so the door’s on the latch.”

He sauntered towards the fence and with a powerful leap, landed silently on the top. “See you later, then” he said over his shoulder, and displaying his elegant backside, fringed in white, he dropped gracefully down to the other side.

“What a very cool cat he is” said Sheila, returning to the house to find Rex squatting with his back legs either side of his front paws, sliding rapturously along the carpet, eyes raised apologetically heavenwards.

Sheila reached quickly into her ‘pharmacy’ and drew out a foil pack of pills.

“Oh God, worm tablets again” said Rex, ears flattened as he watched her.

Later that morning Sheila, mindful of the effect of the tablets, shut Rex in the garden and strolled next door. As Felix had promised, the back door was on the latch and she walked in, looking forward to meeting her new neighbour.

Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, she called out “Are you there, Mrs Howard? I’m your neighbour.”

She thought she heard a noise from the bedroom at the top of the stairs. She climbed the stairs and as she reached the top, the bedroom door was flung open and a wild-eyed old woman rushed out, brandishing a heavy vase.

“Thief!” shrieked the woman.

Sheila stepped back in alarm, losing her footing as something black and furry darted between her feet. She tumbled head over heels downstairs, landing unconscious in a heap in the hallway.

Some weeks later, after being discharged from hospital, Sheila went to pick up Rex from the kennels where her son had so kindly taken him on the day of her accident.

“Miss me, Rex?” she asked, patting the silky golden head.

Rex looked up at her his mouth moving, as he assured her that he had indeed missed her, but Sheila could make neither head nor tail of his conversation.

“Don’t mumble, dear” she said.

Passing a large dalmation in the last kennel before the car park, Sheila paused to ask him how long before he was to be collected. The dalmation stared, with a puzzled frown, and then launched into a frenzy of barking and howling which Sheila simply could not comprehend.

Perturbed, she made her way to the car stopping to greet a robin on the fence. The robin chirped happily, fixing her with his beady eyes, but Sheila could not make out a single word. And then the truth dawned on her. She had been robbed of her gift by the accident!

A week later Felix sat in Rex’s garden, one leg hoisted in the air as he groomed his pristine backside. Rex watched him enviously, fondly remembering a time when he too had been able visit that part of his anatomy.

When Felix had finished, he settled himself down in the shade of the hosta border and folded his black paws into neat semi-circles beneath his snowy white chest. They sat companionably together, enjoying the bird-song from the garden next door, and the occasional drone of an aeroplane drifting through the brilliant sky.

“This is so much better isn’t it” Felix said to Rex. “Couldn’t hear myself think with all that wittering going on.”

Rex nodded and sighed contentedly, dropping his chin between his paws.

Down at the zoo, the chimpanzees swung from branch to branch, chattering with unbridled joy.








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Comments by other Members



Katerina at 13:24 on 15 August 2010  Report this post
Ha ha, great story!

There are a few bits that I think could be altered, and I'm not too sure about the ending.

“This is so much better isn’t it” Felix said to Rex. “Couldn’t hear myself think with all that wittering going on.”


What wittering are they referring to?

I personally would start it differently. I wouldn't start with dialogue.

How about -

Sheila spooned kibble into her dog's breakfast dish, then went to fill his water bowl.

'Oh, before I forget,' Rex told her, 'that cat next door wants a word with you.'


Then, I would maybe comment on the fact that Sheila can talk to animals because otherwise it may be a bit confusing.

How about something like -

Sheila sighed. Being able to talk to animals had its downside as there was always some creature that needed to ask her something.

Then you can continue with the story and it makes it clear what's going on.

“It’s so much better for you, Rex” Sheila had said, “it’ll prolong your active life.
And besides, that tinned meat makes you fluff. It’s anti-social.”


It may be the way it's uploaded, but this needs to be on one line - the same thing has happened with the opening sentence, so it should be -

“It’s so much better for you, Rex” Sheila had said, “it’ll prolong your active life. And besides, that tinned meat makes you fluff. It’s anti-social.”

How will I gain entry
I wasn't sure about this phrase. Maybe just 'how will I get in?' might be better.

“What a very cool cat he is” said Sheila
I would remove the word 'very' and just have - 'what a cool cat he is,' sheila said

As I said, I wasn't sure about the ending. If the wittering is referring to Sheila, why are the animals happy now she can't talk to them? They were the ones going to her and making appointments to talk to her, so I'd have thought they'd be upset now she can't hear them.

If you can find a different ending, for instance give the ending a twist, then it may be suitable for The Weekly News. I know a lot of magazines don't like stories with animal characters, but The Weekly News are happy to take different stories, but they do like unexpected endings.

Hope this has helped,

Kat

JaPe at 17:17 on 15 August 2010  Report this post
This did make me laugh and I particularly enjoyed the dialogue which flowed well and sounded very natural. The antics of Rex made me smile and he reminded me of several dogs I've known and loved.

returning to the house to find Rex squatting with his back legs either side of his front paws, sliding rapturously along the carpet, eyes raised apologetically heavenwards.


I loved this image!

Rex watched him enviously, fondly remembering a time when he too had been able visit that part of his anatomy.


I liked this sentence too, but think a 'to' has been missed before 'visit'.

I think I'm correct in writing that there should always be a punctuation mark before the quotation marks are closed. So for example,

“Oh, before I forget” said Rex,


should be,

"Oh, before I forget," said Rex,

I thought the ending suggests that animals might appreciate Sheila's gift when they required her services, but that she was difficult for a dog to live with or for a cat to have as a neighbour!

As this story focuses so much on the antics of Rex and Felix, I wondered whether a dog magazine might be interested in it. I don't know if any of the dog magazines take fiction but this could be an angle to explore. The story could then perhaps be told exclusively from the pov of Rex and focus even more on what our dogs would tell us if they could.

Janet











Desormais at 18:34 on 15 August 2010  Report this post
Thanks everyone. Some very observant comments there, and I will do some more work on the story. Thanks too for pointing out the typo and punctuation JaPe. It doesn't matter how often you check and re-check there's always something you miss isn't there? JaPe also got the ending - they were happy (if a little irritated) to tolerate her "wittering" at them, but when Felix arrived, he wasn't prepared to put up with it and wanted supremacy of the patch.

Maybe it needs a little more clarification, and if I'm not constrained with wordcount I can do that.

On the subject of POV, I wonder whether this is so important in a short story. And could I claim that the narrator was 'Omnipresent Being' or whatever that word is?


Katerina at 22:14 on 15 August 2010  Report this post
Hmm, I think a story needs to be clearly from someone's particular pov. It's okay to switch pov whenever you want, as long as it's done smoothly and is clear to the reader whose viewpoint they are now reading, but there does need to be a defined pov at all times.

It's not a bad idea to have the story told from Rex's pov, but equally it could be from Sheila's and how she feels having been able to talk to the animals, to suddenly finding she can no longer do it.

This has a lot of scope for a story from different angles.

Kat

JaPe at 10:28 on 16 August 2010  Report this post
I agree with you Kat on pov and I've just posted a story that has a jumping pov. I didn't notice the jumps at the time.

Janet

Cornelia at 11:45 on 16 August 2010  Report this post


I love the title and the humour of this. I would love to have a dog so cool and sophisiticated as Rex.

I think it's a nice surprise when we don't realise straight away that Rex is a dog. I must confess I thought kibble might be a breakfast cereal, and Rex can be a man's name. It adds to the pleasure. There's a pleasant down-beat rythm to this, as all take for granted the situation that's been going on for a while.

'to cover the chimpanzee enclosure' For a second I thought Sheila was employed at the zoo. I think it would better to use a verb like 'walk round'

'“Oh dear” said Sheila, who really was a very sympathetic soul.' I think you could leave out the last part of the sentence -it's a case of telling us again what we know from the words she has just said and from what we already know.

'where her son had so kindly taken him' I think you can drop the 'so kindly' because the action speaks for itself.

Mrs Howard and the cat: I understood the cat must have stolen food or something, and the old lady came after her. She seemed a bit vigorous for someone confined to bed. I wasn't absolutely sure who had fallen at first, so perhaps you could use her name instead of 'she'. Or maybe change to something like 'Sheila lost her footing as something furry...' etc. I think the order needs some tinkering.

'which Sheila simply could not comprehend' I think this needs to be more dramatic . i.e. 'Had they begun to speak in a foreign language?' or simply 'Why couldn't she understand?'

Yes, the the chimpanzees were a problem again for me. I could understand Rex -it made me smile to think that like many rather staid men he disliked too much chatter, and maybe he wanted some privacy, too. Sheila's gift possibly gave her too much control as far as he was concerned.

But why would the chimps be joyful? How would they know? I should think it would be a novelty for them to talk to a human.

I did find the pov a problem, and even thought Sheila was one of the animals at one point. That's probably me being stupid.

I think if you get over the minor problems the strength of the story will shine through.

Sheila

Desormais at 11:50 on 16 August 2010  Report this post
Thanks for that Sheila. Some worthwhile points there. Those phrases that could be omitted hadn't occurred to me before, which is unusual because I was being especially vigilant about word-count.

It's obviously a problem that readers don't see that the animals are a bit fed up of having her constantly chatting away at them. I need to look at it again.

Many thanks.
Sandra


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