Lucky

a Lulu & Friends story

500 words based on a sentence (in italics) selected by Dive. Click here for more info.


Lulu stepped in it barefoot on her way to the bathroom.


The dog sidled up to her and nosed the side of her leg as she sat on the edge of the tub washing her foot under the rushing water. “What’s a matter puppy face? Your tummy bothering you? We’ll go out in a minute.”


Lulu pulled on a t-shirt and jeans and grabbed a red leash. Outside the dog made his way to a tree, did what he needed to and pulled Lulu back towards the house. From that angle Lulu saw that he needed the back half of a bath.


Inside again Lulu parked the pooch in the tub, treated the stain with the carpet spray from under the sink and reached for the phone.


“Hi Lo. It’s me. Pupster’s gotta go to the vet. Can you pick us up? My car’s still in the shop.”


Lola got to Lulu’s just as Lulu shut off the blow drier.


“Wow – his hair’s really starting to grow in Lu. Why’d he have that other haircut?”


“I think the kids at the shelter thought he was a white schnauzer. Guess the pointy ears and carrot tail didn’t register. You’re looking more like a Westie every week, aren’t you poopy pants?”


“Uh, Lu? I think you got another problem over here behind the loveseat.”


“Crap!”

“Exactly. You need to shove his nose in it and yell he’s a bad dog.”


“No. He’s gonna learn that I don’t yell when he’s sick. He’s gotta learn to trust me and that he’s safe here.”


“Maybe when we’re done at the vet, Lu, we’ll go to McDonald’s and get him a sausage biscuit?”


“He’s already got diarrhea Lo. He really doesn’t need a sausage biscuit.”


“Well, maybe I’ll get one for me.”


At the vet’s office Lola picked up a magazine from a table and plopped down on a chair. Lulu and the dog fidgeted impatiently at the check-in desk. The receptionist wore white scrubs with a faded multi-colored paw print pattern.


“Have an appointment?”


“Yeah. I called a little while ago.”


“What’s the pet’s name?”

“Lucho Abril Marroquin.”


The receptionist looked up from her screen, eyebrows raised.


Lulu sighed. “Lucky. Everyone calls him Lucky.”


“You can take him into room two. Doctor Jeff will be right in.”


In the exam room, Doctor Jeff scratched behind the dog’s ears and made kissy-kissy noises.

“He’s got diarrhea? It’s probably just the bug that’s going around. We’ll do a quick exam just to make sure, then there’s a pill that will get him back to normal in no time. Eyes good. Ears look fine. Gotta take your temperature buddy. Our ear thermometer’s broken, so we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Now where’s that tube of lubricant?”


But with the passage of the years Lucho Abril Marroquin was to tell himself that of all the instructive experiences of that morning the most unforgettable had not been either the first or the second accident but what happened afterwards.

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copyright (c) 2009 Lulubelle B