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Grace watched her friends and relatives carefully, marvelling at how they enjoyed their variety of pets. She was impressed when her friend’s puppies came out to greet them, wagging their little tails and leaping for them as they walked in from outside. She even loved how her friend’s cat snuck up on them and nestled itself in her friend’s lap, purring and wiggling around. She enjoyed all of this, but she was not the least bit jealous. Her family’s dog, Lamar, had a special place in her heart and always would. It was hard to explain, for sure. Lamar knew no real tricks, at least not that he would perform on demand. Lamar was in effect an elderly gentleman now. He did not run to meet anyone; in fact, he hardly ran at all. It was becoming an outing for Lamar to get up the steps, and the days of him jumping up and sharing her bed were history. Still, Lamar held a special place in her heart, and she thought deep inside that no one knew Lamar like she does. Little did she know how central that would be in coming day. It was a cold, clear night in Grace’s neighborhood. She went to bed after re-reading one of the Harry Potter books for the umpteenth time. Grace gathered the covers around her and screwed her head into her pillow. Before she could collect her thoughts, she was hard asleep, and was surprised to be awaken by her little dog’s bark, arousing her from her slumber. She was a bit taken aback just to hear her little pal bark – despite his diminutive size, Lamar was the strong, silent type. While other dogs in his weight class were typified by ceaseless yipping, nipping, and chasing, and a general proclivity to misbehavior, her little guy was stoic. He never bit anyone in his life, and even when Grace as a toddler laid on top of Lamar, he rarely if ever let it bother him. For all the world, it seemed like he was happy for the attention. But that was then. Right now, Lamar was not only barking, but he was also growling. Grace couldn’t
remember ever hearing the little guy growl before. And furthermore, he was ON her bed – not just up the long flights of stairs, but on her bed itself, a couple of feet off the floor, and looking out the second story window. What had gotten into the little guy? Grace leapt from her bed and ran to the foot, peering directly out the window. Soon enough she saw for herself what was eating Lamar. There before her with wings spread out wide was a huge owl. Not a cute little owlet, a full-grown owl with its wings spread wide. While Grace thought this was odd, she was only a tiny bit shaken. When she saw what happened next, she was shaken to her core. The owl flapped its wings and raised a ruckus, through his actions he caught the eyes of the barking dog. When their eyes met, she noted the owl’s eyes were a luminous gold. More so, as Lamar and the owl’s eyes met, her peaceful little dog jumped across the bed to the windowsill, and sweet little Lamar’s eyeballs took on the same gold luminescence. With this, the owl and the aged canine became allies. Grace watched as the owl extended its talon to her dog. Even though a mature owl’s talon could rip a dog the size of her Lamar in two, the little mutt gently wrested something from the owl’s grasp, transferring it into his own little mouth and then watching as the owl pivoted and flew away. Totally shocked by what she had just witnessed, Grace stared into space for some time before noting her little dog had a scroll in his mouth, sealed by a purple ribbon, and Lamar extended his neck out to her, as if he was offering up the scroll to his mistress.
Grace was more curious than scared, and she grasped the scroll from her dog, unfurling it as she clutched it in her fingers. For a minute she thought it was all silliness, as what she saw was a printed-out email inviting her to a Zoom meeting the next day. At first, she was certain it was just a random piece of trash
the nocturnal hooter picked up out of a trash bin. She knew no one on the invite list and the number was for a country code other than the US. But at the appointed time, there sat Grace, with Lamar by her side, double clicking on the link for the mysterious Zoom call. After some very strange screen backgrounds sashayed back and forth across her tablet, a weird looking woman emerged through a column of green smoke. She looked straight at Grace and rasped out in a terrifying voice: “Tomorrow night at half past eight, come to your window and don’t be late. Have your dog present me something that rhymes with Ben, and soon enough, we’ll meet again.” This was starting to go from a little strange to very weird, and it was going quickly.
Grace was always up for a good spell though, so at 8:29 the next night she handed Lamar a little pen, and as if he knew what he was supposed to do, he clamped it between his aging teeth and propelled himself up the stairs, onto the bed, and then launched his old bones at the window sill, looking like a pup half his age. As Grace raced into the room in hot pursuit, her amazed eyes saw the owl alighting as Lamar’s feet reached the sill. This time she noted that it wasn’t just the night, the magnificent bird was indeed black from beak to talons, except for one thing; his eyes glowed with the golden fire and they danced around until the pupils were
met directly by those of Lamar, at which time their stares locked on one another. As Lamar extended the pen out to the owl, Grace noted the owl passed to Lamar another scroll, also bound in purple ribbon. Lamar marched directly to Grace and presented the scroll to Grace. Again, it was an invitation to a Zoom meeting – same time as the last, except tomorrow night.
You can bet Grace and her loyal pet were front and center before her tablet at the appointed time the next day. As the Zoom meeting launched, Lamar barked expectantly when the same mysterious lady materialized from a pillar of red smoke. This time she was short and to the point. Alice is your next rhyming quest, 8:30 tomorrow respond to my test! And poof! She was gone. And as she left, and Grace started to ponder her appointed tasking, she found herself more than a little befuddled. She didn’t want to tell anyone what was happening, but she needed some help. “Hey mom” she asked, “what rhymes with Alice?”
Her mom scratched her head and thought for a bit then offered “Dallas?” Grace agreed but added “Do you suppose there’s anything around here we have that might rhyme with Alice. Her mom thought for some time, then retorted “Why don’t you ask Dad? He was an English major.
Grace waited for until after work, then slinked into her dad’s study. “Hey Dad: she queried “can you think of something around the house that rhymes with Alice?”
Dad thought for some time, then smiled insightfully. “An old term for a brief case is a valise, there’s one around here somewhere.” But in the same breath he added “come to think of it, I left mine at the office, and I haven’t been there in some time. Can’t really come up with anything else. Sorry.”
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Grace watched her friends and relatives carefully, marvelling at how they enjoyed their variety of pets. She was impressed when her friend’s puppies came out to greet them, wagging their little tails and leaping for them as they walked in from outside. She even loved how her friend’s cat snuck up on them and nestled itself in her friend’s lap, purring and wiggling around. She enjoyed all of this, but she was not the least bit jealous. Her family’s dog, Lamar, had a special place in her heart and always would. It was hard to explain, for sure. Lamar knew no real tricks, at least not that he would perform on demand. Lamar was in effect an elderly gentleman now. He did not run to meet anyone; in fact, he hardly ran at all. It was becoming an outing for Lamar to get up the steps, and the days of him jumping up and sharing her bed were history. Still, Lamar held a special place in her heart, and she thought deep inside that no one knew Lamar like she does. Little did she know how central that would be in coming day. It was a cold, clear night in Grace’s neighborhood. She went to bed after re-reading one of the Harry Potter books for the umpteenth time. Grace gathered the covers around her and screwed her head into her pillow. Before she could collect her thoughts, she was hard asleep, and was surprised to be awaken by her little dog’s bark, arousing her from her slumber. She was a bit taken aback just to hear her little pal bark – despite his diminutive size, Lamar was the strong, silent type. While other dogs in his weight class were typified by ceaseless yipping, nipping, and chasing, and a general proclivity to misbehavior, her little guy was stoic. He never bit anyone in his life, and even when Grace as a toddler laid on top of Lamar, he rarely if ever let it bother him. For all the world, it seemed like he was happy for the attention. But that was then. Right now, Lamar was not only barking, but he was also growling. Grace couldn’t
remember ever hearing the little guy growl before. And furthermore, he was ON her bed – not just up the long flights of stairs, but on her bed itself, a couple of feet off the floor, and looking out the second story window. What had gotten into the little guy? Grace leapt from her bed and ran to the foot, peering directly out the window. Soon enough she saw for herself what was eating Lamar. There before her with wings spread out wide was a huge owl. Not a cute little owlet, a full-grown owl with its wings spread wide. While Grace thought this was odd, she was only a tiny bit shaken. When she saw what happened next, she was shaken to her core. The owl flapped its wings and raised a ruckus, through his actions he caught the eyes of the barking dog. When their eyes met, she noted the owl’s eyes were a luminous gold. More so, as Lamar and the owl’s eyes met, her peaceful little dog jumped across the bed to the windowsill, and sweet little Lamar’s eyeballs took on the same gold luminescence. With this, the owl and the aged canine became allies. Grace watched as the owl extended its talon to her dog. Even though a mature owl’s talon could rip a dog the size of her Lamar in two, the little mutt gently wrested something from the owl’s grasp, transferring it into his own little mouth and then watching as the owl pivoted and flew away. Totally shocked by what she had just witnessed, Grace stared into space for some time before noting her little dog had a scroll in his mouth, sealed by a purple ribbon, and Lamar extended his neck out to her, as if he was offering up the scroll to his mistress.
Grace was more curious than scared, and she grasped the scroll from her dog, unfurling it as she clutched it in her fingers. For a minute she thought it was all silliness, as what she saw was a printed-out email inviting her to a Zoom meeting the next day. At first, she was certain it was just a random piece of trash
the nocturnal hooter picked up out of a trash bin. She knew no one on the invite list and the number was for a country code other than the US. But at the appointed time, there sat Grace, with Lamar by her side, double clicking on the link for the mysterious Zoom call. After some very strange screen backgrounds sashayed back and forth across her tablet, a weird looking woman emerged through a column of green smoke. She looked straight at Grace and rasped out in a terrifying voice: “Tomorrow night at half past eight, come to your window and don’t be late. Have your dog present me something that rhymes with Ben, and soon enough, we’ll meet again.” This was starting to go from a little strange to very weird, and it was going quickly.
Grace was always up for a good spell though, so at 8:29 the next night she handed Lamar a little pen, and as if he knew what he was supposed to do, he clamped it between his aging teeth and propelled himself up the stairs, onto the bed, and then launched his old bones at the window sill, looking like a pup half his age. As Grace raced into the room in hot pursuit, her amazed eyes saw the owl alighting as Lamar’s feet reached the sill. This time she noted that it wasn’t just the night, the magnificent bird was indeed black from beak to talons, except for one thing; his eyes glowed with the golden fire and they danced around until the pupils were
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