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 Poor Laphoofujanét (pronounced La-foofoo-zha-nay)! She used to be such a joyful dog. When Adam Anderson first adopted her, he could take her anywhere, and virtually anything would do. Frisbee throwing? Sure! Play fetch? Absolutely! Walks through the park? Why not! Nowadays, though, it's a totally different story. On top of missing her puppies dearly, she simply can't have any more. Her reproductive powers...well, they're not what they used to be. They're non-existent now, and this often puts her in a sullen mood, and usually at the least opportune times. Actually, she's sullen most of the time nowadays anyhow. Sure, her puppies, once they were fixed, were given up for adoption and they found good pet owners and all, but time and again, she gets lonely. She simply isn't the happy dog she once was. Well, most of the time. There are some bright days for her, and Adam enjoys these with her. But they are now very few--too few--and far in between, and as if that weren't bad enough, it usually comes on next to no notice. But Laphoofujanét isn't the only pet that Adam has. There's also Leilateeshika (pronounced Lee-la-tee-shikah). Whereas Laphoofujanét is at the foot of the so-called hill if not already over it, Leilateeshika is a feline that is barely past her youth. Yet somehow, she managed to acquire a few golf-ball-sized bumps on her stomach, and with each passing day, they get heavier and heavier. Hence, her meows are more and more painful-sounding. It's as if the second syllable in "meow" is a little more prolonged than the first, and she meows as if she is crying at the same time. Adam is concerned that one day, when he least expects it and even sooner than he wants, those golf-ball-sized bumps will come out in the shape of kittens. Yes, Leilateeshika is due, practically at a moment's notice now. As if it weren't bad enough he had had to fix about two dozen puppies over the years, now he faces having to fix a whole bunch of kittens and then give them up for adoption, and by the look on his face, he wasn't looking forward to that too much. Worse yet, even after this little scenario, there would surely be more to come...unless, of course, he got her fixed right afterwards. In fact, that is exactly what Adam had decided to--or at least he intended to do so, but his pets weren't the only concern on his mind, and if only they were. Adam had many. For instance, there was his decision to remain single and not even bother dating, which didn't sit too well with a lot of people. But at least telling people to get over it alleviates the stress of people harping on him over that. One of his other major problems, though, was in the person of a certain Delores Montgomery. At first glance, she looks like a sweet old lady. Remember, though: she only looks like a sweet old lady. That doesn't mean that she was. No, far from it! That could be seen from the way she dealt with Adam. She wasn't very mannerly towards him, and that's just saying the least. She was very demanding, and that tended to run throughout five generations of her family. Case in point: although she was a retired nurse who, during her career as a nurse, she made really good money and her pension was good, she went and gambled the bulk of it away in hopes of having more money and thus a more comfortable retirement. What happened in reality, though, was that she was so broke that she had to move into the basement of her eldest grandson, Doug Henby, who just happened to live next door to Adam. The problem was that Adam owned his own home whereas she didn't own the home that she lived in the basement of. Doug did. Not too surprisingly, therefore, she came to the conclusion that Adam had good money--and lots of it--in his bank account. So consequently, she got to thinking to herself that he should have no problem lending her large sums of money. So, all things considered, she walked over to Adam's house one sunny morning when he happened to be off. She knocked on his door. It was about 9:30, and even when he was off work on a particular day, Adam was usually up by about 9:00. Anyhow, he answered the door and was genuinely surprised to see her at his door. She had never come to his door before, but apparently, she had a favour to ask of him. With very little hesitation, as soon as he opened the door and after they exchanged their respective "good mornings", she explained to him: "Well, I have a shopping trip with the girls coming up, and I have no money to go. I was wondering if you could be a goodhearted Samaritan, so to speak, and lend me a little money, maybe, um, five grand. Could you? Please?" Naturally, this took Adam aback. After all, this woman had never ever even responded whenever he wished her a good morning, and yet now, she was boldly--more like brazenly--coming to him and asking him for money. Well, it was a good thing he knew of her circumstances and how she had gotten there. Somehow, one of his other neighbours, Jamie Thomerson, became aware of the circumstances of most of the people in that particular neighbourhood, so he found out from him how she came to be in her set of circumstances. So, therefore, in response, Adam, in equally as bold a fashion, immediately nodded and said: "Absolutely not! Besides, I hardly even know you, and even if I did, I am not just going to wantonly give you money like that--especially not a sum of money such as that! No way!" "Oh, please, dear," Delores begged, "it's not like I won't pay you back or anything." "Oh, really?" Adam said, "Well, how can you pay me back if you gambled your retirement fund away? Sorry! Out of the question!" Upon hearing that, Delores suddenly began fuming, huffing, puffing and breathing very heavily. Then, in more of a livid tone of voice, she yelled: "How dare you talk to me that way!" "Well, is it my fault you gambled your whole pension away?" Adam responded. At that, she huffed and puffed and walked away in thorough disgust. After that incident, Adam closed his front door and resumed whatever it was he was doing--namely, tending to still-pregnant Leilateeshika. Unfortunately for Adam, though, that would not be the end of the matter. | |