Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Foley and the Golden Chalice

It has long been rumored, here at Rainbow Bridge, that there is a golden chalice filled with the finest kibble located in a cave high in the mountains.   It was further rumored that somewhere along the banks of the River a treasure map could be located.

        One morning my friend Quincy was digging by some rocks when he found a bottle.  He brought it to me to inspect.  I got the bottle open, and Quincy got his paw inside and pulled out the parchment inside.  He unrolled it.  “Quincy, I think you have found the map to the golden kibble.”  We exchanged a high paw.  We then put together a team to find the treasure.  

We recruited Reba the chocolate lab for her excellent digging skills and Tommy Tunes for his great intelligence.  We followed the map, climbing into the mountains.  Tommy led the expedition.  He would often stop, check the map, smell the ground, and then lead us in another direction.  We then came to the cave entrance.

It was small.  Neither Reba or Tommy would be able to get through. Quincy said he would try but he got halfway through when he got Winnie the Pooh’d and we had to pull him out.  If anyone was going to get the golden kibble, it would be me.  Darn, I knew I should have brought a dog smaller than me.

Tommy pawed me a flashlight.  I put it in my mouth and started down the narrow path surrounded by wet rocks.  I reached an opening.  A thousand bats swooped down towards me. I wanted to run away but I couldn’t face my friends if I lost my nerve.  I lifted my head and shined the light. That is when I saw the golden chalice.

It was sitting on an altar.  How was I supposed to get the chalice down? I had never been a good jumper.  I walked to the altar and put my paws on it.  The chalice shook.  I went back several steps and ran at the support beam.  I only jostled the chalice, but the altar was narrow.  I thought it I hit it a few more times the chalice would fall. If it didn’t break, then I could nose it to my friends.  And if it did then all the golden kibble would be me.

It took me four more tries to knock the chalice down.  It hit the ground hard and rolled toward the tunnel.  It also opened four doors around me. We had heard the chalice was protected but thought it was a legend.  The four snarling wolves licking their chops and looking at me weren’t legend.  They were real, and they were moving.  

I ran at the chalice and pushed it.  It didn’t roll straight because it was oblong shaped.  I had to push on the left side, and then the right side, to get it to go straight. I got it into the tunnel just was a wolf snapped at my behind.  I kept moving it forward when I heard thunder.  Then the ground began to shake.  I turned around.  A giant boulder was rolling towards me.  

I pushed it harder and harder. The sound of the boulder got louder.  The tunnel narrowed, and I had to push it forward with the top of my head.  I got to the end of the tunnel, but I couldn’t get the chalice through.  I yelled at my friends to pull.  They grabbed the chalice with their teeth and pulled it through.  I followed and got out just as the big boulder crashed against the wall and stopped.

We gathered around the chalice.  Reba used her teeth and paws to open it.  We looked inside. There was a handwritten note.

“Show mercy to one another,” it read.

Graciously, my friends let me keep the note.  I framed it and put it on my nightstand so I could remind myself of this message, and what it took to get it, before I fell asleep, and when I awoke.