Bella From Down Under Crosses Over

 

Bella dawdled.

I was stunned when I was informed that my good friend from the big island, from the Downunder Daisy blog, ever since the post’s namesake crossed over, joined us at the Bridge.  I thought she would be romping through Australia for years to come.  My heart immediately went to her family and siblings suffering from an indescribable loss.  

When I went to Hobo's Landing to swear in Bella, I saw Daisy already awaiting her.  She told me she was looking forward to taking long walks with her sister again.  That is when we saw Bella crossing with her tail held high. 

Then she stopped. She sniffed the grass along the riverbank. She scraped the mud with her dark paws.  She seemed content to dawdle there, unaware of me, her sister, and other friends awaiting her.  

Having first-hand experience of Bella's curious nature and love of the long sniff, she barked at her sister to hurry up and join them. After all, we only have an eternity to wait.

"Have you checked out this mud?".Bella inquired. "It is excellent.  It's soft and squishy.  It feels cool between my toes.  It is much better than Australian mud. That was high praise. Australian soil was the finest in the mortal world. The girl knew her ground.

I began to tell her that there was good mud in  our section of the Bridge, but Daisy quieted me, afraid her sister would wander away, searching for a better product.

We needed a way to entice Bella to join us.  Daisy mentioned that Bella was food orientated.  I looked for some protein to lure the stubborn girl. I saw a duck happily swimming in the river and asked if we could take his body while he got a new one.  "Are you crazy?" The duck asked. I wasn't hatched yesterday.

Stymied by a mallard and being accused of being an Anti-Australiandite after suggesting we throw a shrimp on the barbie, I decided on a more conventional method to encourage our friend away from the river bank.  I called my good buddy and ice cream shop proprietor Otis Campbell, and he whipped up a delicious hamburger platter with the previous unknown entity called onion rings.  Once it arrived, it's smell caught the breeze, and when it reached Bella, her ears went up, and then she ran towards us.

It was the first time I gave the oath to a dog eating onion rings, but Bella is one of a kind dog.  When we completed our tasks, Bella admired the river and the green grass growing along with it.  "It sure is pretty here; whoever created this place must have based it on Australia.”  She then looked at her big sister.  “Is mom going to be okay? Dui and Roxy are good dogs, but I had her heart.”

“I felt the same way when I got here,” Daisy said.  “But, then I saw how my siblings, including you, rebuilt her heart, and I knew she would be fine. I am sure you will find the same with Dui and Roxy.  They will surprise you.  And, while mom will miss you, she is happy that you are no longer in pain.”

“Are we still going to visit her?”

“Of course, little sister, and, since it is summer in Australia, we can visit her as all sorts of flying creatures.  We will go tonight, but first, let’s check out the mud.”

Just as they had on the mortal side, Bella followed Daisy down to the river to walk, run, play, tip their toes in the mud, and reminisce about when they were young and their family together.