The Ruby Rose and the Big Little Angels 3 Blog

  My friend Willie told me about a friend of his from the mortal side, Spencer, who, because of a cleric error, they sent to the Dark Place, where irredeemable souls go.  Unable to find help, Willie turned to me, and I put together a crack team, with Smoochy and Ashton, to penetrate the dark side to save Spencer.  When we did, we were quickly captured, sans Ashton, and they brought us to the Dark Lords, who said we were in our forever home. Because I was the one who put the expedition together, it was my duty to speak up.  "There must be some mistake!" I said.  "We have a forever home on the light side." "Not anymore," he said.  "Didn't you see the sign above the gates?  In case you didn't, it says: 'He who comes in may never leave.'" "I thought it said: 'Free cookies,'" Smoochy said. "We do have those," the Dark Lord said and sen

   There is a part of the Bridge we do not talk about.  It is called the dark side.  The sun never shines there, and nothing grows.  It is where the genuinely evil species go for eternity, and there is no way to become an angel for all those who enter.   The Powers That Be here don't communicate with the demons who run the dark side.  They might be all-knowing and seeing, but they can't look into the darkness and don't want to either. My good friend Willie likes to spend his days swimming in the river, but he also works in the Department of Angel Corrections, and while going over a list of dogs who passed but didn't come to the Bridge, he found a pup named Spencer, who he knew in New Jersey.  Spencer had been sent to the dark side after he killed a little dog in its yard.  But Willie knew it was the wrong Spencer, and he went to the Board with his findings. The Board would not listen to him, so Willie came to me and said he was confident that Spencer had been se

  This is why I wanted her to pick up the paintbrush in the Doljanchi ceremony and not the stethoscope.

  Where is your favorite place to sleep at night?

I got a visit from my good friend Abbie this morning. Since arriving at the Bridge months ago, she has been looking for her Shih Tzu sister Maggie, to no avail. At her wit's end, she appealed to me for help.    The powers that govern the Bridge try to keep siblings together, but with hundreds of thousands of pups passing over a day, it is easy for a dog to slip through the cracks and get lost.   I immediately seized on the most straightforward solution and told Abbie to wait for Maggie to appear in her mom's dream and tell her where her sister was. Abbie told me she had but wished she hadn't. Maggie had left her section to find her sister and was lost in the wilderness.    Rumor was years ago, a dog named Moses left with his followers to find a land promised to him by a sibling and ended up wandering in the  b ridge desert for 40 years. That wasn't good. We couldn't let Maggie do the sam

     it is always a mixed blessing When a friend joins us at the Bridge. While we are happy to see them, we are sad they have arrived. It is the same emotion people have in the Jury House on Big Brother:  great to see you. Sorry, you’re here.   When word came that Winston from the great state of Maine was arriving, I had to quell Pocket’s enthusiasm. While they never met, my sister did spend an afternoon at Aunt Laura’s house where she was chief snuggle bug and cuddled with Bentley’s momma Madison. Pocket investigated all of Bentley’s scents, and when Momma Madison got home, Bentley did the same with the smells Pocket left. Subsequently, they became sniff pals. Bentley was one of the few original members of Doggyspace, where dogs and parents met via the Internet 14 years ago and became lifelong friends. Bentley came to the Bridge a couple of weeks shy of his 17th birthday. His mighty, tiny body had finally succumbed to age. His mom knew Bentley was in her heart, and the

   First, while I was on a picnic with Hattie, Tiara, and Lily, Pocket found a chest of golden eggs.  Pirates, who had hidden the eggs, captured us, took the booty, and made us walk the plank.  Thanks to Pocket speaking whale, one named Bennie saved us and helped me retrieve the eggs, then he told us the eggs belonged to alligators who lived on Skull Island and were going to attack our village to get them back.  We had to find the alligators and return the eggs.  We swam to the island, and the snakes immediately surrounded us.    "Foley, what are we going to do?" Lily asked as we stood tail to tail while the snakes squirmed around us.   "Give them Pocket and run?" I suggested.   "Don't be ridiculous," Tiara scolded me.  "She is not a filling meal.  She is an appetizer who would only leave them wanting more."   Hattie enthralled the snakes.  They gathered in front o

 

 I grabbed the pouch of golden eggs and slipped off the whale.  Pocket initially found it while Hattie, Lily, Tiara, and I had tea by the river.  The discovery caused pirates to kidnap us, toss us in a cell below deck and then force us to walk the plank.  Benny, the whale, saved us after Pocket removed a golf ball from his spout, helped us find, and destroy the pirates' ship.  Just before it sunk, I retrieved the booty. Pocket, the only member of our party who talked whale, told the curious mammal what I had retrieved.  Benny hit the brakes like a green line conductor seeing a drunk BU student on the tracks, and we almost slipped off.  He began speaking in his strange tongue.  Pocket nervously rejoined us after their conversation and reported that Benny recognized our bounty.  It belonged to the ferocious golden alligators of Skull Island.  The horrible pirates must have stolen them.  If we didn't retur

  My friends were upset with me. What had started as a lovely picnic with Tiara, Hattie, and Lily ended up with us in a cell in a ship's hull, captured by pirates, all because Pocket found some golden eggs, and I insisted on keeping them. "I told you that we shouldn't have taken those eggs!" Hattie barked sharply. Every time we found booty and ended up captured by pirates, she blamed me. Lily said there was no time to access blame; we needed to get off the ship. Tiara noticed we had gone out to sea and needed to find another mode of transportation. Pocket chewed on a bone she found in the corner. Long John Hudson walked down the stairs on his peg leg. He ordered us out of the cell and to go above deck. "That is a wise choice," I told him. "You don't want us as enemies." When we got above deck, a dozen pirates were holding weapons forcing us to go to the bow, where the plank hung over the water. "You can either walk to plank or live in

    The tea parties I hold on the third Sunday of every month are getting bigger.  At first, it was just Tiara and me.  Hattie and Lily joined when they arrived. Today would be the first tea party with Pocket. I hoped she did not ruin our quiet gathering. I packed the tea bowls, cups, finger sandwiches, and a blanket into my Galifrey satchel, specially made bigger on the inside than out. The girls arrived at noontime, and we set forth for a relaxing day by the River. Tiara, Lily, Hattie, and I spread out a blanket, poured the tea, bit into the sandwiches, and began to relax. Pocket, who was inspecting the Riverbank, started barking. I knew she would ruin the tea party. We followed her yipping, and found her standing by an open chest. When we looked inside, we saw golden eggs. "Pocket" I exclaimed. "Where did you find those eggs?"  She explained that she saw the round end of one sticking up from the ground.  Thinking they were tennis balls, she dug th

  Despite being born in America, my line comes from England, and my heart will always belong where my ancestors roamed. I suppose that is why, when someone stole the royal bones, Queen Victoria came to me to find them.   I put together a crack team to get the bones back, lead by Tommy Tunes, the great strategist, Finley, a tiny dog adept at sneaking in and out of places, and Napa. He commanded an army of homeless pups which he watched over before they arrived at the Bridge.    The Queen kept the dog toys in her royal box. Basil, her heart dog, and his unyielding pack had left the palace to go for a walk with Victoria when the culprit struck. By the time they got back, the priceless bones were gone.   Immediately, Napa picked up the scent. He walked with his head down, sniffing until we came to a river, where it ended. Tommy stood on the banks, looking both ways, and concluded the villain could not swim with the royal bones and that he must have taken a boat.   Finley obse

  Abbie had a message that she desperately needed to deliver.  Having exhausted all the possibilities, she could imagine she came to me for help. I asked who she meant the communication for and what was in it.  She answered that it was private.  This would make it challenging to help, but difficult is my middle name:  I remember being told I was the most difficult dog in the world.   I hoped it was someone at the Bridge; that would make it easier.  Alas, she meant the message for a mortal.  "Your mom?" I asked.   "I should have known you would figure it out," Abbie said.  As much as I like to give myself credit for being clever, there was only one being on the mortal side it could be.   I inquired what the problem was.  "Every time I try to get my message to mom, her subconscious blocks me.   It was a common problem.  Humans are the only ones with a subconscious.  The rest of us have enough problems dealing with a conscience.  People have developed one

 

  Larry's dad left him to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Larry got even.

  I am a velcro dog.  I stick next to Mommy all the time, and if she goes somewhere and shuts the door I will sit on the other side and wait for her to come out.  How much of a velcro pet are you?

    When we lived together, I  considered Pocket\to be a bit of a wimp, but when she became sick and didn't betray her pain for weeks, I realized what a tough little dog she was.   She was not unusual.  When they begin to feel poorly, dogs know that their condition will separate them from a beloved parent, at least for treatment of the problem, and at worse, until the parent follows them over Rainbow Bridge.  Because we never want to away from our parents, we hide our pain until it becomes overwhelming.  That is what Pocket did, and Barney, cut from the same devoted cloth as my sister, repeated her behavior.   By the time Barney began showing symptoms, it was too late for him to recover.  After he came to the Bridge, I examined his medical records and discovered if Barney had shown his symptoms months ago; the result would have been the same, but he and his parents wouldn't have the extra time together Barney's determination granted them.   It was ironic that Barney b

  For 18 years, Frodo managed to avoid the dark angels who brought souls to the Bridge.  Perhaps he had a ring that made him undetectable to them.  Whatever Frodo's secret was, he managed to live a long and happy life. Three days ago, Frodo decided to leave on his terms.  His body was wearing out, and he knew it was time, so he began to bark for the dark angels to take him.  It took five minutes for them to find him, and then, in a blink of an eye, Frodo cast off his mortal coil and arrived at the angel side. Mama Terrie, who had the privilege of sharing Frodo's life, knew what the barks meant.  She was able to hold him, give thanks that he was her boy for so long, let him know she loved him to the moon and back and gave him her heart before she left. It wasn't just the dark angels who came for Frodo, but the light ones as well, and when Frodo departed, and something big left the mortal side, the room,

   I woke up to someone banging on my door and Pocket barking.  Transitioning to the mortal side has not curbed her from doing so every time she heard a knock.  We both got out of bed, opened the door, and saw Geordie, with a rope over his shoulder, and Sabrina and Tango were standing behind him.  I welcomed them inside and offered them some bacon cereal, but Geordie said there was no time.   "Have you heard the legend of Franklin T. Pig?" he asked.  I replied that I had not.  He ceded the floor to Sabrina, the investigator.   "There was a tribe in Africa that lived in the shadow of a volcano," Sabrina explained.  "To make sure it stayed dormant, they would sacrifice a pig every month.  It worked until Franklin, who, when he was sacrificed, caused the volcano to erupt.  There was no record of Franklin ever reaching the Bridge.  But, there is a legend." Tango picked up the story.  "We know everything that passes from the mortal world com

 

  Curious George Joins the Circus with Mixed Results

  I got an awesome lick mat that I use when my parents are having a snack in the living room so I don't get in their faces and bother them.   I used to have a marrow bone filled with treats, but my mouth and the bone were not a good match. Do you have any toys that contain treats a little bit at a time?

  Once again, the tiny, terrific terrier duo was called upon to save a dog, and this time I can honestly say I couldn’t have done it without Pocket.      I was lying in the backyard getting some sun when I saw the Foley signal.  I yelled “To the Yorkie Poles,” and Pocket joined me as two of my minions, the Stavinsky brothers, natives of Warsaw, and terrible dog parents, dragged us in a rickshaw to the site where the prayer was issued.      We looked around and didn’t see a dog in need, just two standing by a hole staring downward. I checked my IPaw and it said the dog, Calvin, was praying for salvation after falling down a well.  We flew inside it, and sure enough, we found the 12-year-old Golden Retriever desperately treading water twenty feet below the ground.     This is where working as a duo paid off.  Calvin was in desperate circumstances.  He was growing tired and needed encouragement.  But, more imperative was ge

I do not like to assume a bug’s body unless in an emergency.  They are cheap and always available but are unsteady, not cute, and unwelcome by humans.  Also, when you borrow one, you must get expensive insurance because they are easily squishable.       When Pocket came to me and said she wanted a bee body, I tried to tell her that she wouldn’t like it.  But, you know how persistent she can be.  So I took her to the hive and let her pick out a bee.  She wanted the smallest one available, nothing more than a baby.  She gladly paid the insurance for this very squishable body.       Pocket shocked me by saying she wanted to go at night.  I told her no one would be able to see a little bee in the dark, but she persisted.  Before Pocket made her switch, I noticed a twinkle in her eye, the kind she used to get before she played with me.  I knew she was up to mischief, so I borrowed a moth body to keep an eye on her.   We flew