Foley Tells the Truth About Halloween

 

Have you ever wondered where the trick-or-treaters who come to your home seemingly from nowhere originate? Well, be sure to be good to them because sprinkled in the group may be some angels.

Halloween is a day the dead walk amongst the living. It sounds a lot more frightening than it is. The dead don't want to hurt anyone; we want to visit the mortal life we once knew.

The caveat is that we cannot use the body we had when mortal, which leads to a lot of body-swapping. Once done, we change into a child's body, and if we want to see a loved one, we go trick or Treating. Little does a mortal who opens the door realize; the little masked creatures awaiting treats are their angels. 

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Trick or Treating is going out of fashion, as parents don't trust strangers to give their children candy, and adults find hordes of children begging for food to be a bother. Our chances of visiting our parents in disguise are lessening, but we are still in the shadows, watching our houses and families through shining, inviting windows.

I wish it was easier to pay our families a Halloween visit. The obstacles start with us being lucky enough to borrow a body and then our parents being willing to give out candy to urchins in the hope we would arrive. Sometimes, our parents pass out hundreds of dollars of treats in the unfulfilled hope we will be there; other times, we find a body, get dressed, and see the porch light is out.

Occasionally, it all comes together.

Last year I dressed like a wizard, wearing a mask. Pocket was a princess, Copper a lamb, Jax a power ranger, Skye a headless horseman, and Blake an Ewok. We came to the front door, pressed the bell, and our Daddy came out and gave us candy. Then we looked in the kitchen window and saw our beautiful mom. We waved, she waved back, and then our time was up. We walked on the clouds all the way back to the Bridge. We gave the humans our candy, went home, and went to bed with big smiles. We immediately began planning for next year.

We will stay in our dog form and dress like a giant dinosaur, with one of us on top of the other.

I hope the light is on and the candy is fresh so we can say hi to you before slipping back into the darkness.

Ruby Rose Report for October 30, 2022: Turkeys and Reflections

 

Before I arrived at my true and forever home, River visited me and explained that unlike my previous residence, where there were two dozen watchdogs, I would be on my own. Being small doesn't mean I can't protect my house like an angry Great Dane. She said that intruders are more worried about being attacked by a dog than we are about them. All that was required was a mighty bark, which would make the trespassers think the house was being protected by a rabid Wolverine and flee. Like a poker player with short stack-facing pocket aces, a little dog's life is a perpetual bluff.

River told me the best location to scout for trespassers was the kitchen window by the door. It looks out on the driveway and street. River was much more of a social dog than I was. When River saw humans, she barked at them to come in and play with her. Our tiny shotgun shack is inhabited enough, and we don't need any more people, so I bark to make them disappear.

There is one creature who has me very concerned. I usually only see it in the window at night when the kitchen light is on, but occasionally I catch glimpses of it in the framed glass around the house. I must say it's quite the good-looking being with a bit of head, pointy ears, red fur, a brown muzzle, and a pink collar. As soon as I see it standing on the outside steps looking into the house, I bark at it, and like some creature from the movie Them, it mimics me. When I bark, it barks. When I get down, it gets down. When I pop back up, it does the same. Mommy tells me not to bark at it. She says it's just my reflection. I am trying to understand what that means. I would look it up, but who has time for all the barking?

This week during daylight, when "reflection" can't be seen, probably because he's a damn vampire, I caught an intruder I had never witnessed before. It had wings like a bird with a long, thin neck, a little head, beady eyes, and a sharp beak. I almost passed out from barking at it. My mommy said it's just a turkey. It looks like a dinosaur to me. I must back wildly and ferociously to scare it off. If I don't, I am afraid, like a meek husband, I would be pecked to death.

If I can't chase it away, I may have to team up with Reflection. Sometimes I think we share one tiny mind.

Moo Comes to Town (by Foley Monster)

Collectively, they are known as the boys. Elvis, Huckleberry, and Moo. They came into a pack living on a farm and increased their energy level by 1000%. The rambunctious boys will always be puppies, so I was stunned to see Moo's name on a list of incoming Angels.

River escorted Moo up Enzo's escalator and to Hobo's Landing, where I would administer the angel oath. He looked like I remembered him as a puppy, with love and excitement in his eyes. After I had done my duty and before his welcoming Celebration, I asked him how a dog so young could come to the Bridge. When he told me his departing age, I was stunned, and I had missed his entire adulthood.

Years don't mean a thing when living in an immortal world. Five minutes and five years seem the same amount of time. Still, I felt terrible about losing touch with them. Truthfully they didn't need me. The boys had Josie and Koda, two of the most loving angels of all, and where they went, so did Smoochy, their sibling from different humans was sure to follow.

They waited for me to be done with Moo, and then he trotted over to his siblings, who gave him a big hug, as did another dear friend Lily. Then Hattie Mae appeared and said she had longed to provide Moo with a makeover because he was too much farm boy for her liking. The look on Moo's face was priceless. Thankfully  his siblings told him they wouldn't change a thing about him and ignored Hatte when she said: "Maybe the drooling."

Moo wasn't offended; he was born a good-natured dog and will continue to be that way for eternity. The welcoming party was held at the barn, with hundreds of angels welcoming him. Moo ate quickly and then ran around with his friends, feeling like a puppy again. The only distraction was when he thought the cows were calling his appellation.

Moo's mom has always been very close to Koda and Josie, even as angels, so after a simple suggestion from the angelic duo, she could see them all playing together frantically, if only in her dreams.

Huckleberry and Elvis will labor to make up for all the mischief lost with Moo's departure. Still, they know their antics make their mom smile, which is difficult when grief comes to town, so they will try and be aided by their mom's strong angels, who will deliver her from the darkness, as they have time and time again.

And the immortal world will be much more fun now that Moo has come to town.

 

Thankful Thursday

 This is the first time I have taken part in  Brian’s Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

I should have done so before, because I am thankful for everything.

Four months ago I was a well cared for girl, but had to share my parents with a dozen other dogs. 

 

Today I am the only dog of only parents. I a mixture of yummy food, I get to go almost everywhere with my parents, I am never along for long, they play with me when I want to play, leave me alone when I don't and don't make me go outside. I sleep snuggled with them all night, and sit with them all day.

I am thankful for all of you friends too.

I am thankful for everything, and looking forward to giving my thanks in the years to come because I know I will love everything about it.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Beat This Caption

 

SADLY, NADIA HAD TO PAY A PENALTY FOR PICKING A GOAT BEFORE IT WAS RIPE

Foley Presents Great Foleys in History

 

One of the advantages of being at the Bridge is I can visit with the Foleys who came before me and helped make me a perfect dog.

 

Many Foleys lived quiet lives, but a few left as much of a mark as I did. 

 

One of the most memorable Foleys was from Edinburgh. She was the sole companion of the town doctor. Her Dad would go into the hospital each morning, and Foley would follow and wait for her Dad to come out.

 

One day inside the hospital, while Foley waited, his Dad had a massive heart attack and crossed over. His coworkers realized that Foley was still waiting outside. They tried to move her, but she bit and snapped at them. She was adamant she was going to wait for her Dad.  

 

When the Doctor began to cross the Bridge to the immortal world, he caught a glimpse of Foley waiting for him at the hospital reflected in the water. He realized she would stay forever. It was the least he could do to join her. He turned away from the Bridge and went to the hospital to be with Foley,

 

Foley was so happy to see her Dad that it didn’t register that he was a ghost. He thought about taking her home, but the landlord would lease it to someone else, and she would have no human to care for her. He knew his coworkers took delight in seeing Foley and would feed her, but he also knew the stubborn dog wouldn’t go home with anyone but him.

 

He was right. Foley got fed, brushed, scratched, and patted on her head. But she would not leave her Dad, who was sitting on the bench nearby, invisible to all except her.

 

Occasionally Foley‘s Dad tried to get her to move, but he had trouble going with her because the more he used his ghost power, the more energy he lost; finally, he told her they would leave when she was ready.

 

So that is where they stayed for 12 years. Waiting outside a hospital gave Foley the best medical care, and people would visit her with food and snacks as her legend grew. No matter what the weather, Foley never left that spot.

 

Finally, the day when Foley was ready arrived, she looked at her Dad, then signaled it was time. Her father knew the way. They went into the river, came up in the river of life, and happily crossed together to great fanfare because theirs was one of the most fabulous dogs and man love stories ever. 

 

The city built a statue of Foley to remember her and her devotion. In the spirit world, the angels erected an invisible-to-the-mortal-eye statue of her Dad, symbolizing their dedication. 

 

They still walk through the fields at the Bridge. Sometimes I see them in the early morning, and they are never apart.

 

She was indeed one of the great Foleys in history.