My Name Is Cae

I have been working for a while on a story titled My Name Is Cae. I have posted a few of the first chapters on FaceBook in the past. I have added a few chapters to the story and will share them with this posting. There will be at least one more chapter, maybe two and hopefully this story will be in my next book A Scattering Of Memories. It may be that you will have to get the book to read the last chapter or two.

My Name Is Cae
By Terry Beck

I

Hello, my name is Cae. I am a Bichon Frise, for those who had rather not look it up, I am an adorable, smallish, fluffy, white dog. Rumor has it Henry III of France would carry a Bichon in a basket around his neck covered with cologne and ribbons, a rumor my dad and his family are trying to discount. Dad stressed the only thing folks needed to know about us is we were raised on a ranch, not in a basket, and allowed to run free playing with varmints of all kinds both domestic and wild. I came from a fun and honorable family, Mom, Dad and what seemed like a bunch of brothers and sisters. After what didn't seem like long, the rancher, an awfully nice man, began taking my brothers or sisters away in his truck and they didn't come back. I became concerned but mom and dad seemed relieved, especially mom. Then my day came. The rancher picked up a couple of my toys, a piece of a rug and me and loaded us in his truck and said we were off to Brownwood, where ever that is.

Seems like me drove forever and after a while I started to wonder about my family, would I ever see them again, and Mom, I was sure starting to miss Mom. Finally we rolled into Brownwood and parked in a parking lot of a store. The rancher gave me some water and a snack, patted me on the head and told me I was a good dog. I began to wonder again, if I was such a good dog why aren't I back home with my Mom? About that time, another car pulled up next to us and a lady got out and walked toward us with a big ol' smile on her face. She seemed nice and the rancher seemed happy to see her. She gave him what appeared to be a lot of money (no wonder the rancher was so happy to see her). He gave her some kind of official looking papers, the piece of rug, the toys and then patted me on the head again, picked me up and gave me to her. She held me up to her face and started talking baby talk to me, it was a little embarrassing. The lady, I think she said her name was Amber, then put me in a laundry basket along with the rug and my toys, said goodbye to the rancher, who still had a big ol' smile on his face, and we drove away. I jumped up and watched the rancher's pickup get smaller and smaller...until I couldn't see it anymore.

Once again we drove and drove, one thing for sure, I would never be able to find my way back home. As we drove down the highway, the lady would glance my way, talk a little more baby talk and smile. After a while I became bored and a little uncomfortable so I hopped up with my paws on top of the laundry basket and looked toward Amber with my cutest of looks. She glanced my way and smiled. That went so well I decided to take things a little farther, I jumped out of the basket, walked across the console and just about the time she hollered, quickly laid down in her lap. I really didn't understand what she said so I just looked up at her with my cutest look again and then laid my head in her lap. Amber reached down, patted my head, smiled and said something sweet, at least she was smiling when she said it.

I rode the rest of the trip in Amber's lap, a little concerned about pressing my luck any further. We finally arrived at our destination. It reminded me a little of the ranch with all the trees and open spaces except for one major difference, there was a beautiful lake, Lake Merritt I later learned. I had never seen so much water. Amber placed me back in the laundry basket and began carrying be toward the lake house. I had come a long way from my ancestor's days with Henry III and their basket filled with ribbons and cologne and now me in my laundry basket, I later discovered it was actually called the dirty clothes basket.

II
I couldn't believe it, we walked all the way to the front door and it looked like we were going to actually go inside. As the door opened and we stepped inside I was amazed, this was the first time I had ever been inside a house. There was so much to take in, so much I had never been exposed to before, I was totally confused, what were all those smells? I could smell food, sweets, spices and smells I no idea what they were. Everything smelled so clean, everything was so soft, so organized. Then a familiar smell, the smell of another dog, a stranger, not from my family.

No sooner had I smelled the dog when I heard a deep growl that sent a paralyzing fear through my young body. I strained to see across the room as my eyes adjusted to the lack of light inside the house. Then a second growl from across the room. There sitting in a chair was an older man and in his lap stood a dog, a Bichon, a Bichon not very happy about my coming into his house. Surprisingly the dog was a whole lot smaller than his growl would indicate. As a matter of fact I may have been just a little bigger than he was and I was only nine weeks old at the time. Then things got a bit more uncomfortable as the dog jumped from the old man's lap and trotted toward me with a couple of barks and a growl. Then my heart almost stopped as Amber took me from the basket and sat me on the floor.

My feet had no more than touched the floor when the old dog once again growled an unbelievably low growl and charged toward me. Thinking this may be the end, I just squatted down into a shivering mass of soft hair and loose skin. As he approached I just ducked my head and started to whimper but to my surprise He ran on past me, then began a slow walk as he circled me until stopping and smelling my tail area. Now Mom and Dad and my brothers and sisters used to do that but it was always in friendly fun, but fun didn't seem to be on this old feller's mind.

About that time, the man still sitting in the chair hollered out, "Beaux Bo, leave the little puppy alone, don't you hurt him!" My first thought about the man was I might learn to like him. My second thought was what in the world is a Beaux Bo! Then, without thought or planning on my part, I peed. The old man kind of half hollered and half growled, "No! No! No! Don't do that!" Then Amber yelled and quickly jerked me up from the floor and Beaux Bo started barking and running circles around Amber. I didn't know what was going on but whatever it was, it sure had everybody upset.

Then Amber pushed me down toward the small puddle, putting my nose down within sniffing distance and saying, "No! No! No!" Then it dawned on me, it was the pee! I had never seen a little pee get everybody in such a tizzy! Then Amber, still hollering and obviously still upset with me, carried me outside and placed me on the ground saying, "Potty! Potty outside like a good puppy!" Then Beaux Bo trotted by me, hiked his leg, and peed on an old Mesquite Tree. It seemed like he went forever. Then Amber said, "Good doggy, Beaux Bo, good dog!" Then Beaux Bo did some kind of a strut walk, kicking grass out behind him. I never thought of peeing as being such a celebrated body function.

We eventually all went back in the house after the Great Pee Extravaganza was over. Everyone made themselves comfortable, everyone but me, I crawled under a chair. Then a conversation began involving all four of us except the two humans not only spoke for themselves but also spoke of me and Beaux Bo. I learned the old man's name was Terry But rather than calling them Terry and Amber, Beaux Bo and I would call them Daddy and Mommy. There was then a long conversation concerning what I would be called. There were at least ten or fifteen names suggested of which I had never heard of a single one. Then it was decided my name would be Cae. It was determined my name would be come from combining the first initials of Mom and Dad's three grand children, Cole, Abbie, Emily. My family became Mom, Dad, Bo and me, my name is Cae.
III

Time seemed to pass a little on the slow side as I began to adjust to my new family and their sometimes strange but mostly warm and loving ways. Things like sleeping in bed with Mom and Dad. I did, however, find out the very first night Beaux Bo's sleeping spot was next to Dad and my spot would be curled up next to Mom. I really couldn't believe Beaux Bo would let me sleep next to Mom, she was so much softer and not nearly as loud as Dad. Another quick lesson learned on my part was that I would eat only after Beaux Bo was finished. He also taught me to pick up a few pieces of dry food, carry it over to the carpet, dropping it and the eat it one piece at a time. I don't know the reasoning but I still do it today.

After several weeks Beaux and I seemed to be getting along better as long as I stayed behind him. He taught me how to use the doggy doors to go outside and potty. I couldn't believe he was that smart, nearly as smart as Mom and Dad. There was some things he let me learn on my own, like not chewing on the furniture (It was the first time I had ever seen and heard Mom get so mad). It was also one of the first times I think I saw Beaux smile.

Beaux taught me a lot over the first weeks. Things like dogs couldn't eat chocolate because it would make you sick or even kill you. I told him I didn't even know what chocolate was and he said he didn't either but that Mom and Dad would always let you know when it was around. He told me about how humans could see in many colors and that the world was not just different shades of black and gray. He told me about dog years not being the same as human years. I couldn't believe a human year was the same as seven dog years. That was when I found out how old Beaux was. Fourteen sounded a lot better than his dog years. No wonder he moved so slow, his eyes had such a glaze on them and that he was so wise. No matter what his age, he made it clear he could and would take care of himself.

Beaux and I became closer and he began to feel like another father although he said it was more like and older brother. We would go outside with Dad, watch the sunset across the lake, and breath the fresh country air. Every once in a while Beaux would want to run and play. Knowing he could hardly see, I would hide from him but his nose would never fail him. There were times I could tell Beaux would become confused as to his location and I would run in front of him and lead him back to more familiar surroundings near the house.

I soon felt like I had become part of the beautiful household on the lake. After watching the sunset we would go into the house and watch television, Beaux sitting with Dad and me with mom. It felt good to be part of a family, it was good to love, it was good to be loved.

IV
Beaux and I had gotten where we did almost everything together. To my surprise and enjoyment we even began to play chase, hide and seek, fetch and other games with no name. Beaux was fast, tricky and you couldn't get anything past that nose of his. Another activity, a favorite of Beaux and Dad, was napping, whether I was sleepy or not.

Just when I was really starting to feel like a part of the family something happened that was completely new to me. Beaux had taught be a little bit about the importance of emotions like love, happiness and a bunch more without names. He taught me that these emotions were especially important to Mom and Dad. There was also another emotion called "sad" but he didn't do a lot of explaining about that.

Over a period of a few days Beaux got to where he wouldn't eat much. He wouldn't play and he slept a lot. Mom and Dad took Beaux to what they called a Vet. I had met one of those guys when I was only a few weeks old, they give you shots. On the way home from seeing the Vet, from what little I knew, Mom and Dad appeared to be sad. They talked about Beaux being sick, having something like kidney failure. They talked about medicine, I V's and lots of stuff I didn't understand. They talked about money and Dad said he didn't care how much it cost. For the first time I too felt sad.

All I know is we went back and forth to the Vet a lot and Beaux was losing weight and I was worried but Beaux Bo kept telling me not to worry, he would be okay. It seemed like a long time but Beaux finally started eating again and started acting more like himself, grouchy, but better. Although he hadn't gained all his weight back, his energy level got better and we would even play chase for short periods of time. Things seemed to be getting back to normal, just with more naps.

I soon met Mom and Dad's human kids and their dogs when they came to visit. The relatives, especially the dogs seemed to help Beaux feel stronger. The lake, visits with the family and their dogs and other friends made me feel like I was back in paradise. Things were good, they were happy again, things seemed to be the way they were supposed to be.

V
Things stayed on the normal side for a while. Beaux Bo and I spent all our time together. Although Beaux's eyesight was worse and he wasn't gaining the weight back he had lost, we still played our games, took walks with Mom and Dad and then sat almost every evening and watched the sun set over our beautiful little lake.

Dad began several chores around the house. He painted the house and his shop. He cleared all the brush and rocks along the edge of the lake saying he was concerned about Beaux and I running across snakes. I had never seen a snake but Beaux told me about them. He told me about chasing deer out of our yard. He told me about something called an Armadillo. He told me how much fun they were to chase, once you figured out which was the front end and which was the back.

Dad stayed busy with his chores for a long while. The work seemed to make him tired even to the point we stopped taking our evening walks. By the end of each day his energy was drained. However, almost every evening we still found time to sit and watch the sunset with the cool lake breezes blowing, waiting to hear Mom call us inside for supper.

After supper we still always sat and Mom and Dad watched the TV while Beaux and I slept, Beaux in Dad's lab and me in Mom's. Dad would complain about his aches and pains and his lack of energy and Mom would always tell him he needed to go to the Doctor. (Beaux Bo told me a Doctor was a Vet for people). They also talked a lot about the family living back near a place called Cleburne. They especially talked about their youngest daughter's husband, Bubba (I could never figure out his name was Kenneth but everybody called him Bubba). When they talked of him it was nearly always serious and seemed on the sad side. The word cancer always came up. Beaux told me cancer could be bad and sad but he really didn't understand all the details.

One morning early Mom and Dad got up before the sun came up, very unusual for them. Mom put out our food, told us to be good dogs and told me to take care of Beaux Bo (That really hacked Beaux off) because she and Dad would be gone for a while. As they drove off, Beaux and I ran outside into our fenced in area and watched them drive off. We sat there at the fence for most of the day and into the night. I wasn't sure what we were doing or what was going on but Beaux seemed concerned so I sat there beside him staring into the night toward the road.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Beaux jumped up and stuck his nose through the chain link fence. Then a few seconds later I could see the lights of a car. I don't know how he knew it but it was Mom! As she got out of the car it became obvious she was by herself. You could tell she was tired and worried. She called members of the family and told them Dad had had a heart attack and they had flow him to a town called Waco. The Doctors had performed a procedure on him and he should be fine and come home hopefully soon. That night, although we didn't sleep much, we went to bed with Beaux cuddled to one side of Mom and me the other.

Dad finally came home, a little frail but in fairly good spirits. He didn't do much work, if any, but we did a lot of sitting, talking and absorbing nature's beauty. Most of the conversations were long and serious. They dealt with Dad's health and the fact this was his third heart attack. They discussed the fact there was no major medical facility close to our lake paradise. They talked long and hard about Bubba and his increasingly difficult battle with brain cancer. Beaux Bo and I didn't talk much about these things but we stayed close knowing changes were probably near.