The Life of Harley: A Short Story by Gary Flory

 

Hi, my name is Hardly, yes you’re reading it right, Hardly. You probably looked up at the title and wondered why it says Harley, well this is my story. You won’t see any fancy quote marks, and it may be lacking some proper punctuation, but after all, I didn’t have the luxury of being schooled for 12 years. In fact, I would be a little gray by the time I graduated. You see, I’m a dog, but I have the ability to think like a person, which gives me a huge advantage over those other mutts. Set back and relax as I tell you my story.

I was born on a farm in Ohio, and I have three brothers and three sisters. They told me that one of us had to be the runt of the litter and they picked me. Ya, I was smaller than they were, but I was the smartest one of the bunch. There was a lotta kicking and shoving going on in that wooden box we slept in, especially in the morning when everyone started stretching. It was nothing to get a toenail up your nose. Mom would lay close to the box and everyone tried to scramble out of the box to grab one of those pointy things that contained milk. I always had a hard time getting over the edge of the box because my legs were so short, making me the last one to the dairy bar. Mom had plenty of milk, so none of us went away hungry. The part I didn’t enjoy was mom licking the milk off our face so we would look presentable.

All my brothers and sisters seemed to grow twice as fast as I did. I could hardly keep up when we went for a run, and I could hardly get up the steps to the porch. I guess the humans noticed that too because that’s what they started calling me, Hardly.

One sunny afternoon, a car pulled up in the drive, and we all ran out barking because we didn’t know who it was. They got out and had big smiles on their faces and knelt down and started petting all of us. I kept getting pushed back as my siblings wanted more attention. Mom just sat on the porch and watched. I could sense she seemed a little sad. The people picked up one of my brothers and some money exchanged hands. In the car he went, but he never came back out. They drove off and I never saw him again. This happened over and over until I was the only one left, except for Mom.

It was really quiet around the farm, Mom rarely barked anymore. I heard the humans talking about how no one wants Hardly, what are we going to do with him? I went behind the barn and cried. Mom must have heard me, she came around and cheered me up. We chased two squirrels up the tree.

Then one day a jeep pulled into the drive. The humans stepped out and talked to Mom for a few minutes, then they looked over at me and called my name. My ears perked up, and my tail started to wag. I jumped off the porch and fell flat on my face, didn’t hurt though. Shook it off and ran over to them. I guess Debbie had been talking with the humans, and they told her about me. Debbie was so friendly and just loved on me. I heard her tell the humans that she would love to have me. It was the best feeling in the world. She picked me up, and I looked over at Mom. Her tail was waging, so I knew she was happy for me. 

When we arrived at Debbie’s house, she said, “This is your new home, Harley.” I looked up at her and thought, what did you call me? My name is Hardly. She must have misunderstood the humans and thought my name was Harley. Oh well, Harley it is. I kinda like it better anyway. When she sat me down, I saw movement in the other room and started barking to warn her. “It’s ok boy, that’s Lucky the cat.” She didn’t tell me I had to share her with a cat! Just as long as Lucky understands I don’t take any crap from cats, we will get along just fine.

That evening, Debbie and I watched TV together, and she knew where all the good places were to scratch me. Lucky looked on from the other room but didn’t come in. That was fine with me.

Debbie didn’t have a bed for me yet, so she let me sleep with her after she gave me a bath. A bath is ok, but I wouldn’t want to do it every day. To my surprise, the next morning she let me out the back to do my business and it was full of new smells. I had so much fun smelling things, I almost forgot to go. She had my food waiting for me when I came in, and I was hungry. 

“Slow down boy, you’re going to make yourself sick.” 

When you have brothers and sisters, you learn to eat fast, or you don’t get any. I finished up and let out a big burp. Debbie said that wasn’t nice. I knew that, but it felt good. That’s when she said, “Are you ready boy?” Ready for what? “I’m taking you to work with me, and we need to head out now.” 

Debbie sat me in the Jeep and off we went. I never knew things looked different at 80 mph. So blurry. 

We pulled up to the feed mill where she weighs the trucks as they come in, and then again when they are empty. The office wasn’t real big, but it was air-conditioned and 75 felt pretty good on a 90-degree day. If I wanted out, I would just stand at the door and look back at the humans, and someone would open the door. I had to be very alert when I was outside as there were trucks moving everywhere. I saw a couple of cats seated on a ledge watching me. I’m not saying I was afraid of them, but you could tell by the scars, they weren’t afraid of me either.

Debbie always had Sunday and Monday off, so after church, sometimes she would take me places. When we went to the dog park, I felt like I was in heaven, with so many things to smell.

Lucky and I get along pretty good, now that she figured it out. I’m the boss and she isn’t. She wanted me to play Guess What’s in the Hairball, but I said No. We were doing just fine, Debbie and I, but one day she brought home a big tank and set it up in the room. I smelled it, but had no idea what it was for, and then he came, Ernie. Why on earth she thought she needed another animal is beyond me.

”Harley, this is Ernie, your new friend.”

 I thought to myself, how do you play with a turtle? I had to laugh to myself when she put him in the water. He sank to the bottom upside down...haha. I thought I was going to have to somehow save him, but he finally flipped himself over. No way was I going to give him mouth-to-snout. After I got to know him better, he’s not a half bad guy, or should I say turtle. He has some good stories of his own.

Well, that’s pretty much my story so far. I did hear Debbie talking with her sister about going to the ocean for a week. I can’t imagine an endless beach to pee on. Maybe Ernie can fill me in on what to watch out for. Hardly signing off for now.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32