Copyright PostScriptor, 2023
Sam was not a very interesting person. In fact, he was boring. At least that was what his ex-girlfriend told him. He led a boring life, worked at a boring job, and was boring in the sack. The thing that ultimately drove her out of his boring apartment was when he brought home the new THC gummies. They were really heavy duty to Sam's mind, but they made his girlfriend paranoid. She thought that she was dying when she was high on the cherry flavored gummy. The next morning, after THAT trip, she packed up and left.
That left boring Sam alone in his apartment. Well, almost alone. He still had Brutus.
He was actually kind of proud that he, unlike lots of his friends, was out on his own, not living in his parent's basement. It would have seemed strange to earlier generations that the average 30-year-old guy wasn't married and was still dependent on his parents to support them, but Sam had gotten a job at a local manufacturing plant when he graduated from high school, and he was still there. He was good enough at his job that he had been promoted a couple of times and was earning some decent money. Not great money, but decent.
One evening, while boring Sam sat on his couch channel surfing with his Boston terrier, Brutus, his life changed.
He had come home from work, eaten a frozen pizza that he heated up for dinner, taken one of the cherry flavored gummies and began looking for something to watch. He was surfing through the channels, when something struck him.
"Ain't dis just shit! 150 channels and nutin' wort watchin'."
Sam quickly looked around the room to see where the voice had come from. There was nobody. It had to be his imagination. Maybe he was overdoing the gummies.
He resumed surfing the channels, when he heard that voice again.
"Hey, stay on that channel! It's my favoriteβa rerun of Lassie! She is just about the top of the heap. A really smart doggie who keeps her human out of trouble every show! I just love these doggie reality shows!
"Can I let yous in on a liddle secret? She is really a he, just playin' da part."
Sam paused for a second, but he could swear that his dog, Brutus, was the source of the comment.
He looked at Brutus for a moment, before asking,
"Brutus, ol' buddy, did you just say something, is it the gummy or have I finally gone around the bend?"
Brutus looked at him with the same look that Sam had seen many times before; the one that made him wonder if Brutus could actually understand what he was saying.
"Hehehe... I'm not sure. I'ze wondered if yous was around the bend fer a long time. Hey, big guy, be cool. I'm just joking.
"If it isn't oblivious to yous, I was talking to yous. I'ze been talking to yous fer a long time β da problem is that yous wasn't hearing me. Now, I tink, because of dat gummie yous been using, yerz mind finally opened up to me. Yous humans! It's like what de Harry Potter lady said, you see or hear tings you don't understand, and you turn dem into someting that your mind can accept.
"So all deese years, every morning, I tells yous, 'Hey buddy, get me some eats, and den we can goes out fer a walk, and I can pee and poop. But what do yous hear? Barkbarkbarkbarkbark! Always da same, we dogs talk to yous and all most of yous hear is, barkbarkbarkbarkbark!
"Now. If yous don't mind, I want to watch the rest of Lassie, den get a quick drink, a loop around de block to pee, and then back to bed."
Sam sat back in the sofa, overwhelmed by the evenings events, and then did exactly what Brutus had told him. They watched the end of Lassie (well, Brutus did, Sam was there but in a fugue state), got Brutus a drink of water, walked around the block (with Brutus giving his commentary about the neighbors dogs the whole way), got back home and they both went to bed.
Sam was fairly certain that by the next morning, after the THC had worn off, things would be back to normal, and the evening before would be revealed as a drug induced vision.
The following morning, Sam was slowly becoming conscious. His memory recalled the THC induced delusions that he had the night before. Thank god, he felt back to normal this morning.
"Wake up. Wake up," he was startled to hear, "'Hey buddy, get me some eats, and den we'ze can goes out fer a walk, and I can pee and poop."
He looked down at the side of his bed, and there was Brutus doing his little 'morning dance.'
"Come on, Boss! Da quicker yous get up and we'ze get started, da sooner we'ze be done."
Sam looked down at his little friend, Brutus, and asked, "Have you really been doing this every morning?"
You could see the smile on Brutus' face.
"You bet, Boss. I takes my job serious."
Sam dragged himself out of bed and headed for the can to do his usual morning ablutions, then he put on the sweats, socks and shoes, and the hat he wore while talking Brutus for his morning constitutional.
While Sam was contemplating whether having a dog nag at you was any better then having a wife or girlfriend nag at you, Brutus interrupted his reverie.
"Hey Boss! When we gets to the corner, can we'ze toin left and go down dat way?"
"Sure, Brutus. Why?"
"Dats where dat nasty, stuck-up Tom cat lives. I needs to gives him a lesson."
"Oh." Sam thought to himself, "Well that explains it! NOT!"
That morning saw Sam and Buster turning left at the intersection instead of going straight through. Sam had his little plastic baggies in his pocket to pickup Buster's little, messy poops, one of his least favorite things to do in the world: picking up dog shit.
Buster, on the other hand, was having a grand old time, sniffing places and leaving his own piss.
"Wow! Can you smell dat! Eau de Fifi! It's from Fifi, the miniature Poodle up the street. She says she's up for going out on da town and having a wild time whenever I can get loose. What a great bitch! Her favorite position is 'doggie style.' Dat's a joke boss β all doggy bitches favorite position is 'doggy.' Only one problem; she'll go out wid any old doggy. She's kind of a first-come, first-served, if yous knows what I mean.
"Hmmm," he said, taking a sniff at a brown patch in the grass, "a little message from Beauregard the bloodhound. He is upset that the vet changed him to all dry food and now he can hardly crap. Poor Beau! His human can't talk to him. I tinks dat da vet is a cat guy."
Sam and Buster went past the big green house with the huge bushy hedge along the front, and then Buster spoke to Sam.
"Hey Boss! When we gets to da cat's house, let loose of my leash so I can put a scare on de nasty cat. I promise, as soon as I chase him away, I'll come right back."
"You sure, Buster? I know how excited you get when you come up against a cat. You'll need some self-control to come back."
"Take it easy, Boss. 'Control' is my middle name!"
"Okay, we'll try it this time, but if you take off and I have to spend hours trying to find you like the last time you got off the leash, that will be the last time."