HOW THOR CAME TO
CANDY’S HOUSE
AND HOW THEY ATE THE COOKIES
One day, when I was a puppy, I was chasing the ball—round and round the room, into the hall, into the other room, back into the hall—until I finally caught it. And then I dashed upstairs with it to see Honey Babe, but I forgot I was going to see Honey Babe so I sat at the top of the stairs with the ball in my mouth until it fell out.
It bounced down the stairs—bump, da-bump, da-bump, da-bump, da-bump, bump, bump, bump—until it reached the bottom.
It made a lovely noise so I tumbled down the stairs after it, rolling over at the bottom. I rolled over until I stopped at the glass window beside the front door. I came up, kind of fuzzy, and looked out the window.
There was a car just arriving outside. A man like Dave Honey and a lady like Honey Babe got out. The Dave Honey man opened the back door—AND OUT CAME A GREAT BIG DOG! A HUGE DOG! A dog as big as the Monster in the water—although I hadn’t met the Monster then.
It was black and brown and it had a long tail, not a big bushy tail like mine is now, but a smooth, thick, heavy tail. And its head! Its head was nearly as big as Dave Honey’s head, and when it opened its mouth you could see great big teeth that could eat you!
I jumped back from the window and yelped and yelped and yelped.
“Quiet, Candy?” said Honey Babe from Upstairs. “Mumble, mumble, noise!
“There’s a GREAT BIG DOG outside!” I yelped. “It’s going to eat us!”
Honey Babe came down the stairs and looked through the door window.
“It’s OK, Candy,” she said. “Mumble, mumble, Thor!” and she lifted me up in her arms.
I snuggled into her because I didn’t like whatever a Thor might be, and I thought it might be that GREAT BIG DOG. Honey Babe opened the door and they all came inside.
Thor walked into the kitchen and right up to the kitchen table. Everybody followed. He put his great big head on the table and looked around with his eyes as though there might be something to eat. But there wasn’t anything to eat except me! So he sat down and looked at me still in Honey Babe’s arms.
He opened his mouth a little, put out a big tongue and licked his big lips. Honey Babe started to put me down, but I snuggled even closer into her. I knew what he wanted even if Honey Babe didn’t!
“It’s OK, Candy,” she said. “Good dog,
Thor!”
Thor’s big tail moved slowly from side to side. He looked at me unblinking and licked his lips again. He might be a good dog, but I thought he looked like a hungry good dog. Honey Babe put me down anyway, and then got down beside me and stroked my head.
“It’s oK, Candy,” she said again. “Good dog,
Thor.”
She stroked me with one hand and reached out to stroke Thor with the other. Thor lay down with his huge paws out in front of him, one paw on each side of me, while Honey Babe continued stroking both of us.
“Good dog, Thor. Good dog, Candy,” she said.
Thor didn’t look quite so bad when he was down like that. His great big eyes looked at me, but they didn’t seem quite so hungry. Honey Babe stood up, but she kept on saying:
“Good dog, Thor. Good dog, Candy”
I sat trembling between Thor’s paws. I hoped that Thor knew he was a good dog. He kept on looking at me with those big eyes. Then he lifted one paw and knocked me over, gently. Then he lifted the other one, and knocked me back again. Not hard. Just gently. And when I tried to get away he put out one great paw and pulled me gently back again. It was like he was playing—in a big clumsy way. And then I thought, he is playing. So I started to play too.
I jumped at him, and he pushed me back. I pulled his ears with my teeth, and he shook his great head until I fell off. I grabbed his tail and he swished it until I couldn’t hold on. I clambered on his back, and he rolled over on his side. I pushed him, I tugged him, I bit his neck with my little teeth, and I poked him. He didn’t budge. He didn’t growl. He didn’t complain. He didn’t even move away. So I scampered off, round and round the room. He slowly climbed to his feet and lumbered after me until he could reach out a big paw and pull me in again.
Then he did something very strange. He held me down with one paw and started to nibble.
Not hurting. Tiny little nibbles with these huge front teeth that went all over me. Started at my head and went down to my tail, which was very small then. Along the back, down the sides. Back to front, front to back. Nibble, nibble, nibble. It felt wonderful! But when I tried to move, down would come a big paw and hold me until I lay down again ready for more nibbles. When he was finished I got up and shook myself and scampered away. Thor came lumbering after me and it started over again.
And that’s how Thor came to our house.
But Thor didn’t go away again. Not for a long time. His People went away. The Honey Babe person hung round his neck and cried a little bit, and the Dave Honey person patted his neck and said in a big voice:
“Good dog, Thor!” and walked out quickly.
But Thor stayed, and played, and bumped around on his big feet, and nibbled me, and sometimes even nibbled Baby Janey. Janey didn’t mind. She gurgled and giggled and pulled Thor’s ears and poked his eyes, and played with the jingles that hung around his neck. And he didn’t mind either. He wasn’t afraid of babies like I was. But he was very gentle, and he never barked, and he never growled, and he never moved out of the way, even when Baby used to crawl all over him. He just used to sit there with me between his paws, and whenever I started to stray he would just pull me in with those big paws and look down on me almost like Honey Babe when she was holding Janey.
Sometimes I went to sleep there. I think maybe even Janey did, once. But Janey was usually too busy. She liked the jingles but couldn’t stay long enough to feel warm and cozy like I did.
One day, long after Thor came, something happened in the kitchen. Something that made a wonderful smell. Honey Babe was Making Things. She often used to Make Things.
She would get all sorts of stuff and mix it together and then put it in the hotbox thing for a while and when she brought it out it was Cookies. Wonderful smelling, wonderful tasting Cookies! Or sometimes it was Cake. But this time it was Cookies and it was special.
We watched her. Janey sat at the table on a big book on top of a chair. She couldn’t say very much, but she banged the table, and every little while she would look at Honey Babe and say:
“Cookies! Cookies!” and bang the table again.
Thor sat on the floor with his head on the table, looking at Honey Babe as she mixed up the cookie stuff, and I sat beside her looking up where she was working, just in case something might fall on to the floor where I could pick it up rather than have it mess up everything.
When she finished the Cookies she put them on a plate and placed them on the kitchen table and then stood back to look at them. Thor looked at them. Janey looked at them. They looked beautiful and smelt gorgeous. I love Cookies. Even People Cookies. So I thought about these Cookies and how they might taste and whether maybe Honey Babe might let me have one sometime. Or even a bit of one. Or even a crumb. Or perhaps the plate after the cookies were gone. I was thinking things like that when Honey Babe left the room. She was away for a little while.
When she left, Thor moved his head a little so that he could look at the cookies better. He looked for a little while then he stretched his neck forward and put out a big tongue. He licked a cookie. He pulled it into his mouth with his tongue. He licked another one and ate it. He flicked a couple off on to the floor. I ate them. They were good. He flicked another one off. I ate that one too. Thor ate all the rest and then lumbered off into the corner to lie down. I went and lay down beside him with my head on his paws.
We lay there together for a little while. I thought a lot about the taste of the cookies. And then Honey Babe came back in. She looked at the empty plate, her mouth open. She looked at Thor in the corner with me on his paws. She looked at Janey.
“Oh Baby!” she said. “Mumble, mumble, mumble, cookies!”
Baby smiled and giggled.
“Cookie!” she said. “Cookie!”
Thor heaved a great big sigh and went off to sleep. I lay on his paws and wagged my tail a little.
I was very sad when Thor finally had to go back to his own kennel.