The Dachshund Who Wore Spectacles. Lora Thomas
Hurry, he thought. The sooner I eat, the sooner I can go play.
After Spencer ate breakfast, they left for Tyler and Kinga’s house. Tyler and Kinga lived on a small farm. They had a pond full of fish, trails through the woods, a mountain view, and acres of fields to run through.
Frank could hardly wait to get there. He always loved a ride in the car, but he couldn’t wait to get to Puma’s so he could play. “Are we there yet?” barked Frank.
They pulled into the driveway. Kinga was out in her dahlia garden. She had the most beautiful dahlias in her garden. Frank had never seen such bright and colorful flowers.
Tyler was out in the field on his tractor. He was mowing the fields. He liked to mow the fields because he said it was relaxing. Sometimes Puma got to ride on the tractor too. Puma sat so proudly when he was on the tractor. I’m sure people who see me on this tractor assume I am the one driving, mused Puma.
Where was Puma? Frank looked left; he looked right. Where was Puma? Just then, out the corner of Frank’s eye, he saw the ever-familiar black, blurry streak across the field just behind the tractor. Puma was chasing rabbits and field mice! The mower would scare them, and when they ran, Puma ran after them. Puma didn’t want to hurt them. He just wanted to talk to them. They aren’t very friendly, thought Puma.
“Puma,” yelled Frank, “I’m here!”
Puma ran his fastest to reach Frank’s side. “Let’s run in the fields. It is so much fun.”
Frank and Puma ran through the fields. They ran until they were both too tired to do much more than walk back to the house.
Petrie
Frank had never been to Puma’s house before. Puma said, “Watch this, Frank. When I bark, the door opens.”
Puma barked once, and immediately Tyler opened the door for him. “See, it works every time.” Puma beamed.
Inside the house, Frank was looking from room to room. Frank walked into a darkened bedroom. He could barely make out anything. He pushed his glasses closer on his nose. Still he could not see anything.
“Hello?” said a melodic voice coming from the corner.
“Who said that?” questioned Frank. “Who’s there?”
The melodic voice said, “I am here in the corner. Can you see me?”
Frank could not see whoever was talking to him. He thought for a minute, When Puma barked at the door, Tyler opened it. Perhaps if I barked in this room, he would turn on the light.
Frank started barking softly at first. When nobody came, he started barking louder. Finally, Tyler came into the room flipping on the light as he entered. “What is it, Frank? What are you barking at?”
Frank didn’t hear anything that Tyler said because as the light came on, Frank saw the most beautiful creature he had ever set eyes on. He couldn’t help but stare.
“Who are you?” asked Frank
“I am Petrie,” said Petrie. “I am a guinea pig.”
“Y-y-y-y-ou don’t look like a pig,” said Frank.
Petrie giggled. “I’m not a pig. I am a guinea pig. There is a big difference, you know.”
Frank had no clue what the difference was. All that he knew was that Petrie was the most beautiful animal he had ever seen. He kept staring.
“Frank, let’s go,” said Spencer.
Frank didn’t respond. He was still staring.
“Frank, let’s go,” said Spencer again.
Still no response from Frank.
“Frank, let’s go!” said Spencer one last time.
Frank snapped out of his trance. “What…what did you say?” barked Frank.
“Let’s go. We must get home because Mom is going to have a surprise for us.”
Frank did not want to take his eyes off Petrie. He backed out of the room, his eyes never leaving Petrie. He backed right into Puma who had been standing in the hall.
“Hey, watch where you are going!” joked Puma. “What are you staring at anyway?”
“Oh,” said an embarrassed Frank, “I wasn’t staring at anything.”
In the car, Frank hoped it wouldn’t be too long before he was able to see Petrie again. He was sad to leave but curious about what the surprise was waiting at home.
Beanjamin
When Spencer, Darryl, and Frank got home, they went into the house to see what the surprise was.
They immediately heard a tiny, little bark.
“Come see your surprise, Frank,” said Lora. “Come meet your new baby brother.”
“Baby what?” said Frank. “Baby brother?”
Around the corner came a tiny, brown dachshund. “Everybody, meet Beans,” said Lora. “His name is Beanjamin Sawyer. We now have Frank and Beans.” Lora was smiling from ear to ear. “Don’t you just love wiener dogs?” She asked Spencer and Darryl.
Frank was mortified. He didn’t want a baby brother. He had no use for him. “I won’t let him sleep on my blanket. I won’t let him eat from my dish. I won’t let him play with my toys, and I certainly won’t let him near my boy.”
Frank walked over to Beans and growled.
“Frankie, be nice,” everybody said at once.
Frank cowered.
Little did Frank know but this would be the beginning of a great moment in his life. Not only did Frank get a new brother, he was just introduced to his very best friend.
Frank Meets Sir Jiglet
Shortly after Frank’s arrival to Spencer’s house, he got brave and decided to investigate his surroundings. He was too tiny to go up the stairs, so he had to stay on the main floor. He walked down the long hall toward Spencer’s bedroom. He passed Spencer’s bedroom and walked straight into another bedroom. It was a small room with a tall bed. Frank started walking underneath the bed.
“Hey, I’m under here. This is my place. Get out.”
“Who said that?” asked Frank
“It is I, Sir Jiglet,” answered Jiglet.
Frank squinted. It was hard to see in the dim light. When his eyes adjusted, Frank could see that Sir Jiglet was a very handsome and dapper cat. He was dressed in a luxurious tuxedo. It was shiny black and oh so regal. He even had white mittens to go with it.
Frank could tell that this was one classy cat. The only funny thing, mused Frank, is he has a milk mustache!
Sure enough, Sir Jiglet had a white patch of fur below his nose. It made him look as if he had been drinking milk, and it had left a mustache on his upper lip.
Frank and Sir Jiglet talked for some time. Frank liked him immediately. Sir Jiglet seems more of a dog than cat, thought Frank. I’m really going to like him.
Frank asked Jiglet how he came to be living here. Jiglet told him the story of his life, how he started as a kitten at one house and was moved to another house not far from this one. Those people didn’t treat him with the care and respect that he so deserved.
“I was out wandering one day and wandered into the garage here. The people were just coming home, and I walked right up to them. I could tell they thought I was cute because they picked me up and pet me. Spencer brought me into the house and showed me the little trap door in the window. He whispered in my ear that if I didn’t like it where I was