HHAW:Of Dogs and Whos Prologue

Of Dogs and Whos

Prologue

It was a mild, slightly breezy summer dawn in the peaceful town known as Whoville. It was actually still darkish grey in the sky at the current moment, except for the faint line of blue sky and sunlight slowly arising from the east. The sound of birds chirping merrily chorused in the wind, followed by the gentle rustle of the leaves on the rows of sycamore and willow trees. It would only be an hour or so until the harmonious Whoville would spring back to live with all its citizens waking up and getting ready for a whole new day.

However, this here story does not begin around the hustle and bustle of the town center, but mainly out towards the outskirts of Whoville. It begins in those small areas that were completely covered in bundles of trees, wildlife, plant life, green fields and riverbanks. While others were still tucked away in bed, one Who was wide awake and starting morning rituals in those outskirts alongside her trusted companion...


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On the sandy bank in front of a large sparkling blue pool of water under the trees, the leaves lay deep and so crisp that a mouse could create a skittering noise if it moved across them. It was riddled in the night tracks of all the wildlife that might have crossed by to take a drink from the pool earlier. There was this narrow dirt path forming through the willows and among the sycamores, meanwhile in front of the low limb of a very old willow by the bank there was a flat ash pile created by some small previous fires.

Sitting quietly on top of the sandy bank were groups of little grey, chocolate brown and black rabbits. And then from the long distance of the stretching dirt path came the echoing sound of heavy footsteps on sycamore leaves. Startled by the sudden noise, the groups of rabbits scattered noisely and out of sight, while a hissing reptile raised its head and slithered away under a rock. For a few brief moments the serene forest was lifeless, but then the footsteps grew even louder until an enormous Who emerged from the path with a sheep dog at her side and came into the opening by the sandy bank.

The Who herself was a very tall and large teenage girl, her body fur consisting of big cyan and purple stripes. Her face was a rather pale white colour and her matching smooth yet tatty cyan and purple hair was tied up into two long slightly messy pigtails. This giant of a Who was wearing a worn-out blue denim coat with thick brass buttons. The girl did tend to walk heavily, meaning she was the one making the loud foot steps that could have been heard a mile away and she had a slouched posture, such with sloping shoulders and loosely hanging arms.

The sheep dog walking slowly at the girl's side was coloured black/grey and bright cyan in fur colour. He appeared to be a very old dog indeed, most likely over ten-years-old, which was really old in a dog's years. Also, he was wearing a soft black leather collar over his neck and attached to it was a black tether which the girl was holding onto by the other end. The dog, due to his age was walking slowly with his four paws treading across the the sycamore leaves.

Soon, the very tall and large girl in the blue denim jacket found that she was now walking too far ahead of her sheep dog and looked back at him in concern. She spoke to him in her sweet and gentle voice, tugging slightly on the tether attached to the dog's collar, "Come on, Spot. Come here, boy."

"I'm comin', Daisy. I'm comin'." The ancient dog known as Spot yawned, clicking his tongue a few times. "Jus' feelin' a little tired. I jus' need a moment or two to get my head straight." He finally reached his master's side and shook his body vigorously until he stopped and said to the ginormous girl. "Okay, I'm feelin' good now."

"Great. Let's sit down." The gigantic Who known as Daisy smiled broadly and then led her dog over to the sandy bank in front of the sparkling pool. "Come on..." The two hobbled over to the edge of the sandy bank which was also littered with ash and other sycamore leaves.

Daisy landed on the river bank with a heavy thud, while Spot rested in a sitting down position next to her. He took in a deep inhale of the fresh forest air and said to his master with a sigh, "You know, Daisy, it may take some strain on my bones 'cause of my age, but by Lord...I sure do enjoy doin' this every mornin'. It does this ol' heart good."

"Me too, Spot. I love watchin' the pool and all those fish swimmin' around in it." Daisy smiled warmly, watching the goings on of the pool in awe. Next, the large girl looked over at her old dog and reached out her massive, strong hand over his head.

Upon seeing the giant hand of his master lowering on his head, Spot body's became ridged. "Now Daisy..." He said sternly like a parent warning their child about something of significance. "...if you are goin' to pat my head or anythin', please take some care in it. You don't wanna pat too hard and cause some damage..." The old sheep dog mumbled quietly to himself so only he could hear it. "...like you do with all those other little critters."

"Okay, Spot. I know." Now to you, me or any Who that might have been watching the two from a short distance might have stopped to think Daisy could be crazy. After all, there girl was speaking to her ancient sheep dog in full conversation. It was normal for some teenage girls to baby-talk with their little pets, but Daisy was talking with her dog Spot as if he were yet another Who. The question was: was Daisy really talking to the sheep dog or was it all in the girl's head? To Daisy, Spot was talking to her but was it really the case? Who could really tell what the real situation was here?

After she had finished patting Spot lightly, the Goliath of a Who looked back over the large sparkling pool of water, reminding her sheep dog, "But it's a bit of a shame that we really can't stay for long. Mommy and Daddy will want us back in time for breakfast." Daisy let out a moan as she smiled and licked her furry lips. "Hmmm, I want some green eggs and ham. I'm really, really hungry." She then rubbed her big growling stomach softly.

Spot just rolled his eyes exasperately and remarked to his master dryly, "Daisy, you took two Whoshey bars to eat on this little mornin' walk of ours, remember?" What was the point in asking? Spot all ready knew the answer to his question.

"I...I did?" Daisy asked her dog cluelessly, scratching the top of her head. Daisy was never the best went it came to remembering things...

"Ah, come on, Daisy!" Spot rubbed his own face with the back of his paw and groaned tiredly. "Can't you remember even the slightest of things? Ya packed two of them in your pocket before we left the house and as one would guess...you at 'em the first couple of minutes we were outside. Criminey..." He laid down on the ashy ground and began mumbling to himself grumpily.

Daisy looked down at her massive strong hands and began twiddling them together. "I'm sorry, Spot. I don't mean to forget."

"Eh, forget 'bout it." Spot waved his paw lazily and next rolled onto his back slowly. "I just wish you could manage things for yourself for once and stop havin' to depend on me and Jojo all the time, you know? It's not exactly easy on us, Daisy."

"I know." The giant Who wrapped her arms tightly around her legs and slight started to rock back and forth on top of the old sycamore leaves. She looked out across the large pool of water before them and asked in all most of a random manner, "What do you think it's like, swimming in the pool?"

Scratching his rough and bristly muzzle, Spot responded to Daisy's question with a tut, "Once again, ya end up changin' the topic of discussion. That there's a really bad habit of yours, Daisy, but anyway..." he took a look over the large pool of water. "I can't really judge myself, 'cause I ain't swam for ages." His eyebrows arched upwards and Spot told Daisy sternly. "Oh, no. Now don't you get no ideas. You know full-well you can't swim a lick. You'd sink like a rock."

"Yeah, but maybe I could learn." Daisy's smile perked up a bit and nodded. "Yeah, maybe Jojo can teach me. He's sure a good swimmer."

Spot made a game show buzzing noise and reminded his master flatly. "Wrong! Jojo has tried to teach you how to swim on five separate occasions! And if you can remember, Daisy, which I'm doubtin', each time didn't end well at all."

"Oh, yeah, know I remember." Daisy rubbed the back of her neck with her large hand, recalling those times where Jojo had tried in futile to teach her to swim. Neither of the five times did she make any progress so soon the black and grey Who just gave up on trying to teach her. "Silly me. Hey..." She got a new idea and moved forward to the edge of the pool, looking over it so she could see her own distorted reflection. "Spot, do you think someone can drink from this water?"

Spot shrugged carelessly, looking over the ashes and earth at his paws. "Well, I think that maybe you can if ya only jus'..." He looked back over to Daisy and gaped in surprise at what he saw before him. "...aww, Daisy!" Daisy had flung herself down and drank from the surface of the sparkling pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a hog. Spot dashed over to his master batted the side of her with his old paw, saying sharply, "Daisy, you really shouldn't drink so much like that! Ya could really end up bein' sick!"

Daisy dunked her entire head, including her hair and then she sat back up the sandy bank. The water dripped down from her soaked hair onto her denim jacket and all down her back. Spewing a mouthfull of the pool water out of her mouth and back into the pool itself, Daisy grinned sheepishly at her dog, "That's...some really good water, Spot. Really good."

"For the love of all things sacred, Daisy! If you're gonna drink from some pool in a forest, at least do it in little sips!" Spot wiped away the pool water off of Daisy's jacket with his paw and muzzle. "Honestly, you're makin' a big buffoon of yourself!"

"Sorry, Spot. Just wanted to give it a try." The enormous Who shook the remaining water off of hair and denim jacket. "I wasn't gonna drown or nothin'."

But Spot sat back down on the bank and looked in another direction across the pool of water, tutting, "I wouldn't be surprised if you had drowned, especially if I weren't here. Seriously, Daisy, what would you do without me or Jojo?" He looked back at her as if waiting for an answer, while the tapping his paw on the ashy ground.

"I dunno, Spot, uh..." She took a guess and spoke again. "I'd end up fallin' off the edge of a cliff?"

"Damn straight."

Daisy now looked high up at the sky morning sky. A few bright blue streaks was beginning to make themselves seen to those below. "Well look at that, it's sunrise. I guess it's now time we get going if we ever wanna get back home in time for breakfast." She lifted herself up onto her feet and tugged slightly on the end of the teather attached to her old dog's collar. "C'mon, boy. Let's go."

Spot nodded and followed his master as she began to walk away from the bank, "Right behind ya, Daisy. I'm comin'." The two then trotted back up over the sandy back and up to the clearing of the long dirt path. They would have began to walk down the path in the direction of home if Daisy had not seen something on top of the low limb of the very old willow tree by the bank.

A small mouse, coloured a fine brown in fur was sitting innocently on the willow's limb. Its nose twitched slightly and its small beady eyes stared blankly up at the enormous Who looking down on it with curious eyes. "Oooh..." Daisy approached quietly towards the little creature, which was pretty hard to do considering how big she was. When she was close enough to the low limb of the willow, she reached out her open palm that was not currently holding onto the tether attached to Spot's collar in front of the mouse. It looked up at her with slight suspicion before deciding to slowly sneak onto the girl's hand. "All right!" Now that the mouse was in her hand, Daisy pulled it back and held the little rodent in too much of a tight way, stroking its back with her thumb.

The very old sheep dog had seen this and spoke to Daisy somewhat crossly, "Daisy, you can't honestly tell me that ya think you'll be able to get away with it this time. Jojo and your parents will get mighty sore if they catch you with another one."

However, Daisy was too caught up by how soft and smooth the fur on the little mouse. "Wow...you're a cute little critter, aren't you?" She crooned over the surprised mouse as she began stroking it hard with her thumb. The giant Who then took notice of what her dog just said and replied nonchalantly as she began walking at through the clearing again with him at her side, "Well...they don't have to know. We can just let 'im go soon after we get home once breakfast is all over."

Spot knew there was no point in arguing with his master and continued to walk after her down the dirt path from whence they came. He said to her as they passed by the numerous sycamore and willow trees, "Okay, Daisy...but if ya do happen to get yourself caught, don't say that I didn't warn ya."

And so the giant female Who, her old sheep dog companion and the little mouse in her hand made their way down the long stretching dirt path through the forest which they had all ready passed. A lot of you might think that this girl Daisy was a right odd one, which was true to some extent. But would you believe me if I told you that this girl's last name was McDodd? It was true indeed, no lies or fibs. Daisy McDodd was the third born child of the Mayor Ned McDodd and his wife Sally McDodd, the sister of the small music-loving future Mayor Jojo McDodd and the second member of the whole army of the McDodd sisters. It might seem very unlikely at first, but once you get to know her, you would recognized how much she had inherited her father's eccentricity.

Now Daisy was not all that...normal compared to many other Whos, not just physically in her great size but in her...mentallity. It was not that Daisy was like a complete mental retard or something along those lines; she was as Sally would say 'special and different'. All though, one could not overlook her low intelligence and simple-mindedness. That and her very odd personality did give some strong indication that Daisy did in fact have some mental difficulties.

As you might depict all ready from her colossal form, Daisy McDodd possessed great strength for one of her young teenage years. Some in Whoville said that she had the strength of a bull or steaming locomotive or even a giant, which she technically was in Who standards. But what left some narrow-minded Who citizens baffled was the fact that she would never want to use this strength for bad purposes. Things such as using it to dominate and bully over other smaller Whos and other selfish desires. No, Daisy would not hurt a fly or any living creature, though there had been the occasional accident here and there. In summary, Daisy was the Who definition of a 'gentle giant'.

Daisy, Spot and the little mouse in the girl's hand started to pick up the pace as they marched down through the small Whoville forest. They had to get home exactly on time for breakfast with the rest of the family if they wanted to continue being allowed to go to the sparkling pool every morning. It was a tradition and 'contract' that had stood in the McDodd family for years and Daisy and Spot enjoyed their trips too much to have the 'contract' broken. If only Jojo and he and Daisy's ninety-five siblings could understood the beauty of nature the way she and Spot did...