If my daughter or I tried to pick Charlie up and hold him, he would quickly scamper away and head straight back to where he was least wanted. Charlie was an acrobat too. Many times my husband was almost brought to the point of heart failure when Charlie would silently creep up behind the recliner and jump over my husband’s head and into his lap. As many times as Charlie did this, my husband was never prepared for the overhead assault.
There was one game that Charlie would play with my daughter and me, but it took a lot of coaxing. We would stand in front of Charlie and wave our nightgrowns back and forth. Charlie’s tail would begin to sway. Then he would position himself for the launch by rocking back and forth. Eventually it ended with us screaming and running through the house and Charlie in hot pursuit.
Charlie had a particular dislike for all females, I think. I had a lady that came once a week to clean for me and Charlie clearly hated her. One morning she arrived before I had finished dressing for work, and had gone upstairs to get the bed linens. Charlie was waiting for her just inside one of the bedroom doorways. The attack was swift and the result was a blood curdling scream that would wake the dead. From that day on, I had to make sure that Charlie was out of the house before the cleaning lady would come inside. Even so, Charlie was not through with her. He knew that she would come outside to put the trash in the garbage can. Charlie was patient. He waited, and he nailed her again. Now she refused to take the trash out.
Charlie lived his life pretty much like be wanted to. If he felt romantic, he would scour the neighborhood in search of female companionship. My sister had a female dog and wanted Charlie to mate with her dog. When the time was right, I grabbed Charlie, put him in the car and off we went to my sister’s. Once there, we closed the garage door and stood back to watch the romantic scene unfold. Never have I heard such growling and howling!Back and forth they went under the cars, darting here and there, it sounded like they were killing each other. This is not working I thought. Indignant that Charlie would spurn her dog, my sister said, “Your dog is obviously gay.”
“No, not at all. ” I replied, “Charlie is just a little choosy. We just need to put a small paper sack over your dog’s head, that’s all. ”
Charlie and I went home, both a little huffy. So much for that. Never again would I put Charlie up for such ridicule. Then, weeks later, my sister called. Her dog had one lone pup, and he looked exactly like Charlie!
As Charlie got older he slowed down considerably. He was more content to just swish his tail when he saw a bird perched nearby, rather than go for the hunt. He didn’t play the game with my daughter and me anymore. I could look into his eyes and tell, something was just not right. After a thorough examination from the vet, I was informed that Charlie had kidney failure. His advice was to put Charlie out of his misery. There is no cure he said.
Breaking the news to may daughter was not easy. She was a teenager and to put Charlie to sleep was unthinkable. Everyday she would take Charlie to the vet and he would be hydrated. This went on for almost a month, but Charlie didn’t get better. I made a bed for Charlie in the utility room, his litter box sat unused. Charlie was too weak to get out of his bed. The only time he was out of it was when he went to the vet.
My husband and I knew that we should put Charlie out of his misery, but my daughter cried and put up such a fuss that we always backed off. Never again will I let an animal suffer that long. Charlie needed to go. We needed to let go.
Even my husband who professed not to like Charlie was determined to properly bury him. He had begun to build a coffin for Charlie. Then out of the blue Charlie came out of the utility room. It was the first time he had walked in over two weeks. He slowly came up to me and I picked him up and held him in my lap. For the first time he let me stroke his head without trying to get away. We sat like this for what seemed like a very long time, and then Charlie decided it was time to leave. Slowly he walked to the back door and as I let him out, he paused on the deck as he watched my husband building the coffin. He descended the steps, then turned and looked back at me one more time, and then he was gone.
Charlie knew that his hour had come, he said his good-byes, and then did what all of God’s creatures do. He went to his resting place. His little coffin was turned into a planter and over the years has been the home for many bright geraniums, but its true purpose is to remind us of Charlie.
我不想写有关查理的故事，因为我知道我会哭。它离开我们已经很长时间了，但是它依然在我的心里。读过其他一些有关狗的优美的故事，于是我决定把查理的故事写下来，它也需要被人们记住。
我该从哪里开始讲述有关查理的故事呢？从它那小哈巴狗的鼻尖到它那来回摇摆的尾巴梢看来，它并没有什么独特之处，只是一只狗而已。漂亮是我对它唯一的描述，尽管它是一只流浪狗，却有着皇室般的仪态。它有着银灰色的长毛，脖子下面还点缀着一团白色的斑纹，犹如一颗璀璨的星星。因此， 我几乎能够想象得出来，它的一个祖先具有“波斯公主”的血统。
查理非常爱我们，不过它大部分时间是在宽容我们。我和女儿想抱它、依偎它时，查理就一直忍耐着， 直到我们放开它，它才跑走。另一方面是因为我的丈夫查尔斯，很明显，他对查理没有一点儿兴趣，而且还经常发表评论说狗没有任何价值。我通常会想他对查理的愤恨，是否因为查理以他的名字命名却没有征求他的意见呢。
我曾经听说，在一个家庭中，狗只会选择依恋一个人，而令大家吃惊的是，查理选择的是查尔斯。每天晚上，查理在吃完饭之后，都会花大约一个小时的时间来舔舐自己，然后跳到我丈夫的腿上，打起了小盹。他们互相也不理睬，只是彼此忍耐着。
如果女儿或是我试着将它抱起来，它就会快速逃走，径直跑到我丈夫那里——最不欢迎它的地方。查理还是一个杂技演员，当查理轻轻地趴在躺椅的后背，然后，从我丈夫的头上跳过，落在他的腿上时，有好几次，我的丈夫差点儿吓得心力衰竭。而查理每次这样做的时候，我的丈夫都没有准备好应该如何对付头顶上的袭击。
而只有一项游戏是查理愿意跟我和女儿一起玩的，而这还要哄着它才能玩呢。我们站在查理的面前，来回摆动我们的睡衣。查理的尾巴也会跟着来回摇摆。然后，它就会摆出一副准备攻击的姿势前后摆动着。最后，我们尖叫着在房间里穿来穿去，而查理则在我们后面疯狂地紧追不舍。
我认为查理特别不喜欢女性。我雇了一个女清洁工，一个星期来打扫一次卫生。查理很明确地表现出对她的憎恶。一天早上，在我还没有换好工作服的时候， 她就来了。她走到楼上去拿床单。查理躲在一间卧室的门后等着她。这场偷袭来得非常迅速，结果是传来一阵令人毛骨悚然的尖叫声。从那天起，在清洁工来之前，我一定会事先确保查理没有在房间里。即便如此，查理也没有放过她。它知道清洁工一定会到外面倒垃圾。查理很耐心地等着，然后再一次偷袭了她。现在，那个清洁工都不愿意去外面倒垃圾了。