Part Two of Home Alone - Almost
Written by Leona NielsenPublished on February 2013
PART TWO of Home Alone - Almost
To refresh your memory, when the story ended Annie had just figured out what Angie had in mind. She was so excited with what was going to happen that she was getting louder and louder with each passing minute. Just then Baby lifted his hind hoof and touched Annie on her back leg.
“Hey Baby, what did you do that for!!!!!!”
“SHHHHHHHH Annie, you don’t want to upset Joseph any more than he already is, do you?”
“Upset, for what!!!!!!!!! He is only getting ……………what’s the big deal anyway?”
“Annie, not so loud, you don’t want Joseph to hear you talking about him do you? You know that isn’t a very nice thing to do.”
“You’re talking about him Baby.”
“No, I am trying to make you stop.”
“I can’t wait to see what happens.” Annie whispered to Baby.
“Be careful what you wish for because it could happen to you, you know.”
“I wouldn’t mind it. I’m a girl.”
Baby shook his head wondering if he would ever get used to the way girls think. Annie turned to leave the barn when her eyes met Joseph’s. There were no words needed. Joseph knew that Annie was having a field day with his misfortune.
Angie‘s car had a familiar sound that everyone knew as it pulled into the driveway. Joseph looked towards the field knowing that some drastic measures had to be taken for him to get out of this one. He needed time to think. “JOSEPH!!!!! OH JOSEPH where are you? We need to get you looking handsome again.” Angie shouted as she checked out the places that Joseph was known to go.
Annie and Baby stood watching, wondering how she was going to find him.
“Do you know where he went Baby?” asked Annie.
“I can honestly say this time I have no idea where he is.”
“Do you suppose he ran away?”
“I can’t see Joseph doing that. You know he would have to be here for supper.”
While they had been talking, Angie had disappeared as well.
Before they got a chance to find her they heard….“Joseph, you are going to feel so much better. The harder you fight against it, the harder it is on you.”
“ I have to find TC and let her know.” Annie shouted. “After all these years of knowing Joseph I never thought I would ever see this.” Baby said.
“See what Baby?” Scout wanted to know.
“Take a look for yourself.”
Coming through the field was Joseph and Angie. Joseph had locked his front feet to stop himself from moving forward while Angie was behind pushing him forward with her shoulder. The grass was slippery which meant Joseph couldn’t get a good grip to stop himself. He looked like he had skis on and was gliding over the grass.
“Joseph looks like he has lost his best friend.” Baby said.
“I wonder how she found him?” asked Annie.
“Three guesses.”
“Oh! those big ears for sure.”
“You got it.”
“Joseph, this is only going to take a minute and it will be over.”
“He will feel so much better.” TC added.
“Joseph looks like a mud paddy. He looks so funny.” Annie said.
“Annie, that is rude. We shouldn’t make fun of him. He is feeling bad enough as it is. We should be showing him some support” Baby replied.
“Baby is right” Scout answered.
Annie ran over to Joseph saying, “I will support you when you’re cleaner Joseph.”
“ANNIE!! That wasn’t what you were supposed to say.
Joseph, don’t worry, we are right here with you.”
“He can see we are here Baby.” Annie replied.
“It’s all in the words Annie.”
‘I don’t understand all these different words and what they mean. I do know that I am a donkey, just like you Joseph. So I am going to stay right here with you.
”True to her word Annie was walking next to Joseph as they arrived at the barn where Angie had everything ready.
“Next time our owners leave us alone I am going to hide until they come back. This is embarrassing ……….I DON’T WANT A BATH. BESIDES, I HAVE HAD ENOUGH BATHS TO LAST MY WHOLE LIFE!!!!!!!” Joseph shouted.
Within minutes the soap and water had covered both Joseph and Angie. She was singing …….wash on rinse off over and over. As the mud started falling to the ground, more and more of Joseph could be seen.
“Look everyone, Joseph is back!!!” Annie yelled as she jumped up and down like Trigger.
“WOW! Joseph you are looking good. How do you feel?” Baby asked.
“Better than some, worse than the rest. It does feel nice to be able to move my fur.”
“I would guess it will be a while before you roll in the mud again.”
“I do know this Baby, I will not jump to a conclusion before I have all the facts right.”
“Something like this could only happen to you Joseph.”
“Yep and a thousand donkeys could cross a frozen river safely and I would be the one to fall through.”
“Oh Joseph!!!!”
“Well, it’s the truth.”
After Angie had things put away she fed everyone. Everyone was so happy to be fed that no one noticed the things that were being done.
“Goodnight everyone and I’ll see you in the morning.”
Suddenly, things were quiet. Annie looked up from her bowl, blinked her eyes several times……….What on earth!!!
“SHE CLOSED MY DOOR!!!!!!!!”
“She always does that Annie, because she wants us to be safe during the night” Baby told her.
“I ALWAYS HAVE MY DOOR OPEN! HOW CAN I GO OUTSIDE!!!!”
“You will be able to go out in the morning.” Baby replied.
“I need to go NOW!!”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“Oh yes it is.”
“And how are you going to do that?” Baby asked.
“Just like this.”Annie turned around several times in a big circle and each time she kept her eyes on the door. When she found the right position, she lifted her hind legs BANG! BANG! on the door.
“What are you doing Annie?” Joseph yelled.
“I am getting out of Dodge, that is what I AM DOING!!!”
“By kicking the door?”
“You got it.” Annie muttered as she kicked again.
“That’s not a good idea.”
“Why isn’t it, Joseph?”
“You are going to break the door.”
“No I won’t, I am just hitting it hard enough to make the latch open.”
“So you think.” Baby replied.
“I do, just watch.”Annie continued kicking the door when………………
“OH! OH!”
Annie had kicked so hard that the door was laying on the ground.
TC and Scout had heard the bangs and came to see what was going on. TC looked around saying, “Renovating, are we?”
No one answered.
“Is anyone going to tell me what has just happened here?”
“I am not, TC, because I think the one who did it should be the one to tell you.” Baby told TC.
“Yes, I agree with Baby.” Joseph added.
Annie lowered her head and muttered, “I guess that leaves just me, doesn’t it? I did it TC.”
“I would be interested in knowing why Annie.”
“You know my door is never closed and I wanted it open.”
“Annie, there are a lot of things that we might want but we can’t have. That doesn‘t mean that we have to do things like this. Angie is a very good person to look after us when our owners go away and she just does some things differently than they do.”
“I always want her to come and look after us. She gives good hugs.” Baby said.
“I’m sorry for doing it now. Can we fix it TC?” Annie asked.
“I am afraid not. The owners will do it when they get home tonight.”
Annie lifted her head and looking at everyone said, “They won’t know how it happened, will they?”
“Let’s just say they won’t know why you did it but they will know.”
“How will they know when they weren’t here?”
Joseph and Baby looked at one another.
“The NOTE.”
“What Note?”
“The one Angie always leaves.”
“What does she do that for?”
“She always does and it’s your door that is broken Annie.” Baby answered as he finished eating.
“You are just saying that Baby.”
The rest of the evening and night passed without incident.
“Here come our owners.” Baby announced to the barn.
Annie, not knowing if there really was a note, decided to stand in the background and wait. The owners were certainly glad to see everyone. They walked over to the wall and, sure enough, there was the Note. It read,“Oh my! Sorry to tell you but you have repairs in the barn. Somehow, Annie ripped off her stall door.” Angie.
“What are they going to do, TC?” Annie asked.
“It’s alright Annie. They will say something like, “Annie, why did you do that?”
“If you are worried about them being angry at you, they won’t be. They might say something like, “Annie, don’t do this again.”
Sure enough, that was what happened. Annie felt a little better but was beginning to understand more and more that she shouldn’t have done it.
“Thanks for not making fun of me when I got in trouble everyone.” Annie announced.
“How could we, when in the end you stood by Joseph when he was having a hard time getting bathed. We are family, aren’t we?”
“That we are and we learn from one another as well.” Scout replied.
“When are you going to teach me how to use those words that I always get wrong Scout?”
“When the snow is falling and we have a lot of time, Annie.”
As the day ended and everyone had settled down for the night a voice came out of the darkness…“When is Angie coming back? I am never going to kick my door again.”
From the loft came……..“I like her coming because she gives me a lot to eat.” Murphy added.
“Good night everyone and that includes you too Murphy.”
“Good night,TC and Scout.”
Hi everyone! Now you know the rest of our story. The most important thing we learned was not to make fun of someone else’s misfortune. Things can happen to us as well, just as Annie found out. Next time our story will be “A Sore Foot”.Until then, stay safe and have a Happy Holiday.Baby, Joseph, TC, Scout and Little Annie