{"id":16,"date":"2017-06-03T14:22:05","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T14:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/?p=16"},"modified":"2017-06-03T14:22:05","modified_gmt":"2017-06-03T14:22:05","slug":"got-milk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/?p=16","title":{"rendered":"Got Milk?"},"content":{"rendered":"

(GOT MILK? \u00a9 2017<\/em> Alyce Rita Ca<\/em>mpbell All Rights Reserved; \u00a0<\/em>GOT MILK? \u00a0is<\/em> a work of fiction.\u00a0 Any resemblance to actual incidents or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.)<\/p>\n

It was sunrise and Kat tried to ignore the harsh sounds that had awakened her. \u00a0The rooster that lived in the backyard of the house across the street was beginning its day. \u00a0Desperately, she yanked her pillow over her head but still she could hear the alarm clock of a bird.<\/p>\n

Kat had more than once declared to Ms. Thorne, the owner of both house and rooster, that the rooster belonged on a farm and would have to go. \u00a0Each time, Ms. Thorne had thanked her for her visit but each time had said that the rooster was a family pet and was staying. \u00a0Kat thought that the very idea of a rooster as a pet was absurd.\u00a0 After their last unsatisfactory encounter, Kat had called Animal Control to see which ordinances were being violated and had been extremely irked to learn that the rooster was legal.<\/p>\n

Kat sat up and tossed the pillow aside.\u00a0 Ruminating on Ms. Thorne and her rooster was a waste of a shimmering Saturday morning.\u00a0 And this was a special Saturday\u2014the day of the community dog show.\u00a0 Kat\u2019s pure-bred beagle, Duke, was a beautiful tricolor and as smart as a whip.\u00a0 Ms. Thorpe’s rescue dog, if you could call such a white woolly scruff a dog, was named Patch.\u00a0 For the three years before Ms. Thorne had moved into the cul-de-sac, Duke had won the dog show. \u00a0But last year, Duke and Patch had tied for first place.<\/p>\n

The competition had two events: a mandatory agility test which a dog had to complete successfully and a \u201cfree-style\u201d in which the handler and the dog had one minute to demonstrate a unique trick. \u00a0Final score was the sum of the scores from both events. \u00a0Kat was certain that this year, Duke\u2019s trick would convince the judges that Duke was the superior dog.<\/p>\n

Kat smiled to herself, remembering the day she had stealthily followed Ms. Thorne and Patch to the park. \u00a0Using her binoculars to watch them practice had given her just the inside information she needed to devise a trick that would surely one-up Ms. Thorne.\u00a0 Maybe the woman would learn some humility.<\/p>\n

By noon, Kat and Duke were waiting their turn in the competitors\u2019 tent which had been erected on the community\u2019s soccer field.\u00a0 Because Duke and Patch had jointly won last year\u2019s show they would be competing last. \u00a0Duke was his normal relaxed self but Kat was anxious throughout the long wait.<\/p>\n

Finally, Duke and Patch were up. \u00a0Duke rocketed through the obstacle course with ease and no faults, as did Patch.\u00a0 Their scores were even.<\/p>\n

Then Duke and Kat moved to the designated spot in front of the judges\u2019 table. \u00a0\u00a0Kat put down a bowl and a bottle of milk.\u00a0 She commanded Duke to fill the bowl from the bottle without spilling a drop. \u00a0And Duke did.<\/p>\n

Patch and Ms. Thorne came next. \u00a0Kat\u2019s jaw dropped when Ms. Thorne also put down a bowl and a bottle of milk.\u00a0 Ms. Thorne then ordered Patch to fill the bowl exactly two-thirds full.\u00a0\u00a0 Patch complied without spilling a drop.\u00a0 Then Patch calmly trotted over to Duke\u2019s bowl and carefully lapped up exactly one-third of the milk. \u00a0Mission accomplished, Patch sat down between both bowls, facing the judges\u2019 table, grinning a wide, satisfied, doggy grin.<\/p>\n

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(GOT MILK? \u00a9 2017 Alyce Rita Campbell All Rights Reserved; \u00a0GOT MILK? \u00a0is a work of fiction.\u00a0 Any resemblance to actual incidents or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.) It was sunrise and Kat tried to ignore the harsh sounds that had awakened her. \u00a0The rooster that lived in the backyard of the house … Continue reading Got Milk?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions\/17"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}