This is a story about Christmas. This is also a story about
dogs. There are some people who refuse to read stories about dogs fearing a sad
ending. If you are one of these people you need not worry. This story has the
happiest of endings.
Let's begin now that we all understand it's safe to continue...
Once upon a time there was a large white farm house that sat in the
middle of a vast green field. The farm house was old. How old isn’t important--all you need to know is that the house was magical.
Now don’t fret at the mention of magic as this is a Christmas story. You will find no
hobbits, unicorns or other magical creatures below. Yes the house at the center of our tale is magical but only in small way.
Buried deep in the old farm house’s foundation was a very
special stone. A stone that that was older than old and was once carved with
runes of great power by a wise old man who used the stone only to make people
happy.
Thousands of years later that same stone, polished smooth by
the years until the runes were invisible, found its way into the hands of
another wise man that unknowingly buried the ancient talisman in the foundation
of his house.
It was this stone that made the house special. The stone
retained just a small bit of magic left over from when the world was young. Just enough magic remained to charm the large white farmhouse and the rolling green fields and nearby woods
that surrounded the house.
The people who lived in the white farmhouse had no idea of
the glamour that made the house such a happy place. They were happy and they
didn’t question why.
In real life many people feel guilty for being happy. They
feel so guilty that they start looking for reasons to be unhappy. Not these people. They gave no thought to
their state of grace.
We know what they didn’t. We know about the fading magic of
the ancient rune stone and the small sphere of bright glamour that bombarded
the farm with cheer.
Yet I know something that you do not. A fact that is central
to the plot of this story that I shall
reveal to you now: the great white farmhouse in the middle of a vast green
field had more than the ancient rune stone making it a happy place. The old
farmhouse was also the home to four dogs.
See I told you this was a Christmas story about dogs!
Now it’s time for me to introduce you to our heroes, the
four Portuguese Water Dogs named Yorick,
Eddie, Fozzie Bear and Sprocket.
