How the Dalmatians Got Their Spots
It was many, many years ago, long before even our grandfathers
can remember, when this story first began. In the middle of the
afternoon, snow had just started to fall and the village park
was dusted in a white cover. The children were walking home from
their last day of school before the Christmas holidays.
The people of the small village were busy shopping. Two women
were deciding which turkeys would be best for a Christmas dinner.
The children had eyes on the toy shop with so many different things
to choose that they decided they would like everything.
Everyone in the village was cheerful and full of Christmas
spirit. On the street corner a church group sang carols accompanied
by a small brass quartet. The music and singing floated through
the main street and many hummed along with them. The mayor of
the village was busy greeting everyone and wishing them a very
merry Christmas. He also owned the toy shop.
Next to the toy shop there was a narrow alley that turned
to the left and again to the right. There it ended at the back
door of the town hotel. Four steps climbed to the back door which
led into the kitchen. Twice a day, each morning and each night,
the chef would open the door and put some leftovers in a bowl
next to the steps, because under the steps was a mother dog and
her 10 pure white puppies.The mother was white also and the puppies
were just big enough now to begin to walk around. This kept mom
very busy counting and keeping track of their wanderings.
Soon the snow completely covered the ground and the light
of the day began to fade into evening. All the puppies had just
finished a big dinner and with their tummies full settled down
to sleep. All but one that is.
Loopie, as he was known, could not sleep. The snow was exciting
and he could hear people talking out in the main street. All this
was too much so Loopie decided to explore beyond the steps. So
with a big jump, he made a leap into the snow from under the steps.
Snow was something new and, as he found out, very slippery. His
back feet went a bit faster than his front when he landed and
soon found himself sliding along on his backside only stopping
after crashing into a cardboard box. The box tipped over sending
a flurry of powder down over the somewhat confused puppy. None
of this would stop him as the voices in the street became closer
than ever.
On he marched feeling a bit more sure footed in the snow.
Soon he was at the end of the alley. A man was walking by lighting
the gas lamps on the main street. Two children ran past never
seeing him standing right in the middle of the sidewalk. All this
was exciting and new to him so he decided to see a bit more.
Across the street was a shop with such a nice smell coming
from it that Loopie could not resist. As he began to cross the
street the biggest dog he could imagine suddenly trotted past
towing a sled with a couple all bundled up in blankets. With a
great whinny and snort it went on down the street kicking up snow
all the way. It never saw him and barely missed kicking him.
Gathering enough courage to try to cross again, Loopie began
to run as fast as he could to the other side of the street. The
gas lamps made everything glow a pretty yellow orange including
him and the snow. The shop doors were closed but in one window
he could see all kinds of wonderful meats. The ones he liked the
best were the sausages. The chef at the hotel would put these
in the bowl by the steps each morning. He was getting hungry and
a bit tired.
The snow was getting even deeper now and he was finding it
harder and harder to walk. For awhile he could walk in the footprints
of all the shoppers but now the shoppers and their footprints
were disappearing. Many times he had to jump along as best he
could. He was also getting cold.
Loopie was as hungry as ever now and he was very cold. He
was also very lost. The snow turned everything the same color.
Every street and alley looked like the next one but none looked
like the alley to the back door of the hotel.
The snow had fallen for over two hours and it was as deep
as Loopie was tall. He could only move along a little at a time
by taking a big jump and nearly burying himself completely in
snow each time he landed. He wondered if he would ever see his
family again.
He had no energy left and made one last big jump landing next
to a lamp post. The snow was falling so hard that the light from
the lamp was barely lighting the ground. Loopie was very cold,
very frightened, very hungry and very tired. He began to cry but
the puppy tears froze on his puppy nose.
Loopie curled up into a little white ball next to the lamp
post and slowly fell asleep knowing he would never see his brothers
and sisters or his mother again. They were together, warm and
safe under the steps on this Christmas Eve.
He had a dream just as soon as he fell asleep. An angel was
standing next to street lamp looking at him. He could see the
angel talking to him but could not understand any of the words.
He felt warm again in his dream and he wasn't hungry either. The
angel reached down and touched him gently on his head and then
disappeared.
Loopie heard someone else talking too. Suddenly he was awake
and not dreaming. A little boy was holding his father's hand and
pulling him toward the lamp. "Look father, there is a puppy
in the snow" exclaimed the boy. The boy reached down, picked
up Loopie and put him inside his coat so Loopie could look out
but keep very warm. He had been saved. He had never been so happy.
Not even when he got sausages in the morning.
The boy's father looked at the puppy and then smiled. Loopie
knew the man. He was the chef at the hotel. The man who gave him
sausages each morning. He would see his family again.
The boy carried Loopie back to the hotel. Under the steps
were his mom, all his brothers and all his sisters still sound
asleep. They all looked different now though. Loopie heard the
boy say to his father as he carefully put him back with his family,
"If that puppy didn't have all those black spots no one would
ever have seen him in the snow".
Loopie remembered the angel in his dream. When the angel touched
him the angel saved his life by putting beautiful black spots
on him and all his family. They weren't just white dogs anymore,
but special dogs. The angel on Christmas Eve created the first
Dalmatians.
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