The last bark

"I'll be quiet, but I'll have the last word." I can imagine that's exactly what the old family pet would say about it.

Back when I was a teenager we like many families had a pet dog; I'll call him Cloyce just to give him a name. Well, this dog was an outside dog, and would take spells where he would bark. A lot. It would reach a point when me Pops would go to the back door and stick his head outside and bark himself. "Quiet!" he'd command old Cloyce. And Cloyce would get quiet. But before clamming up completely he always finished with one brief and small, "Woof." He had to have the last word.

I found that extremely funny one night as I lay awake in bed around 2 or 3 in the morning. I could hear Cloyce making a ruckus, barking incessantly at whatever, and I knew that eventually the old man would do something about it. Soon enough he did.

Mom and Dad's bedroom was on the first floor. My siblings and I slept on the second floor. I heard the downstairs bedroom door open. I heard me Pops stomping towards the back door. I listened, and could just hear him unlocking it. He stepped out onto the porch and demanded of Cloyce, "Quiet!" The dog shut up, and I heard Dad step back into the kitchen and relock the door. Just when the last lock clicked shut, I heard one last, low, "Woof."

I laughed until I hurt. I've always wondered if maybe Pops stood in the kitchen laughing at it too.