Celia and Jeff

What a Character Entry: Celia and Jeff

(Word count 1,471)

Celia could not remember who her Mom was or what she looked like. She figured that her Mom must have been beautiful because she was exquisite already at such a young age and everyone told her so. She remembered the doctor had said she was about three months old, but without any official paperwork, no one knew for sure. Her only memory of her Dad was a lot of barking and chaos and loud bangs and lots of firecrackers. The police had found her wandering the streets the morning after July the 4th. She really did not like firecrackers and rockets and flares. Her little black tail would completely disappear between her legs and hug her stomach whenever she heard those awful sounds. There were a lot of them the night before and the explosions never stopped. Even that next morning, little Celia could still hear the echoes of the previous night. Her Dad was still barking in the background, telling her to be careful, watch out for the rockets, stop digging, and come back. He was in a strong metal cage and he could not dig out but she was little and could squeeze through the small hole she dug easily. After the loudest explosion, she ran and ran and ran until she collapsed from exhaustion. In the morning she woke up to small shards of sunlight and a pretty bird staring at her, obviously trying to figure out how she ended up sleeping under the porch. Celia had seen birds before, but not this close and she was still a little afraid. She could still smell the smoke and gunpowder from the night before but she was not completely sure that maybe this is what a bird smelled like. It started squawking at her so she started barking back and they both continued to try and outdo each other to see who was louder. This commotion caused some people to come and look out of their windows and soon some more people came by in a special white truck to see what was going on also. They carried some long sticks and Celia just knew they wanted to play and she loved to play so she took off running to catch the sticks. She wanted to go fetch, but they never threw them, they just kept walking towards her and then before she knew it, the sticks had a magic dog collar on the end and it was around her neck and she had to go with them. They did not want to play at all, so she went with the men and their long sticks but at least she got to go for a ride in their truck. The men took her to a big building where there were so many dogs that she could not even hear herself bark. She knew there were cats there too because she smelled them when she first walked into the building, even though she never seen them. The people there were nice and gave her some food to eat and a bath and the doctor looked into her eyes and ears and teeth and feet and gave her some shots. The shots hurt a little but she got a dog treat for being a good girl, so Celia gave them all kisses. The ladies there scratched her head every time they saw her and she liked that, so she gave them kisses too. She shared her cage with a big dog named "Pit" and he was always hungry and sometimes she would have to remind him to save some of the food for her. Pit was a big dog that looked a lot like Celia and he acted a lot like an older brother. When they would all go outside to play, he made sure that none of the mean dogs would get near Celia and if they did, he would growl at them and keep her safe. She always gave him lots of kisses and she felt safe with Pit around. She lived there at the shelter for several months until a lady came by her cage and stopped to look at her. Celia came to the edge of the cage and gave her kisses and lots of them. She was so grateful for some attention and she knew if she gave the most kisses that she would usually get a treat or someone would scratch her ears or her face. Then the lady left, but on her way out Celia could hear her telling the other ladies that she wanted to take her home. She jumped so high and barked so much that the other dogs got all excited too and started barking and jumping for joy too. They were all happy that someone was going to go home and they didn't even know who it was yet that was going to be leaving.
Her new home was quiet and she slept for several days. She was so tired and could not even think straight yet. She ate all she could until her tummy was full and just slept. When she woke up, she checked and the food was still there. She could go play outside all by herself because the lady had a fence around her play area and other dogs could not get inside. The new lady lived in the house with her now and it was just the two of them. There were not any other dogs or little people living there and after eight days, the barking in her ears stopped. She still had nightmares about the fireworks and she would wake up in the middle of sleeping and look around and wait to see if an explosion was going to burst the quiet night time. The lady was nice and would give her treats for no reason. Celia didn't understand, but gave the lady kisses until she was laughing and telling her to stop. Celia was going to be the best dog ever.
After Celia had lived with the lady for about eight months, people started setting off those bombs again. She was inside the house but she could still hear the bombs. Her ears lay as flat as they could against her head and she looked for someplace to hide and then she heard Jeff for the first time. He said, "How are you today, Miss Celia?" and his voice was so soft and comforting that she went right to him. She gave him kisses and told him, "I'm so scared today. There are bombs again." He said, "There is no need to worry. My name is Jeff the Giraffe and I protect little animals from bombs." She stared in disbelief and then whispered, "How did you get here?" He was so tall and completely stiff and regal like a lion, but his voice was as soft as the lady's voice. He said, "The lady bought me to look after you. Stand, sit or lay between my giraffe legs and you will be safe. I will protect you from bombs and thunder and anything else that scares you.” Celia gingerly walked over to Jeff and between his legs was a stand that he stands on every day and it was just big enough for her to crawl in there and curl up and Jeff’s legs held her close on four points around her body and she did feel safe. She felt so safe that she started telling Jeff about the night of the bombs, her Dad, the bird that told on her, the men with the sticks and all about her life so far. Jeff told her all about the factory where he was made and how he watched over things there and the store he used to stand in and how he looked after things there. He explained to her that everyone has a reason to be on this earth and his reason was to look after things where ever he happened to be living. Right now he lived with the Celia and the lady and he would watch after them as long as he lived there. Celia and Jeff started talking everyday while the lady was at work and they would daydream about all the things that they liked to do. Jeff wanted to travel to different lands and look at birds and squirrels and flowers. Celia wanted to find the place that makes dog treats and go there for a vacation. Celia and Jeff became best friends and continued to talk and dream and keep each other company and if it started thundering, Jeff would bite the sky and make it quit and Celia would give him kisses! He was the best giraffe ever! He was the best friend ever!!!