Little Tim

Little Tim was not a very happy dog. He was, as his name suggested, little. Mark had named him Tim when he was a pup, but when he din't grow up large like all the other dogs in the neighbourhood, Mark and Elise started calling him Little Tim. Now everybody called him just 'Little"
To worsen it all, he was short and long. Much longer that other dogs that is. His ears were overhanging and almost touched the ground. His chocolate brown colour with little black spots on his back were the only attractive things about him.


Little lived with the Browns. The Brown children, Mark and Elise were his best friends. The house was surrounded by a garden wall and Little had his kennel right at the gate, where he could watch passers by, and warn the Browns if anyone approached the house.

Next door to the Browns, lived old Mrs. Thatcher. She has a garden too, and a huge dog called Stuart. Stuart was a Great Dane and was a handsome dog. He was huge and had a coat that glowed in the morning sun. Unluckily for Little, Stuart was a big bully. The two houses had a garden fence in common, and the dogs could clearly see each other all the time.

Stuart loved teasing little. "Be sure to sleep in you kennel in the nights. You are such a tiny insect that an intruder might step on you by mistake. ha ha ha", he would yap. Little had tried once to reason with him. "It's not my fault that I am short and long. I'm a Deutsch Hound. Deutsch hounds are short and long." "My,My"
said Stuart. "Is that what you are? Then you probably are not a dog, but some variety of fox or something". "I am a dog" Little shouted with all his might, appaled at having been called a fox, but Stuart was already rolling with laughter on Mrs. Thatchers lush green grass.

Little was afraid that Stuart might actually jump across the fence one day, and try to harm him, but he was sure that Mrs. Thatcher would be upset, and Stuart was afraid of the prim old lady.
"Hello Little" a gruff voice said, pulling him out of his fretful thoughts. "Hello there Max" replied Little absently. 'Even Max is bigger than me' thought Little, as Mr. Davies went past the Browns' house walking Max. Max was a boxer, and he was taller that Little though not as tall as Stuart. He heart Max talk to Stuart as he went along the road. A minute later Stuart yapped from across the fence, "Hey you, shorty! You there?" Luckily Mrs Brown called out to Little and he was off in a flash, heeding to her call.


The next day, the Brown family went out in the morning to bisit grandma Brown. "We'll be back by supper time." Mr. Brown was saying. "Be good, Little" said Mrs. Brown as they drove off. Little was even more bored as Mark and Elise had gone too, and he had no one to play with.

By noon, the sun was hot and the road was deserted. Little ate up his lunch and was lying under a tree, watching two squirrels fight over a hazelnut. Just then, he heard Stuart growl. He ran up the the fence and put his head into the tiny hole, where the wire had snapped. He could see two strange looking men standing by Mrs. Thatchers gate and Stuart growling and barking at them.

Little knew that Mrs. Thatcher would come out to the porch and see who had come. "Why, it's cousin Rachel! Move over Stuart" she would say. Or, "Step aside Stuart and let Mr. Hubbard come in. He has come to repair the boiler." Today however, minutes passed and Stuart continued barking, but Mrs. Thatcher did not come out. Suddenly, one of the two men who was mean looking and well-built threw a very juicy bone at Stuart. Little saw that Stuart was undecided about what to do. Mrs Thatcher would be very angry if she knew that he had eaten stuff handed over to him by strangers. 'But well', Stuart seemed to think, 'it's not everyday that you get such a juicy bone, and no Mrs. T around to tell me off'. After a few seconds of indecision, Stuart jumped at the bone and started chewing it up.

As Little watched, Stuart who had hardly chewed the bone for a minute, yawned and fell asleep over the bone. The men started talking, "Good thing this greedy cur went for the drugged bone so easily" said the mean-looking man. "Lucky we chose today as Mrs. Thatcher will not be back till tea-time" said the other menacingly.

'So, Mrs. Thatcher was away' thought Little, as he saw the two men walk into her garden. Little wanted to bark and wake up Stuart, but he realised that it was useless trying to bring around a drugged dog. The easiest thing to do was to call the Browns for help, but of course they were away, as was Mrs. Thatcher. Little realised with horror that it was up to him to handle the two men, who he was sure by now were robbers. 'I have to cross the fence first' he thought, trying to make some sort of a plan. He tried to jump across but no matter how hard he tried, he coudn't get quite till the top. By then the men reached the door and were trying to open it with fake keys. Little peeped through the hole. 'Whatever shall I do' he thought helplessly. 'If only I were not so small.'

Suddenly he had, what he thought was a wonderful idea. 'I am so small that I could probably squeeze through this hole' he reasoned. After much pushing and shoving and what felt like forever, he was finlly on the other side. Little rushed up the the house and heard the thieves inside. With a bravery that he had never imagined he possessed, Little ran upto the house and pulled the door shut by holding the door stopper in his mouth. For good measure, he pushed the handle into the slot with his forepaw. The robbers were locked inside. They could not get away. Little stood guard outside until Mrs. Thatcher arrived.

Overnight, Little had become the local hero. The neighbourhood had gathered in Mr. Brown's yard. Everybody had a word of praise for Little. Mrs. Thatcher had fetched PC Williams who rounded up the thugs and took them away. "They knew I had been to the bank yesterday, I suppose" said Mrs. Thatcher. "But for you Little, I would have lost all the money I had saved for buying my daughter a string of pearls that she always wanted, for Christmas. That you Little, you brave dog." she said with moist eyes. The Browns were very proud of Little, and even Stuart seemed to be in awe of him. It was the happiest day in his life, and he was sure that from on, little though he may be, he would be thought of as a big dog. Tim Little - the little BIG dog.