TEDDY

Two kids and a dog. I’ve done that! It’s a new puppy and they’re getting acquainted with it. It has a long tail. It’s a leaf. He has his hat on.

I had a dog and a cat. They ate out of each other’s dish. They’d smell each others’ dishes, then look at each like old people and swap. I had so much fun. On top of that, the dog and the cat slept together.

What kind of dog is it? He’s like the ones we had at home. It’s about that size. Ours was light. He was about like that, but not as dark.

That reminds me of my children. They had one little dog and four little boys. He’s a cutie. Looks like a monkey from the front. Ours wasn’t that. It was a good dog, but it wasn’t the run-around kind. He was good.

Our cat used to lie on his side, and the dog slept on his stomach. They fought for each other. I’d hear the dog crying because he was timid, and my cat landed on the other cat’s back, and came back strutting because she had won. I wish I had them back. They’d be awfully old by now.

I’d call the dog Teddy. That’s what his name was for us. He fought for everybody. He ran the cats off. He was the king.

Does Teddy like cats? No. Our kids liked our dogs. They had another one, but it wasn’t as nice. They had three.

They all play together. Ours would just run, run, run, run.

The two little girls are sisters. Are you sure the one with the hand across her face is a girl? Would a girl have a hair cut like that? In this day and age, how can you tell if it’s a girl?

I don’t think boys and girls played like that together. Oh, I did. I played with my little brother. He had a heart condition, and he couldn’t get out and play, so he stuck around the house all the time.

We had more than this dog, even. We had two and another one.

She’s kissing the dog. I had a house full of animals. I had cats, dogs, birds, everything.

What’s a good name for the girl with the long hair? I find a lot of names cute. Especially when the girl is little with a big name.

They’re going to hang onto the dog because he’s going to run after a bird. He’s going to run as soon as he gets a chance. They’re curious, pups are.

There’s a cat out here, too. Maybe that’s what the puppy is looking at. A cat wouldn’t be that close to a dog. They wouldn’t be looking for a dog.

Those kids are kind of big for a dog. I’d be afraid they’d get lost.

It looks to me like they’re out on a prairie. They might be out in the field. It looks like a prairie in the distance. People shouldn’t take kids out in a field like that. There are snakes out there.

I don’t see any parents around, do you? Unless back there. They might be holding two dogs, or maybe three.

The black dog is on a green leash. One, two, three, four. There are several leashes coming together at the end. Who is holding onto the leash? The father is holding onto the animals.

Who gave them the puppy? I don’t know whether anybody did or not. Somebody wanted to get rid of him. They had a whole mess of dogs. They don’t always have just one or two.

About a year ago, they had little dogs. They were bigger than these. I was never far away from them.

Do they have any other pets at home? Birds, I imagine. They wouldn’t have to, because they have birds all around the field anyway.

How many dogs do you think are there? Is this partly a child? I just wonder how they can manage to get different characters with them all the time. They never look alike to me.

What are they sitting on? Are they on the edge of a pool of water? Do you think they might go swimming? I don’t think it’s that deep. I think they’re watching their own faces. That dog—if that’s a dog—that looks like a kid to me. It’s got big legs. Maybe those are her legs.

What are they going to do next? They’re undecided, because there are so many things.

I’m trying to decide if that’s a dog or a child. In a way, it could be a person, and in a way it could be anything.

I also kept a house full of food for kids. They’d always come up and say, “Are you cooking today? What time will it be ready?” I never had so much fun in my life.

Story by: Betty, Patricia, Maxine, and Gretchen