Nancy Welch
Nancy was born and raised In Alliance, Ohio to a middle class family. Her father was a big influence in her life and was fond of poetry and telling stories. He started reading to her as soon as she came home from the hospital. When he wasn’t telling bedtime stories, he would tell family hand-me-downs or make them up. Nancy comes from a family of story tellers because something was always turning the simplest of chores into an adventure. She loves to read and write poetry as well as tell stories. She is currently trying to find an agent to get some of her stories published. Nancy has written five unpublished children’s stories. She also hopes to publish some historical fiction as well as some hysterical fiction.
Hard to Believe?
2009 winner
I stood stunned and in disbelief as I stared out of the kitchen window at what I had just witnessed. Little Eddie, who was four years old, ran out of our back yard shrieking that he was going to tell his mother.
Tramp had been a stray dog. He looked to be a mixed breed of English setter and Shetland sheep dog. This strange mix produced a dog that looked like a miniature St.Bernard. I fell in love with him immediately. Tramp showed up in our back yard one day in June all hot and dirty. I love all animals, so I offered him a drink of cool water. He happily lapped it up and then laid down to relax. So well behaved. A perfect gentleman. He had a brown leather collar on, but there were no tags. I got a rope and attached it to his collar like a leash and then we walked around our neighborhood to see if anybody knew where he belonged.
On a side street behind us, my friend Debbie, said that they called him Tramp because he’d been coming around their place for weeks. She didn’t know where he came from but she was pretty sure he was the father of Lady’s litter of pups. Hence the name Tramp.
I took Tramp back home, gave him a bath and fed him. I did not tie him and he was still there the next day. So we went out into the front yard to play.
As we were playing, a boy I knew from school was ringing his bicycle down our street. His name was Doug, and he lived several blocks over in a different neighborhood. He stopped and yelled “ Hey! What are you doing with my dog, Dusty?” I told him that I thought he was a stray and had bathed and fed him. Doug said that the dog belonged to him and that his name was Dusty. I told him about Lady’s litter of pups. Doug looked at Dusty and said “So that’s what you’ve been up to? You have a girlfriend!” Doug started to ride off and hollered “Come on Dusty!”
I yelled after them “Can dusty come over and play?”
“Sure, if he wants to…” His voice trailed off as He rode down the street and around the corner with Dusty running right beside him.
From then on Dusty continued to come over. He would visit Lady and then come over to my house to play. Dusty and I would go for walks or hikes in the woods and Dusty always stayed right by my side. He never strayed even when other dogs barked at us.
This particular day was in August and it was very hot and humid. It was going to be a scorcher. Dusty and I had played and hiked all morning and now it was time for lunch. I gave Dusty a large plastic wash basin of nice cool water. Then I went into the kitchen to eat a sandwich. Our kitchen table butted right up against an open, double-hung window which allowed us to see out into our backyard while we ate. So I gazed out into the yard as I ate my sandwich.
Dusty had a paw on each side of the wash basin as he happily relaxed and occasionally lapped up some water. Then Little Eddie came over from his back yard and started to pat Dusty. I called out the window telling Eddie not to bother Dusty because it was just too hot, but Little Eddie being four years old didn’t want to listen. Then he started kicking Dusty and I rose up yelling at him “Stop it Eddie!” Little Eddie started to laugh and grabbed Dusty’s tail. He started pulling. Before I could do anything, it happened.
It happened so fast that all I could do was stare in disbelief. Dusty had had enough and I’m sure he was very relied when that troublesome four-year old left. Little Eddie was sure asking for it and he got just what he deserved. I hoped it taught him a lesson.
Only a few moments had elapsed as I stood there in a daze. Little Eddie was being hauled back to our yard by his mother. She was extremely upset, wanting to know why her son was soaked from head to toe and claiming, “The dog did it!” I told her it was true and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. I told her how Eddie was being mean to Dusty, hitting, kicking and pulling his tail. Somehow, Dusty had picked up the wash basin full of water and flipped his head around, covering Eddie with water and completely soaking him.
“So, Eddie’s not lying?” she said shaking her head as a smile started to come across her face. She almost burst out laughing as she said, “Well, I’ll be.”
Then she got very serious as I told her that Eddie was very lucky that he didn’t get bit. Little Eddie’s mom cleared her throat as she said “Well, young man you’re grounded!”
Dusty and I watched Little Eddie do his “but I don’t wanna” dance as his mom tugged him back home. She was scolding him and he was crying all the way. As their voices drifted off into their house, I looked at Dusty and said “Dusty you’re the greatest!” Then I gave him a hug and another basin of nice cool water