Adventures in Tankah

Mom and Dad have a friend who owns a house on the beach a short sleep from my house. (I don’t really sleep in the car because there’s too much to see.) The place is called Tankah and Mom says it’s near another place called Tulum. The house belongs to my new friend Ann and it’s so cool it even has a name - Casa Perro Feliz. That’s “Happy Dog House” in Mom and Dad talk. I think it’s a great name because the house makes me happy, except for one time, and that’s my story for today.

We went to Ann’s house to take care of two dogs who lived there. I didn’t really understand the details, but I will say the dogs were kind of weird. One was my size and she was OK. But the other was wild. They both stayed outside all the time and at night we had to put them in a fenced-in place. The bigger one was so wild thar when Dad tried to get her from this thing they called a “run” into the cage she scratched him all up. And for the rest of our time there she didn’t come out. But every time we came anywhere near she barked and barked. Very noisy and very wild.

But the other dog and I had a little fun together. I never did know her name, but she was pretty cool. She never came into the big house where I stayed, and she didn’t come up the steps to the pool either. That’s where we all spent most of our time because it was very hot with no wind. She just stayed outside and watched us or hid ubder the truck to stay cool.

One of the things I really liked about Ann’s place is that I didn’t have to be on a leash when I was outside. I could go anywhere and smell anything I wanted, That was great until I smelled a cat. We took our friends, Lynn and Chalky, with us. I like them a lot, except when Chalky picks me up. It’s like the first time he sees me he always picks me up and carries me around. I don’t even like that when Dad does it, unless I’m scared.

That brings me back to my scary story. It was in the afternoon and it was really hot. There were two cats at the backdoor. Lynn said they were wild, but she likes cats so she was trying to be nice to them. Most of the time I don’t mess with cats because they’re really vicious and don’t fight fair. But these two cats were pretty small and they ran away from me. So I was having fun chasing them away from the door. Once I got in trouble because I chased them into the bushes and ended up at the house next door. Dad wasn’t happy when he had to walk down the beach to get me.

So while I was busy keeping the cats away from the door and sometimes playing with the little dog, my four humans started running around grabbing things and talking about a storm. It was getting pretty dark and all of a sudden it was windy. Watching them, I started to get nervous. Then I could hear the horrible sound they call thunder. I hate that sound and when it’s really loud I find a dark place to hide, like Mom’s closet. Anyway, while Mom and Dad were gathering towels and things, I was standing there trying to decide whether it was time to go in the house or chase a cat one more time. Just then, there was some thunder and the white cat ran out of the bushes and around the side of the house. I couldn’t help myself and ran after it as fast as I could go.

I got to the front of the house where the cars were parked but I couldn’t see the cat, Then I saw it move near the big gate that people have to open so cars can come into the driveway. The cat was going right around the side of the gate, so I followed it. But as I started to go out the space between the gate and the wall I stopped because I knew Mom and Dad wouldn’t be happy with me. I also could still feel the storm getting closer so I decided to forget about the cat and…

Just as I began to turn there was a really bright flash and then the biggest most terrible thunder sounded from the sky. I was the scardest I’d ever been, so I turned and ran. I ran the fastest I could go, faster than I’d ever run before. I just kept running because there was even more thunder, I ran down the dirt road with the jungle on one side and ocean houses on the other. I just kept going so that horrible sound in the sky wouldn’t catch me.

Before I knew it I was far away from Mom and Dad. I stopped and so did the thunder. I stood in the middle of the dirt road and just looked around. On one side was a big gate. It was much taller than Ann’s gate and it didn’t have any spaces for me to sneak through. On the other side of the road was jungle, kind of dark and scary. I walked a tittle toward it, but when I got to the edge I could see that the ground under the trees had water covering it. Then I remembered Dad and Mom talking about the mangrove jungle and how important it was, for some reason. To me it was wet and spooky, so I went back to the middle of the road and started walking back the way I came.

I was a little worried because I didn’t know how far I ran, I couldn’t smell Ann’s house or Mom and Dad. I also felt bad because I knew everyone would be looking for me. The only other time I’d run away was because Dad got knocked down by a huge dog who then started to chase me. I dragged my leash all the way home, but that wasn’t very far. This time I was a long way away and it wasn’t even my house I had to find. So I kept walking, all alone with that dark jungle way too close.

Finally, after what seemed like a long time a saw a human. He was pretty far away but coming toward me. At first I thought it was Dad, but he didn’t walk like Dad. As he got closer he started to wave his arms and call out. I turned around to see who he was waving at but no one was there. He was waving at me. So I started to walk toward him, my tail wagging because I was happy. When he got close he started to talk to me. The only word I understood was “Dad,” and that made my tail go faster. Maybe this human knew my Dad? Then the man started to wave in the other direction, the way I was going, and then he shouted something.

Then I heard the sound, my favorite sound. I heard someone shout, “Manito.” It was Dad, I knew right away. And then I turned and looked and sure enough, Dad was walking toward me, calling my name. I think it was the happiest I ever felt. I ran as fast as I could to Dad, which was a pretty far way and I was already very tired. He bent down and picked me up and put his lips on the top of my head. I don’t usually like that, but at that moment I was just so happy to be safe in his arms.

He carried me all the way back to Ann’s house. On the way he said a bunch of stuff, some, I could tell, wasn’t really sweet. I figured he was probably talking about how worried everyone was. But I didn’t care. I just wanted to be back with everyone. And I wanted to sleep.

The rest of my time in Tankah was pretty quiet. Mom, Dad, Chalky and Lynn mostly stayed in the pool to keep cool, while I slept close by in the shade. I was so tired I didn’t even mind that they left me on the bed when they went out to dinner. I played a little more with the smaller dog and I watched the cats, but decided not to chase them. And the next day, when it was time to leave, I helped everyone get the car packed. (Well, I stood guard so the little dog wouldn’t get in anyone’s way.) I liked our vacation on the beach, but when we finally got ready and Dad opened the gate, I was very glad to be going home.