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The Little Match Dale looked around. Where
was she? How had she lost her way? Would she
ever find a home? She was cold and lonely
and very sad.
She looked down and saw a bright red kong.
She woofed. It didn't move. She play bowed.
Still it did not move. So she grabbed at it
with her mouth, and wonder of wonders, the
kong flamed bright. She backed off. She had
never seen a kong with a flame.
As she sat and stared at the flame, she saw
the day she was born. Although she couldn't
see anything at the time, she was very aware
of
all her brothers and sisters, all snuggling
together, all suckling together. And she
could smell the nice lady who sat by them,
watching
their every move, sending love to all of
them. The scene stopped as the flame burned
out.
"Let's see if we can do that again," the
Little Match Dale thought, and she
immediately grabbed at the kong with her
mouth. Again, the kong flamed bright. This
time, she saw herself playing with all her
brothers and sisters. There was little blue
ribbon boy climbing the stairs to the slide
in their puppy head start playground. And
she saw herself, little blue ribbon girl,
charging after him, trying to beat him to
the slide. The two of them tumbled down,
hitting the ground, and running back to the
stairs. The Little Match Dale sighed a deep
sigh. And the flame burned out.
So the Little Match Dale grabbed at the kong
again, and it burst into flame. This time
she saw the nice lady telling the man who
bought her what a wonderful show dog she
would be. Her body was perfect and she moved
like a dream. This would be the show dog for
him. He took Little Match Dale and left the
home of the nice lady. He groomed her,
trained her, showed her in fun matches. And
then he took her to a big dog show. Little
Match Dale looked around the show grounds,
and she sighed. This most definitely did not
look like fun. Then the man took her into
the show ring, and a big man with a stern
look came to touch her all over. She
shuddered. She backed away. And the man who
had taken her from the nice lady took her
back, saying "This is NOT a show dog." He
seemed very angry, but Little Match Dale
wagged and wagged to see the nice lady
again. And the flame burned out. |
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Again, Little Match Dale grabbed at the kong
and once again it flamed to life. This time
she was sitting right where she was now. She
had gone to a home with lots of children and
they used to hug her tightly and hit her
roughly. And she was kept always outdoors.
One day, she slipped out of the fence, and
kept walking. She stared at the flame, and
suddenly she saw her Granny smiling down on
her, surrounded by light, dressed all in
white. Little Match Dale was delighted to
see Granny but she was cold and sad and
didn't know what would happen to her. Granny
smiled lovingly, and told her to follow her.
Little Match Dale thought she was going to
go live with Granny at the Rainbow
Bridge, and so she followed.
Granny stayed a little ahead of Little Match
Dale, looking back encouragingly and told
her lovingly that she was not going to the
Rainbow Bridge, not yet. She still had work
to do. So Little Match Dale went happily
forward thinking how wonderful it would be
if Granny took her back to the nice lady.
She looked around, and the kong was gone,
but that didn't matter because Granny would
keep her safe and warm.
Just then, she came to a very pretty house
with a big fenced in yard. Several Airedales
came running out to meet her. She looked at
Granny, and Granny nodded with a smile,
encouraging her to go up the walk to the
door of the house. She did so, and turned
around to see Granny leaving. She cried and
then she heard Granny say, "You have lots of
work left to do and the lady in this house
will see that you get the right home so you
can do your work." Little Match Dale cried
out with a plaintiff "Woof-Woof," but Granny
continued to smile as she got smaller and
smaller.
When all the Little Match Dale could see was
the light of a star, the door to the house
opened. Warmth tumbled out the door, as the
most beautiful woman she could imagine
leaned down and petted her. "Welcome to
Airedale Rescue, Little Match Dale. You are
safe now, and we have a very special home
that needs you. Come on in!" And Little
Match Dale walked through the door into the
welcome of the other Airedales, and she
never looked back. She lived a very long
life with a wonderful family who needed her
love, her service to help a handicapped
child, and her devotion. It would be 16
years before she went to the Rainbow Bridge
to spend eternity with Granny and all the
other wonderful dogs. |
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