Thursday, September 07, 2006

There once was a little boy who lived in a very nice place and had a very naughty puppy. The boy loved his puppy, and truthfully so did the mother.

Every day the mother would let the puppy go outside. The boy was not allowed outside for he was a sickly child and the mother was very concerned for his health. She never let him get dirty or have any fun.

It so happened that one day the puppy came running back inside a very dirty mess. He ran to the boy and his mother, but the mother picked up the puppy by the scruff of it's neck and threw it outside. She went out and hosed the dog down. The puppy came in clean and played with the little boy. The next day the same thing happened. And again after that. The mother tried training schools and firm punishment techniques. She never went outside to find where the puppy was getting so dirty, but she knew that in the back yard there were a lot of places that had been dug up by the puppy.

One day the boy was watching from his bedroom window and saw the puppy getting ready to dig in the dirt. He couldn't stand seeing his puppy get hosed down again, so he made a plan.

The boy climbed out his window, tore his pants shimmying down the rain pipe. He realized that he happened to still be wearing his Sunday best. He didn't care. He filled in all of the hole that his puppy had dug, he showed the puppy that digging was bad. The puppy understood the one that it loved so dearly. That day the puppy learned a new trick - how to avoid digging holes.

The boy went inside when his mother called. She didn't let him past the front door. She was so angry at him. She hosed him down like she had done so many times to the dog. The mother was so angry with the boy that she didn't notice the dog's muddy prints going through the house. When the boy was clean and had spent time in time out the mother went and saw him. He explained the holes, and the mother decided to plant new grass all over the lawn.

Sometimes the dog still digs holes. The mother still forgives him as he sadly walks in. She doesn't hose him off though, she picks him up and washed him in the sink. Sometimes he comes in clean and get's to play with the boy. He realizes that he doesn't have to dig holes to have fun, and really when he doesn't dig holes he always has a lot more clean fun playing with the boy.

1 comment:

Mary said...

this post is wonderful. i love christian allegories in the form of children's stories!