The Zeiglar Rules

By Willow Love

When Lilly and Leo are suddenly caught in a current moving further downstream into the rapids, will God help them escape? Will God allow any of them to actually live through this time of trouble? Will they find a way out of the current before they are pulled completely under? Where does this section of the river go to? Will Rhianna and her children ever see Leo again? Will any of the creatures that believe in God find their promised home? Will the rest of the groups of animals inside the other totes even make it to safety? Will the concept of the Zeiglar house rules survive? What will happen to the groups hopes and dreams? Will everything be lost here inside the rough waters of the river?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490828169

Willow Love

Willow Love continues the story of the Zeiglar group seeking their “promised land” in this book. Willow has used the names and temperament of the real animals who lived through the flood of her home in 2010. Leo, Rhianna, Rio, and Lilly are just as they were written. Willow’s daughter has looked forward to this story being published and has drawn courage and laughter from the story. Willow hopes for her readers to understand this is pure fantasy and a way to retell biblical stories.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 Willow Love.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons or animals, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This story was written by the author to deal with dark, painful memories that were associated with a real flood that destroyed the inside of her family home back in 2010. None of the animals listed in this story are real and were never injured in any way, shape or form. The Zeiglar Rules were written in memory of the following animals: Rio, Kipper, Rhianna, Rin and Jakey whose presence was needed in heaven.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2817-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2816-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014903675

WestBow Press rev. date: 3/5/2014

Contents

The Zeiglar House Rules

Cast of Characters within this book

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Story is dedicated to the animals who either lost their lives because of the flood or events that followed after the flood.

List of the animals that have died:

Rio, Kipper, Rhianna, Leo, Jakey, Shadow, and Hallie

A house sat in the middle of an overgrown forest. Rose bushes and poison ivy grew over a wooden fence. Thorny ivy covered window panes and a chain length fence complete with lock encompassed the entire area. Due to rumors about it being haunted; no one comes near the house. At night lights flicker on and off; while eerie noises echo from inside.

Yet a striped kitten crawled carefully under the fence. Although he shook with fear; he realized he had no choice but to crawl through. He had heard stories about a wise dachshund and his care for other animals.

So GHOSTS OR MONSTERS may wait inside…Jakey crawled slowly on.

The Zeiglar House Rules

Every animal can learn how to pray to God

Every animal can learn the scriptures that Toddy and Tommy know by heart

Every creature is important no matter what size they are

No chasing of any animal unless in mutual agreement of gentle play

No complaints or grumbling allowed

No asking for extra food unless extra is available to all present

Everyone has a job to do every day

No teasing any animal

Every animal will learn how to help others

No injuring any animal inside the house or its fenced areas

(Treaties may be given to or made with other animals)

No killing any animal inside the house or within the fenced area

Be a good role model for all other animals, especially the children

Cast of Characters within this book

Rio: is a twelve years old brown and black long haired dachshunds. He is the wise counsel of the Zeiglar house

Kipper: is an overweight dachshunds with long, light brown hair, and is constantly hungry

Tommy: red eared turtle, who is about three years old, almost seven inches long and eight inches wide. Tommy is green with black stripes shell, webbed hands and feet, and a red strip on either side of his long neck

Tuck: a tadpole on the verge of becoming a bull frog, he is only two inches tall, about two inches wide, his fish like tail has almost completely disappeared; he is a dark grey color. He has been with Tommy for as long as he can remember.

Jakey: A black striped tabby (kitten), male, with an oversized bushy tail resembling a squirrel’s. He is mischievous, a good jumper, and believes he is a large puppy.

Rhianna: a medium sized solid black cat with an Egyptian shaped head, loving and kind. She has been spaded

Leo: a large tuxedo cat, partly declawed, large and powerful. He has been living while he was a feral cat for a while and has been neutered.

Lilly: an Australian Sheppard that appears to have some Blue heeler mixed into her DNA. She is white with black and brown spots. Lilly loves to play chase, run, chews things, and believes she is a kitten.

Rin: an oversized bantam rooster who thinks he is a dog

Skiler: a deep blue young parakeet, who thinks he is a bat, hangs upside down during the night from a dangling hat box

Tweetie: a bright yellow, young parakeet, who has just lost her mother

Jibbles: a parentless baby squirrel who is being bottle fed

Marmie: a young mother hound dog, whose owners got rid of her pups

Sky: a full sized Great Horned Owl and she is a hungry predator

Raja: a large ball python an escape artist, loves rats.and.is cruel

Mary: mother bantam hen with chicks, a bit overweight

Sara: younger Rhode Island Red hen

Tara: A young full sized, white and black striped Manx

Scraps: a coyote/dog half breed

Toddy: old, wise, almost toothless, fox, who was the first unknown animal to find the Zeiglar house

Lesser creatures: chicks, ducklings, mice

Chapter 1

The Zeiglar house had been abandoned for over five years. The once beautiful red brick home, was a dingy pink. The formerly bright white door with its multiple arched windows were coated with dirt. A name plate with "Zeiglar" written on it was yellowing with age. Weeds, bramble bushes, thorn bushes, and other unwanted plants grew around the house. The formerly white shutters were dirt stained and had rusted closed over double paned windows. Oddly placed solar panels glistened during the day from the house’s roof.

Several types of spiders wove unusual patterns over the smoky grey shutters. Through splintered areas of the shutters, rays of sunshine danced silently across dirty wood floors. A broken weather vane hung lifeless in the arms of an overgrown pecan tree. Nearby elms, china berries, and oak trees fought for space to grow and shade the house. A rotting mesquite tree’s branches gently scraped the roof. The previously well groomed front yard had grass which had grown to almost four feet tall. A strange path moved through the grass to the front door. Distorted footprints were etched into the cracking ground beside the doorway’s stepping stones. Unnatural creaks and haunting moans came from a nearby shed. The shed was a roughly handmade wooden structure with a crooked glass window inserted on each side the shed looked old and out of place next to the brick house.

A fading white picket fence with missing and broken pieces surrounded the house, its front and back yard. The gate to the fence was slightly opened, but the thorn bushes growing nearby did not make it look inviting. At night there were lights which ran by a solar powered generator flicker on inside the house to give off the impression someone still lived there. And yet no homeless or teens attempted to lay claim to the house or even try to stay there. In the nearby fields coyotes howled hungrily at the moon, while eerie creaking noises emanating from the house echoed in the breeze. Strange, high pitched, ghostly cackling noises were sometimes heard coming from the house deep into the cover of the night.

Fireflies flickered near the house making it appear to have creepy lighting. Shadows moving through the house had been reported by a few people, who had the misfortune of walking anywhere near it. The hot pink rose bushes grew over some areas of the front lawn’s tall fence. There was no chimney or anything else to make the once loving home appear welcoming. No, the Zeiglar house gave off a bizarre and frightening warning.

Go away! No one is welcomed here! No one is wanted here!

Inside the brick house there were odd pieces of forlorn and tattered furniture. For example, a round table and chairs sat in the dining room. A rose print couch with stuffing showing through the arms sat wearily in the living room. A round coffee table with one chair beside it and an empty bookshelf stood nearby. A large ten gallon brightly neon colored fish tank sat on the top shelf. A seven inch long, eight inch wide red eared slider turtle moved happily inside his tank.

Tommy the turtle never seemed to worry about the fact that he had been abandoned. Tommy had his large tank with a timer set to clean weekly, he and his son were fed each day. Therefore he had great company. While Tommy looked over at his son, he thought about how Tuck exactly came to be there.

There can be simply one answer. It had to have happened the night I drank what tasted like stale swamp water, Tommy thought with a slight shiver.

Smiling, Tommy looked up at a brick where his son, Tuck, a young grayish, green toad, sat to sun. Tommy had taught Tuck everything a young half-turtle, semi-person should know. He had a home, a son, and several special some ones to watch over him. As the memories of Tommy’s past troubled him, his gentle grin vanished. Exactly five years earlier, Tommy’s owner, a teenager named Matt, had moved out of the house with his parents. Matt, whom Tommy believed loved, cared for, and wanted him, had left the turtle behind with the rest of the unwanted furniture in the house. Tommy didn’t know what he had done so genuinely wrong to deserve being abandoned like an unnecessary, worn out pair of shoes or torn up toy or a piece of trash.

Thank heaven; I didn’t have Tuck back then. he thought angrily, Lord please help me to learn how to forgive Matt just like Your Word has stated in Matthew 6:14 ‘If you forgive people their sins, your Father in heaven will forgive your sins also.’ Thank you for having Matt’s family read Your word aloud on a daily basis. Amen. Tommy knew his sweet little boy would have never survived what he had gone through.

Tommy never discovered that Matt had placed Tuck, then a tadpole, into the tank in hopes of watching the larger turtle kill the nasty creature. Matt despise his one time favorite pet, because the turtle had not consumed the tadpole. Tommy’s anger grew as he thought about Matt and everything the teenager had put him through. Now from time to time Tommy wished he had an impressive set of teeth. I hoped I had teeth like the huge creature that I saw one time on what Matt called a television. What was the thing I saw on what Matt called a discovery channel? Tommy snarled momentarily, Oh yes, I remember; a shark! If I had just one shark tooth then I could have bitten Matt’s fingers hard!

Tommy’s beautiful green and brown shell shimmered in the sunlight. A bright red streak on either side of his neck was the source for his turtle name red eared slider! He frowned then remembering where his name; Tommy had come from. Matt had chosen the turtle’s name from a children’s cartoon about the adventures of a group of diapered babies. Matt had loved the cartoon and the character of Tommy.

Suddenly he noticed Rhianna coming his way, Tommy ducked inside his shell for safety. Tuck vanished deep inside the hole of the brick sitting inside the tank. Although both amphibians knew the cat would not injure them; every day they continued to hide from her.

Rhianna, a, short-haired black cat with an Egyptian looking head and blue eyes, sighed. She was carrying a plastic tube of crickets in her mouth. She carefully placed her paws on the top of the tank. She turned the tube over to make sure the crickets fell into the tank’s water. As Tommy came out of his shell and began snapping up the crickets; Rhianna monitored the tank’s inhabitants. Then Rhianna appeared to be favorably disposed by watching Tommy feed Tuck predigested crickets. She had seen mother birds doing something similar to their babies. A few years ago this particular sight would have made her ill, but no more. The family living within the tank completely ignored the cat who was watching them eat with great pleasure.

When she slid down from the shelf; Rhianna carefully put away the tube in the red wagon beside her. Her blue eyes narrowed in deep thought. Since she had come to live in the Zeiglar house she often found herself wondering about the heavenly Father, who loved animals. God and His love for each of his creatures was a unique concept being taught inside the home. Tommy had told Toddy the fox about the scriptures that belonged to God. Then Toddy had given this idea along with the home’s rules to all of the animals he came in contact with.

While inside the home, Toddy had often listened to Tommy pray and quote the scriptures. Toddy loved the verse from God’s book which stated; Be happy to have (people) animals stay for the night and eat with you. God has given each of you a gift. Use it to help each other. This will show God’s loving favor. (1 Peter 4:9-10)

Toddy beamed with joy and hoped the heavenly and loving Father of all did not mind him changing the word people into animals; for surely God had meant to include all of them in His plans. All Tommy’s thoughts about the past and the fox named Toddy disappeared when he overheard Rhianna reciting a Bible verse.

My favorite verse is Hosea2:18 which states;’ And in that day I shall make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and make them to lie down in safety.’ Rhianna said, Dear Lord, this scripture brings me hope. I believe the world You created was much like that. Every creature; man and beast was kind and loving. I’m glad I have prayed to Jesus and thank Him for having given us a place with the founding of the Zeiglar rules. I thank You for our home. Amen.

She took a deep breath and returned to her duties within the house. Pulling the wagon behind her, Rhianna moved into a largest bedroom and Rajah’s oversized tank. Raja’s tank was set securing upon a metal stand. She frowned, as she saw the three foot long ball python asleep inside well enclosed cage. The one thing Rhianna hated doing was having to feed this cruel and cunning creature

Feed the snake, she hissed angrily, What a waste of a rat and it took me awhile to catch this one! Rhianna shivered with the knowledge she did not want to watch Raja move within her cage. The bedroom had a battered mattress with a covers on it, a coffee table with a metal stand and the twenty gallon tank on top. Inside the tank, there was a wooden rod shaped like a limb extending close to the top of the tank, a water bowl, sand, plants, and of course the snake. Rhianna stopped right beside the table, there was a plastic crate under the table. She carefully pulled the crate out, grabbed the unconscious rat, and jumped on top of the crate. She really did hate this job.

Carefully, she moved a wire flap and dropped the rat inside. She moved back cautiously holding the flap. As Raja grabbed the rat with her mouth; Rhianna watched, a sick feeling went through her stomach. Rhianna could not take watching the rat being devoured whole. She secured and locked the flap, before jumping down beside the crate. Rhia had learned from past experience not to stay looking into the cage, because when she had innocently done exactly that when she first started feeding the snake.

As Rhianna recalled how Raja had jumped and hit the top of the cage; she shivered. The loud bump against the top of the cage had made Rhianna fall backwards onto the floor. Rhia had moaned with the soreness from the fall and listened to Raja laugh cruelly at her. Rhianna moved the crate back under the table. She walked silently out of the bedroom and into a den. There she stretched across a worn rug and sharpened her claws on a tattered love seat. Then Rhianna nodded to Rio, who lay watching her on the love seat. She admired the old wienie dog.

Rio had seen so much of the outside world. He knew the answers to things she had never dreamt of. Slowly Rhia climbed into an open suitcase, (which was lined with a blanket), and curled into a large ball. Before Rhianna even thought of going to sleep; she prayed. Rhianna prayed for her home and her family. She always spoke to God even though she needed some sleep. Rhianna yawned and found herself thinking about how she had been caught by the county dog catcher as a so called stray. Rhianna had been four months old! She was adopted out to a family. Rhia’s owner didn’t want her after her kitten days had come to an end.

The stupid kitten has poor house manners! her owner swore, not taking the time to train her. It didn’t seem to matter that Rhianna trained herself to a litter box far too small. The older man was looking for a reason to get rid of the kitten.

She shivered recalling how he had laughed while she climbed up onto chairs, his bed, and the large dining table. Everything was fine until she got tangled up inside the cords to his jukebox and accidently ruined it. Her owner grabbed her by the scuff of her neck. He placed her inside a cardboard box, closed it up, and carried a howling kitten to his car. She had known nothing except fear about the ride. When the car stopped,