The Door into Summer: The Story of a Dog Named Ralf

By Arthur Harris

This is the story of a beautiful and remarkable dog who thought that he was our second child.

He was bright and loving and most of his adventures made us laugh, but the clock kept ticking and eventually brought us to the reality that he would not live as long as we might.

We spent fourteen wonderful years together and still remember him as a part of our family.

In editing and rereading the ending, tears still came to my eyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499056365

Arthur Harris

Born in time to grow up during the “Great Depression” plus joining the “Greatest Generation” I’ve had time to try my hand at lot of things. I’ve been a soldier, sailor, salesman, artist, interior, industrial, scenic and window designer engineer, inventor, rehabilitator and landlord, Court appointed guardian, receiver, advertising account executive and even punched cattle (briefly). I’ve survived typhoons,, hurricanes, Nor’easters and even a plague of locusts. My wife Dorothy passed away, leaving one son, an active Army Officer, a wonderful Daughter in law and two beautiful, granddaughters. Writing for various publications plus several books, finally publishing two.

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Copyright © 2014 by Arthur Harris.

ISBN:          Softcover          978-1-4990-5637-2

                   eBook               978-1-4990-5636-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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.

Rev. date: 12/11/2014

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1   Adopted

Chapter 2   Puppy Love

Chapter 3   Banshee

Chapter 4   For The Birds

Chapter 5   Devotion

Chapter 6   Linguist

Chapter 7   Comprehension

Chapter 8   The Traveler

Chapter 9   Training (The Master)

Chapter 10 The Scent Of Success

Chapter 11 Love In The Afternoon

Chapter 12 On Getting Old

Chapter 13 The End Nears

DEDICATION

To Jackie without her help, my writings would still be in a carton.

To Fiona and Lily, my granddaughters, who really would have enjoyed Ralf.

CHAPTER 1

Adopted

The light breeze moved a dried leaf along the path like a crab scuttling across the sand. The dog, a golden retriever halfway between puppy\adolescence, playfully ran alongside, sniffing the leaf to determine whether it was 1) a toy 2) edible 3) something with a potential for danger.

Extending a paw, he caught the leaf and crushed it into powder. He puzzled and after mulling over this change, deciding that it was no longer of interest, Looking up at me as though expecting an explanation and getting none, he resumed tugging on the leash attached to his collar.

At the other end of the leash, pulling and being pulled, was me.

In the space of two years, I’d acquired a wife, a house and a job that required a fair amount of travel. A dog would, we reasoned, nicely round out the current situation by providing protection and companionship for wife and house.

Dorothy and I had had many discussions on the type of dog we wanted. We agreed on