My Summer Dream - Or Was It

By Irv E. Francis

This story was told in the first person by the author’s granddaughter. It began when a coyote entered grandpa’s backyard and attacked the family’s blind dog, injuring it, making life termination mandatory. Then a rabbit, named Hoppy, talked to the granddaughter in secret, which begins a relationship with all wildlife talking to her and her brother. The animals loved the blind dog and wanted to support their new friends in the loss of their pet. The grandkids provided extensive help to their wildlife friends, helping them solve personal problems, which caused friendships to escalate. Grandma’s love and devotion to her grandkids never wavered.

Five owls, who lead the groups, initiated a program in which their peers were judged to find any who were suffering excessively and were targeted to be put to sleep. That led to the dog being mistakenly attacked and dying because his condition was not understood. Later, the owl leader realizes this program was a mistake, and with Natalie’s help, announced a new program that will treat ill patients.

Hoppy, the rabbit, witnessed the coyote attacking the dog. When this becomes known, the five owl group leaders bring the suspected coyote to court. Hoppy is the star witness. Other witnesses are presented including Willie, the mockingbird, whose superior memory is used by him to go to the Coyote Country, memorize the testimonies of the accused coyote and his father and present their testimonies at the trial. All coyotes had been banned from attending the trial. The accused coyote was found guilty. The judge announces that the sentence and its implementation will be decided and conducted by the guilty coyote’s father and his father’s peers.

This story emphasizes how important grandparents are for their grandkids and likewise. Yes, a coyote did attack the family dog. But was the rest of the story a dream, or did it actually happen? Aren’t grandmas great?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639613076

Book preview

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My Summer Dream - Or Was It

Irv E. Francis

Copyright © 2021 by Irv E. Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Attack and Meeting New Friends

The Bravery Test

Lizzie and Leonard

The Need for a Nest

The Opossums Get Together

Hoppy’s Secret Revealed

Wolf Junior on Trial

The Sentence

New Hope Project

To the memory of Sparky and to grandmas everywhere!

Mother beagle nursing Sparky and his six sisters.

Born 1999

Sparky enjoying his old age

Died 2012

Acknowledgments

To my two grandchildren who were in the forefront of Grandpa’s mind while I wrote this story.

To my parents who provided me with a farm life background for the first twenty years of my life while I grew to know many of the wildlife species now living on or near my current suburban residence in California.

To my family who tolerated my use of the family computer during many hours of some days and nights during my rewrites of this story.

Introduction

At the beginning of 2020, the virus pandemic attacked the world, and the battle began to find a cure/prevention. Being an optimist, I was betting on the medical and technological resources in America, with others helping to find solutions. How much time would this take? No one knew. In the meantime, many of us were, and partially still are, living like hermits. Once this is over, we may look back and ask ourselves, how did we spend this dead time?

One activity that I began in earnest was to practice playing my dulcimer. Then I added my singing harmonica. But my spirit reminded me that I always wanted to write a story about some family members, to be determined, talking with the local wildlife that communicated with them in English, and another about a jury trial. That same spirit reminded me of an incident back in 2012 when a coyote entered my yard and attacked the family beagle, causing him to be put down. That incident motivated me to think and write.

So here we are; by fulfilling both of my writing desires into one story, it is now complete one year later. This activity began on April 23, 2020, my eighty-ninth birthday. The birds and the animals, along with their two helpers, have completed this story; and my oxygen can now, in my free time, be involved with music, the universal language of love and life.

Chapter 1

The Attack and Meeting New Friends

One late August morning in 2012, I was eating my cereal and Dad had just poured his coffee. The telephone rang, and Dad answered saying, Hi Pop, and nothing more for a couple of minutes.

Do you need help? Is there anything we can do? Okay! We’ll be over in about a couple of hours, Dad said goodbye and hung up.

What happened, Dad? Are Grandma and Grandpa okay? I was overwhelmed with concern.

"Grandma and Grandpa are fine. It seems that a coyote, or maybe more, jumped the chain-link fence into their yard and attacked Sparky sometime before daylight. Sparky was injured so badly that your grandpa had to take him to the vet and have him put to sleep. Grandpa