The boy who could not see, the girl who could not walk and the dog who could not bark
(A story about learning to share our abilities with others)
Once upon a time, there was a boy called Simon, a girl called Wanda and a dog called Bullseye.
They all lived in the same town near to each other, but none of them had ever met each other.
For most of the time, Simon stayed in his own front garden because he did not have many friends.
Wanda sometimes went out with her mother and father, but did not have any friends to go out with.
Bullseye used to have a kennel to sleep in and an owner to feed him, but now wandered the streets all day since he became a stray dog. His owner did not want to keep him once he found out that Bullseye could not bark.
Although Simon, Wanda and Bullseye had never met each other, they all had something in common with each other. They were each different to most boys, most girls and most dogs in a very special way.
Simon had been born blind and he could not see. Wanda had been crippled in a traffic accident when she was three years old and could not walk. Bullseye had been born like any other dog, but when he was a pup, a plank of wood had fallen on his head and left him unable to bark.
So Simon could not see, Wanda could not walk and Bullseye could not talk, but each of them possessed other special skills that most other boys, girls and dogs did not have.
Simon could not see, but he had very good hearing. If you were in the same room as Simon and dropped a pin on the carpet, Simon would hear it and say, "You have dropped a pin on the carpet. Please pick it up before the cat treads on it and hurts her paws."
Wanda could not walk, but not being able to move her body out of the wheelchair, meant that she had to find other ways of working things out. Wanda had become very good at sorting out problems in her head. If anyone had a problem that they did not know the answer to, more than likely Wanda would be able to tell them. She was very good at jigsaws and she loved to read mystery stories, but she usually worked out the answer before she had got to the end of the book.
Bullseye could not bark, but he was the best sniffer dog around. If ever Bullseye sniffed some food, it would not be very long before he found it, and then ran off with it. If there was a bone buried in any garden, it would not matter how long it had been there or how deep it was buried, Bullseye would soon sniff it out and dig it up.
One day in April, Simon, who liked listening to music, heard that the band was playing in the local park, so he asked his mum to take him. He loved band music, especially trumpets.
On that same day, Wanda, was being pushed around the park by her dad, when upon hearing the band music, asked to stop and listen to it.
Simon was sitting in the seat near the front of the bandstand when Wanda’s dad pushed her wheelchair to the side of him. Simon’s mum and Wanda’s dad knew each other and they started talking about grown-up things.
Before long, Simon and Wanda, who were both 10 years old, began talking to each other. Simon offered Wanda one of the crisps he was eating out of his packet. Wanda took a crisp, said "Thank you," and then offered Simon a piece of her chocolate bar.
Just as Wanda was going to put the crisp in her mouth and Simon was about to eat a piece of chocolate, Simon said, "Who's that panting Wanda?" Wanda looked down. Looking back up at her was Bullseye.
Bullseye had been out looking for food and as he had not eaten anything for days, he was very hungry. So seeing lots of people in the park, he decided to sniff around there for a while.
Wanda turned to Simon said, "It's a stray dog, Simon and it looks very hungry. It is giving me that look that dogs give you sometimes when they are wanting a bit of whatever it is that you are eating."
"Let's give him something to eat," said Simon as he held up a piece of chocolate Wanda had given him. Bullseye took the chocolate from Simon’s hand, ate it and then licked Simon's fingers. Simon laughed because Bullseye’s tongue tickled him.
Wanda then offered Bullseye the crisp that Simon had given her. She was too high up in the wheelchair to reach down so she placed it on her knee. One moment later, it was in Bullseye's tummy. Bullseye ate the crisp, wagged his tail at Wanda and pushed the side of her leg with his head as if to say, "Thank you."
Simon, Wanda and Bullseye got on famously together and soon were the very best of friends.
The end of the afternoon came and so did the time for Simon and Wanda to go home. Before they left the park, Simon's mum and Wanda’s dad had swapped each other's addresses and some sort of grown-up arrangements were being made.
They said "Goodbye" to each other and went home in opposite directions. Both Simon and Wanda waved to Bullseye as they each left the park.
Bullseye wondered what was happening. He had no home to go to and he did not want his happy day to end yet. He had not had such a good day for a long time and to tell the truth, neither had Simon and Wanda.
Bullseye was confused. Both of his new friends were leaving him and going home, one this way and one that way.
He quickly ran to the entrance of the park after Simon and Wanda, but not looking very carefully where he was going, he ran into a parked ice-cream van and gave his head a big bump.
Bumping his head on the ice cream van made Bullseye dizzy and also stopped him running after Simon and Wanda. By the time he’d reached the entrance of the park, both Simon and Wanda had disappeared from sight.
That night before going to bed, Wanda’s father told her that Simon's mother had invited her for tea next Sunday. It was Simon's 11th birthday and whilst he did not have enough friends to have a party, Simon and Wanda would be able to share a special tea together.
This news made Wanda very excited and as her father carried her up to bed, she gave him an extra special hug, saying, "Thank you for taking me to the park today, Dad. If we had not gone, I would never have met Simon."
That night before going to bed, Simon’s mum said "Good night" and tucked him in. She did not tell him that she had planned a special tea for his birthday next Sunday or that she had invited Wanda for tea. She wanted it to be a special surprise.
That night Simon went off to sleep thinking about the nice day he had had in the park, but he was a bit sad because he might not meet Wanda again. He also wondered where Bullseye the stray dog would be sleeping tonight as it was starting to get colder as the night got darker.
Simon had a special bedroom downstairs and although he could not hear the birds singing in the garden at the start of each morning, he used to leave his window open a little so he could hear the birds. Simon liked all kinds of music and he loved to be woken up to the song of birds.
During the night both Simon and Wanda slept soundly in their beds. Wanda dreamt of the birthday tea she would be attending next Sunday and Simon dreamt of Bullseye licking his fingers.
As Simon woke up to the song of the birds, his fingers began to feel wet and sticky, just like they had done when Bullseye had licked them in the park. He listened and then said, “It is you, Bullseye, isn't it?"
Bullseye barked back "Yes it jolly well is!"
Simon patted the bed cover invitingly and Bullseye leapt up onto the bed. Simon cuddled Bullseye and this time Bullseye licked Simon on the face.
That morning when Simon's mother came into his bedroom, she was surprised to find Simon laughing merrily and chatting away to Bullseye, who was cuddled up to him, licking his hand.
Both Simon and his mum were puzzled though as to how Bullseye had been able to discover where Simon had lived, especially as it was such a long way away from the park.
Simon asked his mum if he could keep Bullseye as he was a stray. After his mother had seen how happy Simon and Bullseye were together, she agreed. That was the happiest day of Simon’s life.
During the course of the next week, Simon, who before rarely went out of the house alone, was out in the garden with Bullseye every minute of the day. They played and played, and each night when Simon went to bed, Bull
seye was allowed to sleep at the foot of it.
Sunday arrived and as Simon had been so happy that week, he’d completely forgotten that it was his 11th birthday.
After his breakfast, his mother gave him his birthday present. As Simon unwrapped the parcel he could hear the jangling sound and felt something cold like a metal chain. He ran his fingers over his present and after the chain part, he could feel something like a leather strap.
Just then, Bullseye give a loud happy bark and jumped up and down. Bullseye knew what Simon’s mother had given him for a birthday present before Simon had guessed. It was a special dog lead!
Simon's mother then told him that she would be making a special birthday tea for him and his other special guest, Wanda. When Bullseye heard Simon's mother mention Wanda’s name, he barked again.
"Well, I never," said Simon to Bullseye. "You're a right old chatterbox today, aren't you? I've never heard you bark as much since I've known you." Bullseye gave another bark.
That day, before Wanda came, Simon put on Bullseye's lead and practised taking him a walk around and around the garden. Bullseye proved to be a superb guide dog and every time something was in Simon's way, Bullseye stopped and barked twice, before starting off again and going around the object.
At teatime, Wanda came with her father and a marvellous time was had by all.
They were all so happy to be back together again; so much so that for much of that afternoon, Wanda forgot that she couldn’t walk and Simon never thought once about not being able to see.
They even played a number of games and won one game each. Simon won ‘pinning the tail on the donkey,’ Wanda won ‘Guess who.’ and Bullseye won ‘Find the thimble.’
Before long, Simon, Wanda and Bullseye were inseparable and the three of them often went for a walk in the park with their parents behind them.
They were certainly a most unusual threesome to see walking along the road together, with Wanda in her wheelchair, being pushed along by Simon, and with Bullseye guiding them as he looked out for obstacles ahead.
They were however, a very special threesome who had learned a very important lesson:
‘That we can all get by in life a lot easier when we share what we have with each other.’
Wanda could not walk, but Simon could and he shared his legs with her. Simon could not see, but Wanda and Bullseye could and they shared their eyes with him.
Bullseye could not bark until he bumped his head on the ice cream van in the park on that first day he met Simon and Wanda. The bump on the head had made him lose his bark when he had been a puppy and another bump on the head had made him find his bark once more.
When Bullseye had left the park that day he had first met Simon and Wanda and had lost them, the only thing he had to help him find Simon was the taste of his hand that he had licked and the finest sniffing nose any dog ever had.
Bullseye had been a stray without a home or a friend and Simon and Wanda had shared their home and friendship with him.
Life is happier when we share. Don't you think so?
The end
#####
Everyone and Everything Page 13
