Lucy the Yellow Labrador Retriever loved almost everything there was to eat.
She loved the kibble that Laura, her pet lady, put in her bowl everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She loved the cereal and milk that Will, her pet man, put in her bowl every night just before she went to bed. She also loved the crust, that Katharine, her pet 2nd grade girl, slipped to her under the table whenever the family ate pizza. And she loved the ice cream that Luke, her pet kindergarten boy, let her lick off his ice cream cone, whenever Laura wasn’t looking.
Along with those things, Lucy the Yellow Labrador loved to eat cheese, popcorn, cold egg drop soup, hot dogs with or without mustard, stale bread, the suet that Laura put out for the birds, spaghetti, graham crackers, Rolaids with the paper still on, and most roasted root vegetables. Lucy also loved to eat many other things. In fact, the only things that Laura, Will, Katharine, and Luke had discovered that Lucy didn’t like were turnips and stewed tomatoes. Which probably doesn’t surprise anyone.
But what Lucy really loved, adored, wanted more than anything was SALMON! Salmon is a very big, pink fish! One day earlier that fall, Uncle Tom had dropped a big salmon off at Lucy’s house. He brought it in a cooler, and Will put the fish in the freezer part of the fridge. “I caught that salmon in the Salmon River,” Uncle Tom said, which made sense to Lucy.
That afternoon, Laura took out the salmon and gave it to Will to clean OUTSIDE, please. Lucy sat by Will in case he needed any help. The smell of the salmon was interesting. Lucy could imagine rolling in it. Then the salmon went back in the fridge and Lucy forgot about it. There was far too much other food to think about.
A few days later when Luke and Katharine came home from school, Laura said to them, “We’re having salmon for dinner tonight.”
“Gross,” Katharine said.
“What’s salmon?” Luke asked.
Lucy’s ears perked up. In fact, Lucy watched Laura closely throughout the entire preparation of the salmon, and when the family sat down to dinner, Lucy sat on her rug and watched them eat.
“Lucy seems very interested,” Will said. “Want to give her a taste?”
“She can have some of my gross salmon,” Katharine said, jumped up from her place at the table, and carried a piece of salmon to Lucy’s bowl. Lucy padded over, sniffed the salmon, was pleased, and took a bite.
Oh, wow! Oh, wow! Lucy had never tasted anything so wonderful before. Her tail began to wag, first back and forth like a windshield wiper, then in a circle like the rotors on a helicopter. She ate the piece of salmon in a second and bounced over to the table to plant her happy head on Laura’s lap. The whole family laughed.
“She likes it,” Luke grinned. “I hate it.”
“I hate it, too!” Katharine said.
“I’ve tasted things I like a lot better than salmon,” Will agreed.
“Well, I love it,” Laura said, “and it’s very good for me. Lucy and I are the smart ones.” Then Laura took a big piece of salmon from the plate and plopped it into Lucy’s bowl. Lucy’s family watched her happily eating the fish.
“She reminds me of a very little polar bear,” said Katharine, and everyone agreed.
When Lucy was finished, she turned to her family and gave them a huge dog smile. Then she went to her rug and went fast asleep.
But sadly for Lucy that was the end of the salmon. The autumn went on, which was fun both for the Halloween cookies, and the Thanksgiving leftovers. Then it started to snow, which Lucy and her thick fur coat just loved. On snowy days, she would run in circles and roll in the white stuff while playing with Luke in the backyard so she was hungry for anything and everything when they came in from playing. Still in the back of her dog mind was the very, very wonderful memory of salmon.
Christmas morning came and Lucy got to eat a Santa Claus cookie while watching her people open their presents. There was even a stocking for Lucy that contained some Pupperoni, a pig’s ear, and a pack of 6 Denta-Chews, all Lucy’s favorites. When the unwrapping of presents was done, Laura said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Come on, Luce,” she said, and headed to the kitchen. Lucy followed her and Will, Katharine, and Luke followed Lucy.
Laura opened the refrigerator, and Lucy peaked in. Suddenly her tail began wiping and whirling. Laura was taking a big hunk of salmon from out of the fridge. “Merry Christmas, Lucy,” she said and Lucy bounced to her bowl. “Let me give it to her. Please,” asked Katharine, and taking the salmon from her mom, removed the wrapping and broke off a big piece. Lucy stood poised by her bowl for eating. In went the salmon, down went Lucy’ s head with mouth wide open. Oh, wow! Oh, wow! It was even better than she remembered. She licked her lips. There was simply nothing better to eat.
“She does look like a little polar bear, “ Will said.
“Yup,” said Luke.
“She does,” said Katharine.
“Such a good girl,” Laura said and patted Lucy’s head.
Lucy might have looked up and dog smiled at her family, but she was still busy gobbling up her most favorite thing to eat.
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