A fish tale about a dog - when kids encounter danger

A fish tale.

Call me a mother hen, but I always remind my kids to use caution and to stay together when they are away from the house. On a recent occasion the boys went out on their bikes for a few hours. Their journey home was an adventure.

The tall tale was relayed to me as both boys entered the house panting. Joshua, my 12 year old had, sweat pouring from his face. The only evident sign of exhaustion on Donovan, my 15 year old, was his rapid breathing.

The story began with gasps of air coming from Joshua until I asked, “Are you ok?” I think he did that for effect. He nodded his head yes as I asked further questions.

“Was someone chasing you?”

“Yes…gasp…pant…gasp… a dog was chasing us,” Joshua said.

“We heard him barking and looked over at him, but I thought he was behind an invisible fence,” Donovan chimed in.

“Yeah, then the dog ran into the street toward us, barking louder.”

“I bet he was chasing your tires,” I said.

I could hear the anxiety building as the story came to life in my mind. I finally asked, “What kind of dog was it?” I kind of had an idea of the size of the dog, but I wanted to hear more of the story.

“It wasn’t real big, it was brown and white,” Joshua said.

Since I was sitting at the computer, I said let’s Google different types of dogs. We tried a Bulldog, not it. We tried a Shih Tzu (Shitzu), too small. Then we stumbled upon the Beagle….we had hit pay dirt!

The ferocious Beagle (insert smile) was the dog that had chased my TEEN boys. I can feel the laughter bubbling in my stomach all over again. I happen to like dogs, but my boys are a different breed. Pun intended. Perhaps I should have let them have a pet other than Goldfish.



Me ferocious?

 

 

 

We enjoyed a laugh together. The boys realized they were not in any real danger; it was just an initial shock that a dog was chasing them. Their story reminded me of someone telling a story of how they caught a big fish. By the time the story reaches the end, the big fish becomes a minnow.

What is your favorite tall tale that a child has shared with you?