bestshow

Sophie had just finished chasing a bumblebee when she heard Bobby's voice. Her fur in was in tangles and matted with fresh mud and hay, but her disposition sparkled. With a playful jaunt, she leapt towards Bobby who giggled slightly and caught her mid-jump.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Bobby's voice was soothing and playful. He had taken care of her for seven years and seen her changes. From her first day free of the kennel through the birth of her puppies, he provided food, shelter and constant love unconditional in her life... and she would do anything for him.

"We need to get you a bath." he stated, but Sophie would have none of that. The day was too short to waste with things such as bathing when a nice quick jump in the pond would do as well. She darted though the brush and splashed quickly into the water, yapping for Bobby to follow.

“Okay, girl… We’ll do it your way.”, he said, then chased behind hoping to catch up. Suddenly, Sophie jumped from the pond and started staring into the distance.

“What is it, girl?”, Bobby called to her from across the pond. A strange voice. No, wait… more than one. A whole group of voices, human and animal, blending with traces of music seemed to faintly rise. Sophie was intrigued, but stood at attention, waiting for Bobby to catch up.

When Bobby was within a few feet of her, she started moving toward the music and saw a gathering unlike any she had seen before. She looked back at Bobby and smiled.

“The fair is here? I wasn’t expecting it for another week! You want to look around, don’t you, girl?” Sophie smiled and let out a quick bark. Try as she might, she knew Bobby could not understand her words. A simple, “I’d love to.” would be lost on his ears. He would only hear her bark, so she tried to use body language as much as possible to help him understand. A smile and wagging tail was enough. She knew he loved her, and that was all that mattered.

As they approached the tents, Sophie was drawn to the scents of hot dogs and cotton candy and something else she hadn’t noticed before. She noticed the scent other dogs in the area. This wasn’t right, was it? Other dogs nearby, but none of them were playing or barking?

She followed her nose to a large blue and white tent with a sign reading “Dog Show”.

From the other side of the sign, Sophie heard a woman’s voice talking to her. “No, no, no, honey… This is no place for strays. You have to be registered to go in.”

“She’s mine, ma’am….”, Bobby said. “…and I think she’d like to see the show.”

The lady looked back at the boy and giggled, “I’m sure she would, but we can’t take chances on having her run free. Only dogs in the competition are allowed in.”

Bobby smiled his optimistic smile and said “Then sign her up. Her name is Sophie… and she’s my blue ribbon winner.”

“Well, she doesn’t look like a showdog. What breed is she?” the lady asked.

“Like my granddaddy before me, she’s an American. She represents all breeds like my family represents different countries. It’s what we were founded on.” Bobby smiled, happy with this answer.

The lady giggled again. “Okay. That’s a very patriotic answer, but not quite what the judges like to hear. I’ll just say she’s a mix breed.” Then handed Bobby a card with the number 4 on it.

Bobby smiled and thanked the lady, then looked at Sophie. “You are a winner in my heart. Now we get to show everyone else how special you are.”

Sophie nudged up against Bobby and followed him into the tent.

“No dogs allowed in here, sonny.” , a booming voice from behind Bobby insisted.

“Sorry, sir. I didn’t fasten on her number.” Bobby took the card from his pocket then looked for string. Not finding any, he took out his shoelace and made a necklace for the card to hang from, then placed it around Sophie’s neck. “Bring it back when you win.”

Sophie trotted out to the other dogs as Bobby took a seat in the bleachers off to the side of the judges.

Towards the back of the tent were three other dogs sitting in silence, looking at a funny looking man dressed in a tuxedo and speaking with an accent. He welcomed the audience and said the show was about to begin as music started. This hardly interested Sophie as she was spellbound by these dogs which were sitting before her like statues.

She let out a quick yelp to get their attention, but none of them moved. Another quick bark and the audience giggled, but Sophie just tilted her head and watched. Finally, the funny little man clapped and all the dogs lined up and started walking toward him.

Sophie got in line and started brushing against the last one in line.

“Please, stop acting like such a… mutt.” The last dog spoke to Sophie in a voice which sounded like he was having any fun at all.

“Oh,” said Sophie, “you DO talk.” She looked back at the last dog and smiled. “So, when do we get to play?”

“Play? We don’t play here. This is our show. We show the world how well mannered and behaved we can be. Playing is for puppies.”

“But, my Bobby plays with me all the time. You should have more fun. My name’s Sophie. What’s yours?”

“My name is Sampson. Now, please be quiet. I need to focus.” Sampson’s legs and back stiffened into statue pose as the voice of the funny little man started again.

“Today we will see the best local talent. The finest canine specimens…” he looked at Sophie as she sat and smiled at him “…and others… that this fine county has to offer to determine “The Best in Show”. We will see grooming, obedience, and talent tested today, and the winner will be known throughout the area as the best pet any owner could hope to have! Now we begin:”. And with that, the lights began to dim and the first dog was lit by a bright shining spotlight.

Sophie watched and nudged Sampson. “Who is that? She’s so pretty.”

“That…” Sampson stated in a matter-of-factly tone, “is Grace. She is known throughout the region as having the most perfect coat of golden hair. Not as graceful a walk as mine, but the hair is nice.”

Grace walked in a slow circle to the judges table, turned to walk in front of each judge, then returned to the Group. As she passed by Sophie, she lifted her nose and pranced slightly.

Sophie looked back at Sampson. “She doesn’t seem so friendly. Is she upset about something?”

Sampson just stood there and didn’t reply.

Sophie just walked away. “Fine. If you don’t want to play, I’ll play by myself.” And she ran through the spotlight just as Fifi was walking into the light.

On the far side of the room was a ball and she was going to bring it back to Bobby to play Fetch. The ball was a slight bit too large to fit in her mouth, so she nudged it along slightly, then kicked at it, then batted it with her tail.

After a few short minutes of playing, though, she heard her name. Looking up, she saw the spotlight coming toward her.

She darted out of the light, then ran in a circle around the outside of the beam. Then she ran toward Bobby, who she could finally see in the bleachers.

Bobby cheered and Sophie tried to leap toward Bobby, but before she could jump, the guard appeared. “Nice doggie. Go back with the others now.”

Sophie turned around slowly with her tail between her legs and got back in line. The other dogs were laughing, as were the people in the audience, but Bobby smiled at her and called out “Good Girl!”

On hearing those words, Sophie smiled again. He knew Bobby loved her, and that was all that mattered.

Sampson was still chuckling as he approached Sophie. “You aren’t much of a show dog, but you’ve got spirit.”

Sophie looked back at him. “You really need to let yourself enjoy life more. I’m loved. That’s all that matters.”

Sampson looked back at Sophie and said “I wish that were so… but it takes more than love to be a winner.”

At that moment, the funny little man apologized for Sophie’s playful “outburst” and stated it was time for the talent competition. He then asked Fifi to the stage.

Fifi started running through a maze as Grace walked over to Sophie. “You really don’t belong here, you know. We’re professionals. This was what we were born to do.”

Sophie looked back at Grace with a puzzled stare and pawed at her tail. “I think you’d have fun chasing butterflies.”

Grace walked away, raising her nose once again to the sky as Fifi rejoined the group. Sampson was called to the stage and Sophie walked to Fifi.

“You looked like you were having fun. Why did you stop?”

Fifi looked back at Sophie. “Why would I be having fun? I was told to run, so I ran.”

Sophie giggled for a second then asked, “If it wasn’t fun, why do it?”

Fifi just shook her head and walked away.

Sampson returned from running the maze and said “Get ready. You’re next.” And with that, Sophie heard her name again. She started running to the corners. Where did it come from? Who wanted to see her? She returned to the other dogs and asked if someone called her, only to hear that same voice call for Grace.

Again, in the distance, surrounded by the laughter of those around him, Bobby’s voice rang out. “Good girl!”

Sophie spun around and chased her tail for a second then yelped out her thanks.

Fifi just lowered her head. “She’s such a silly little pup. She has no idea what is important.”

Grace was then called to the maze where she presented the grace of a gazelle running through her course.

A rush of applause ran through the crowd as the funny little man called the owners to the stage.

Sampson was called to the front and was told to sit, then roll over, then he balanced a treat on his nose until he was told it was okay to take the snack. He walked back to the others with a smile.

Bobby was then called to the stage, and before her name was even called, Sophie rushed up and leaped into his arms. She smothered him with kisses and he giggled. The crowd started to get restless. Bobby looked around and said “We have to show them you’re the best.”

But Sophie wanted to play. She ran off to get the ball she had earlier been playing with when the audience started to boo her.

Bobby looked at her and the crowd and sat down. He started to cry quietly, and Sophie left the ball. She brushed against Bobby, then sat down with her head on his lap.

The funny little man called for the spotlight and brought Grace to the stage.

Bobby looked at Sophie with a tear forming in his eye. “Don’t be hurt, girl. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Sophie kissed Bobby as if to tell him, “Don’t be sad. I love you. That’s all that matters.”

Fifi took the stage as the applause for Grace’s performance was dying down.

Bobby held Sophie close to his heart and stroked her fur. “You are such a good girl. I only wish they saw you the way I see you.”

At that moment, the lights went on, and all the dogs were called to the stage. Sophie stayed with Bobby while the others went to accept their ribbons. In the corner, the judges shook hands with the owners of the other dogs and smiles and certificates were passed around.

Then, from behind, there was a nudge. Sampson stood next to Sophie and lowered his head. The ribbon slid from around his neck to the floor beside her.

Grace walked up beside Sampson, and Fifi walked up as well. All three ribbons soon lay on the floor at Sophie’s side.

Sophie looked at the others and said, “What's wrong?”

Sampson looked back at her and said, “We have owners. You have a friend. We watched as our owners took awards for our work, and realized it meant nothing if there wasn’t someone who wanted to share our success and support us in our defeat.”

Fifi spoke up, “I thought you were silly at first, but now I realize you have someone who loves you instead of just training you. You really are a lucky dog.”

“Someday, you must teach me how to chase butterflies. I’d love to be as happy as you are… and as loved.” Grace said, then looked at Bobby, who started to smile.

The owners started to notice what was going on and walked over to Bobby.

“Why did you take the ribbons? Our dogs earned them?” one of the owners was saying.

Bobby smiled and picked up the ribbons, handing them back. “We don’t need anyone to tell us that she’s the best dog here. We know it in our hearts.”

…and that’s all that matters.

-- Jack Foshee Jr., 2/3/2003