Chapter 4
Growlithe's First Lesson
The Growlithe looked up into the sky. The sun was beating down hard. Growlithe licked her paws quietly. Her collar was hooked to a long chain. Her chain was hooked to an old doghouse. She sat upright licking her paws and pulling her chain. This wasn’t anything new or unusual. She often sat there lonely and sad. Of course she had a trainer; a grumpy man who had a dream of owning the best hunting dog. But then he got stuck with Duchess, a purebred Growlithe. Although she was just a pup she knew when her owner was mad or happy and in the ‘not in the mood’ mood. “Come on, Duch!” a voice called behind her. The master, Mr. Gary Greenwall, had come up behind her. “We are training for the contest; now hurry up!” he said harshly. Duchess stared after him as he started to walk toward the woods. Her chain rattled against the doghouse. “Growlf!” she barked. She whined and glanced at her chain. Mr. Greenwall glanced back at her and mumbled. “You think a good huntin’ dog could really get loose, huh?” he grumbled as he unleashed the chain. Duchess wagged her bushy tail and ran in circles. But she soon stopped as she realized he was in a ‘not in the mood’ mood. She calmly and quietly walked by his side. “Come on, Duch! Sniff out some Pidgey!” Duchess wagged her tail and put her nose to the dirt. She sniffed around and started to walk forward. She then stopped and looked up at an old elk tree. There in the tree were three Pidgey. “Yeah, you actually did sometin’ right fer a change!” Mr. Greenwall said dully. He walked slowly up to the tree; he didn’t make a sound. He took out his gun. Duchess panted happily. She had never done something right before. “Growlf!” she barked happily. The Pidgey perked up and flew off at the speed of light. Mr. Greenwall yelled out slammed his gun against the tree. Duchess stopped panting and scrunched back quickly. This had startled her. Why was the master mad? She did something right and now he was slamming his gun against the tree and yelling out like a banshee? It made no sense at all. “Duch, you messed it all up, you dumb Pokemon!” He walked back past Duchess and headed home. Duchess stepped in line behind him; only she was staying a good ten feet away now. She followed in silence the whole way home. That night she was tied up like normal, but it seemed like the master forgot to feed her dinner. Now that Duchess was starving she couldn’t do anything but stare into the sky. “Growlf!” she wailed. She noticed the house all lit up. “Growloooooooo!” she howled. Now there was no point. She figured out she wasn’t going to get any attention. She laid her head on her paws and slowly went to sleep. The next morning, Duchess woke very early. Her stomach was now roaring for food. Since she had no food to give to it she growled back. Soon Mr. Greenwall came and set down breakfast for her. This morning’s breakfast was special. Beef tips in gravy and rice were occupying the bowl. Duchess barked happily and rubbed against Mr. Greenwall’s legs and licked the pants. Then she started to gobble down on her breakfast. Munching down on it she realized Mr. Greenwall was watching her. After finishing she looked up at him and wagged her tail. “Come on! Let’s try this again,” he said hoarsely. He had to have lost his voice while screaming in the woods yesterday. Duchess wagged her tail even harder. Mr. Greenwall unleashed her and she quickly headed for the woods. He nodded. “Growlf! Growloooooooo!” Duchess yelped. This was a sign that she wanted him to follow. “All right girl. Find some Pidgey. After finding them keep quiet, understand?” he asked. Duchess wagged her tail delightfully. She again put her nose to the ground and started to sniff. Soon she was off into the woods sniffing the ground and air. Finally she reached a pine tree. On the lowest branch was a Pidgey sleeping. Duchess nodded to the tree. “Good girl! You did it! Right, right!” Mr. Greenwall praised. He had his gun all ready and walked silently to the tree. Duchess waited patiently to find out what was going to happen. Out of nowhere a flock of Pidgeotto flew over very noisily. The Pidgey awoke and flew off startled by everything. Duchess felt sorry for it. It must have been frightened to a point that the only thing to do was to panic and flee no matter what. “Darn it all!” Mr. Greenwall said. He motioned to Duchess to follow him. Soon they were on the other side of the woods. Duchess caught a whiff of a Pidgey and started to race to the right. Mr. Greenwall quickly fell behind her. “Growlf!” Duchess cried out. Then they were at a tree with a lone Pidgey preening itself in it. It paid no attention to its surroundings and switched wings every now and then. “Good job!” Mr. Greenwall whispered. He paced over to the tree and held his gun up. What was this tube the master was holding up to the bird? Duchess didn’t know. She had never seen it. It must’ve been hidden away before. Though, it was strange to have a prized possession out in the woods. Duchess waited patiently and wagged her tail. There was a sudden click from the tube and Duchess perked her head up. The master aimed. Then there was a loud shot. It rang through the woods. Duchess covered her ears and whined and hid herself behind a bush. “Yeah!” came a voice. It was the master’s. A plump sounded and then there was silence. Duchess came out of hiding and walked up to her master. She wagged her tail and looked at the branch where the Pidgey was. It was empty. Duchess stopped wagging her tail. “Growlf?” she barked questionably. She searched the tree frantically. “Hey, Duchess!” Mr. Greenwall yelled over. Duchess went over and wagged her tail once. She stopped in horror as she saw the master pick up a creature on the ground. The dead bird swung from side to side while the master held on to the tail. Duchess backed away. Had she helped the murder of an innocent Pidgey? This was horrible. She sniffed around in the grass. Her nose came up with a bit of blood on it. Mr. Greenwall wiped it off and smiled. “Growloooooooo!” she howled sadly. She then split off into the woods. Mr. Greenwall called after her but she didn’t return. She had learned her first lesson.
