[--------------------------------------------------------------------------] ooooo ooooo .oooooo. oooooooooooo HOE E'ZINE RELEASE #874 `888' `888' d8P' `Y8b `888' `8 888 888 888 888 888 "An Old Dog, Buried At Sea 888ooooo888 888 888 888oooo8 (A Simple Tale for All Ages)" 888 888 888 888 888 " by Basehead 888 888 `88b d88' 888 o 10/16/99 o888o o888o `Y8bood8P' o888ooooood8 [--------------------------------------------------------------------------] a dog was born in the cabin of a ship in the captain's quarters to a mother of six took a little a bit of time to get his sea legs on as he padded on the floor 'til his hobble was gone a strange place indeed for a pup to be on an offshore schooner in a restless sea cold nose sniffed the first of the strong salt air that drew him to the base of the cabin stair above on the deck was a crew of eight working hard to keep the ship in tip top shape reeling swordfish in from a trawling net when the first mate spotted their curious pet some men of the crew paid him little heed and cursed him out when they'd step where he peed the truth was that he filled a gap in their lives estranged from waiting children and lonely wives with the season passed and the nets left bare the ship headed back for Port Au-De-Mer the crew was rewarded for the huge payload and they drank away their wealth down on Anchor Road the foghorn blew when the day had come for the crew to sail off towards the rising sun the men prayed for sanity and safety in turn and made love to their wives like they'd never return down on the pier where the crowd had run to bid farewell and wish good luck on the journey to come a dog raced to the front of the tearful scene and barked with all the might his little heart could glean the captain had a feeling he could not explain that the dog would be of use to his crew again so aboard the captain went with the dog in hand and he waved until the fog had obscured the land the dog was a part of the crew again bringing tools and supplies to the overworked men this season of the sea was the devil's own brutal winds and pounding hail that chilled the men to the bone seeming to weather the stormy seas better than most the dog took upon himself a watchman post barking when he smelled the scent of weather turned worse and tending to wounds like a caring nurse years passed and with each more trips to the bay and through it all the trusty dog did stay they say more than once he saved a man from drowning in a gale and could predict the tides and waves with certain wags of his tail older now and with a graying coat to show he spent most of his days at sea down below he would howl from his bed when the wind cried pain beating the cabin's shuttered doors against the crooked doorframe on one morn following a brutal squall there seemed to be no signs from the sea at all the captain awoke to a stillness in his room at dawn and looked around to find that the crew's dog was gone he climbed the stairs slowly with a lump in his throat and groped in the dawnlight as he searched the boat and there looking out from the lip of the stern lay the dog as still as the sea he'd learned the captain was not a man of tears but he wept like a child of two or three years the soul of his crew had passed on that night a fire now extinguished, once burned so bright he felt numbness, anguish, pain, and regret and he promised himself he would never forget the dog's loyalty, courage, and the men he'd saved then he buried his friend in a watery grave [--------------------------------------------------------------------------] [ (c) !LA HOE REVOLUCION PRESS! HOE #874 - WRITTEN BY: BASEHEAD - 10/16/99 ]