My mom is weird. More than most people I know. I don’t have a lot of experience as far as humans go, but as far as the humans I know, she’s not like one of them.

Sometimes when I sit with her, she would say things to her computer. Most times when she talks to herself is when we watch Morris play. She would look at him and smile, then say something like “Who knew?” rub my head and carry on what she was doing.

One afternoon about a month ago, mom sat at her desk and started clicking away at her emails. She used words I’m not allowed to bark and then went quiet for a second and frowned at her screen. She sat reading for a moment or two and then called Dad. Mom was excited. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but she said we’re going to be on TV. I have no idea what she meant, because me and Morris do not have one of those.

In the weeks to come mom became more and more strict with everyone working here. Do this, do that, and most often, she would ask “Why isn’t it done yet?!”

During this busy time, I met my Grandma for the first time. She smells weird, but Mom said she smells of fresh sea air and if me and Morris are good, we might go visit someday so we can go to the beach. She was nice to me and rubbed my head a lot, but Morris was convinced he’s her favourite again. He does that often, and I go along with it and let him think that to make him happy.

So, the days came and went, and Grandma went home again. We were sad, she was very nice to us. Morris was especially sad since he had become quite fond of having a bit of Rooibos with Grandma. Mom said it can’t do him any harm since Granma didn’t us any sugar or milk and allowed him to lick away at the tea to his heart’s content.

We were busy in the weeks to come and had lots of guests come and go. Lukie Benfield came and stayed with us for a long while. We were all sad when she had to go home. Pebbles came to visit all the way from Durban, and then, just like that, mom took him to the doctor to fix his teeth. Poor Pebbles. Morris says having your teeth done is not nice and painful for a day or two.

On Monday morning mom came early to give us breakfast. We didn’t have it like always in the office with her, but on our porch. Mom looked worried and sad and said our Leila was very ill. She was rushing her off to the doctor. Later that morning mom came back and was very sad, with tears running down her face which we took upon ourselves to lick off. Mom said that Leila went to heaven. I don’t really know what that mean, only that once you go there, you never ever come back. We are sad that we won’t have her around anymore. We loved her. She was always friendly to us.

The very next day everything was busy. Mom was giving orders to everyone and they were doing lots of work. Then, just as we thought Mom has lost the plot completely, some people arrived with a big black thing on a stand. It looks a lot like one of Mom’s camera’s but just bigger. We were running around, and they took lots of videos of us. Later in the afternoon they left and we were all tired. That evening mom gave us more than usual chicken and veggies and Morris says maybe if he only eats his chicken, mom won’t give him anything else. I told him she’s too clever to do that, but after he did it for three days straight she did exactly what he said she will do. He’s such a clever little bugger.

 

And So, Tuesday night mom came to our room to sing our goodnight song and tuck us in. She became sad again and when me and Morris became worried, she said she’s going to be all right. She just misses our Leila and we mustn’t worry. From now on things will get better. Apparently we are going to be a little bit famous, Morris and I. We don’t really care about that. We have what be both always wanted; a mom who loves us, a bed to sleep in and warm food on cold nights and mornings. So while I drift off to sleep I can hear Morris whisper: “We going to be famouthhh…”