Gracie the Greyhound Read online

  Gracie the Greyhound

  By Anne Spackman

  Copyright 2012 by Anne Spackman

  Smashwords Edition

  Cover art by Anne Spackman

  Using public domain picture

  from Wikipainting.org

  A grey greyhound born in a West Virginia kennel one sunny afternoon had five siblings and was the runt of the litter. But, the tiny girl pup, named Gracie, grew within several weeks to be the fastest little dog in the kennel. Because she was fast, Gracie’s owner raced her for four and a half years.

  When the time came for Gracie to stop racing, her owner tried very hard to get her adopted so that she wouldn’t be put to sleep. Gracie was a sweet-tempered dog with a lovely grey coat. In a few weeks after she stopped racing, a nice family from Alabama came to get her, and that is where this story begins…

  “Well, this one’s a bit thin,” said Mr. Arlington, pointing to Gracie. He was tall, and in age somewhere around fifty years old. He wore plain blue jeans and a t-shirt, but had a drawl like an old-fashioned Southern gentleman.

  “Yes, but, Dad, she’s so pretty!” cried Christina, Mr. Arlington’s eleven-year-old daughter, who was enchanted by Gracie the moment she saw her. “She just needs some tender loving care, I think. She’ll be fine with some good food and plenty of love.” Christina had come with her parents to Gerrardstown, to Greyhound Rescue, Inc., a place for greyhounds who had finished racing to be adopted by loving families.

  “I think we’ve found the right one,” smiled Mrs. Arlington, who knew her daughter better than to try to dissuade her when Christina had set her mind to something. “What’s the dog’s name?”

  “Gracie,” said the employee who cared for the dogs. She’s a bit fast and skittish, but a really sweet animal from what I can tell.”

  “Well, I suppose if Christina wants this one, we can just stop looking right here,” said Mr. Arlington.

  And with that, the Arlington family returned to Alabama with their new pet, Gracie.

  Gracie had to have a bath when she got home, and was so anxious she ran in circles around the wooden outdoor tub. With a great wag of her tail, she almost knocked over the tub filled with warm water. But it was too heavy to tip over, and just rocked a bit, spilling sudsy water onto the grass.

  “Come here, girl,” said Christina. Gracie came to her new owner and was rewarded for her obedience by getting a nice, warm bath… which made her whimper as she stood, bewildered, inside the tub. Gracie cried the entire time that Christina washed her. “There, there, it’s ok, it’s just water,” soothed Christina.

  The greyhound antics began there. Gracie was fast, and liked to be taken on long walks. She ran really fast ahead of the others off on her own, chasing rabbits and squirrels who were terrorized by the dog suddenly let loose upon them. In time, though, Gracie would always return to Christina, when she called the greyhound back to go home.

  One day, Gracie was sleeping outside in her doghouse, and she woke up to the smell of a fire. She barked and barked, waking up the Arlington family, whose kitchen had caught fire. Mr. Arlington hurriedly called the fire brigade, and it was minutes before the fire truck arrived.

  “Well, you caught it in time,” the fire chief said once the fire was extinguished. Learning that the dog Gracie had alerted the family as to the fire he added, “sounds like your animal’s a hero for saving your lives.”

  The next day, Gracie’s picture appeared in the local newspaper under the heading “Local Dog Saves Family from Fire.” The Arlingtons could not have been more proud of her.

  Years passed, and the Arlingtons were happy with Gracie, and she was happy being their dog. For seven years Gracie went on trips with the family, went on walks and runs together with Christina in the woods and at the park. In general, Gracie did what dogs do best: she was a loyal friend to her owner, and was loved very much by them.

  However, one day, it was the beginning of a new life for Gracie when Christina went off to college. Gracie, now an old dog of 11 and a half years old, pined and whined for Christina, and was overjoyed when Christina came home for Thanksgiving one year. But, in the end, it proved too much for little Gracie to be without her master, when Christina returned to college. Little Gracie died one cold early winter night, while the wind was howling, and was laid to rest in the ground outside the house.

  The Arlington family, in particular Christina, never forgot Gracie and how much they had loved her.

  This short story is dedicated to the racing greyhounds that are raced across the world, in hopes that they will find loving homes rather than being euthanized when they retire.

 

 

  Anne Spackman, Gracie the Greyhound

  Thanks for reading the books on GrayCity.Net