Now Jemma was a fine animal. Her golden fur gleamed in the sunshine. She was a purebred Retriever and was used to getting her own way. She had just moved to the area and this was her new place to come for fun and exercise. Each day she came ready to chase her tennis ball around the other open fields but they weren't the same soft, plush lawns that were carefully tended behind the fence. These were the forbidden fields, opened only to the the better baseball players in the bigger leagues . . . and of course those mocking geese that locked gates could not keep out.
Each day Jemma stopped at the gate waiting to be let in, wanting desperately to chase those geese away and show them who was boss. Jemma was a bird dog. She was bred to retrieve birds. She occasionally had the opportunity to retrieve small game birds as a young pup and longed to do so again. Sadly she ran off to get her tennis ball in the charred, un-watered dusty field of the little leaguers.
Months passed. Jemma had all but given up. Summer leagues left new smells and the birds had flown off. The heat was unrelenting so Jemma and her person made their visits very early in the mornings. The only birds they saw were the crow. Jemma seemed not so interested in chasing a crow.
The days grew shorter and slowly seemed to cool off a bit. On one of her usual walks she met two new dogs. They were old and did not want to play. The old lab took her tennis ball and would not return it. The small poodle was afraid of her and growled when she went near to sniff. Jemma was very sad. She missed her friends, swimming in the river, running along the beach chasing seagulls and longed to see those mean mocking geese in the forbidden fields and show them who really belonged in that beautiful field.
Jemma liked to bring home treasures from her walks. One day she found a shiny new tennis ball that had come over the fence from the tennis courts. She left her dirty one behind for some unfortunate dog and proudly carried her new one home. On many visits she found good sticks worthy of a fetch. Once she found a hat someone had left behind. She carried that around for a short time but found it did not taste very good. One day her tennis ball bounced into one of the forbidden fields and she would not leave without it making her person climb two fences to retrieve it.
The winds came up. Jemma put her nose to the air and smelled the coming rain. Her person decided on a quick outing before the storm hit as it was going to be a big one and they would not get out for a few days. As Jemma trotted down the path to the old dusty fields her ears blew back with the wind. She almost forgot to check the gate when . . . what do you know? Someone forgot to lock the gate to one of the forbidden fields! The geese were back too. There were two pair honking loudly when Jemma pretending to ignore them went through the gate and into the lush green soft grass. Her person sent her ball flying away from the geese. Jemma started out for the ball then surprising the geese turned toward them and ran at high speed toward the big honking geese chasing them off. They flew up into the wind honking wildly. What a happy day that was. Jemma found a goose feather and brought her treasure home with her that day. It was a good day. Each day now she checks that gate. And each night she sleeps with that feather under her dog bed dreaming of the day she will be allowed in the forbidden fields to chase off the geese.
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