Josie and Playful Pongo

Josie and Playful Pongo

By Heidi Nel

Shakespir Edition

ISBN NO 9781310478741

Copyright by Heidi Nel 2016

All rights reserved

Josie’s owner had gotten a brand new dog. It was big and black, and she called it a Rottweiler. His name was Pongo, but Josie called it playful Pongo, because all that Pongo wanted to do was play. He especially liked to play with Josie, Suyaki, Babu and Spunky. He was a friendly dog, and he was at his happiest when he could play. At first, all the cats ignored him, but not for long, because playful Pongo was not the type to be ignored.

Josie, Suyaki, Babu and Spunky were sitting in a row, with their stiff upper lips, pretending not to see him, and he felt oh, so unhappy about it. He truly felt left out and lonely, and he so desperately wanted to befriend them. He sat still for a moment, and thought of a way to get their attention, and as he sat there, he got a brilliant idea. In fact, it was the greatest idea he ever thought of. Feeling very clever, he stood up, and ran straight to Josie, and gave him a friendly lick in the face.

Next, it was Suyaki’s turn to get a lick in the face, and then Babu got a lick in the face, and finally it was Spunky’s turn, but Spunky, who saw it coming, didn’t want to be licked in the face by a dog. So he acted quickly. He jumped up, and ran as if his life depended on it, and speedily hid behind Josie. He thought he had outwitted playful Pongo, but Pongo was not put out in the least. He felt quite undeterred. He simply ran back to Josie, and when he winked at Josie, Josie ducked, and Spunky got his lick in the face too.

Josie started laughing at Spunky, because Spunky looked very annoyed, and whenever he was annoyed, he had his face all puckered up, and he had his tail in a curl and he looked very comical indeed, but then he saw the funny side of the situation, and he smiled rather sheepishly, and then he also started laughing. Then Suyaki and Babu also joined in the laughter, and playful Pongo looked at them, and smiled from ear to ear.

In his friendliest voice he said, “I know that cats and dogs don’t really get along, but I want to be your friend, and I want us to play all day long, and I’m sure that once we get to know each other, we’ll get along just fine.” He wagged his tail, and asked eagerly, “Can I please be your friend? Oh, please can you give me a chance to show you what a good friend I can be?”

Josie looked at the other cats, and then he asked them briskly, “Well, what do you think? Should we give Pongo a chance?”

Suyaki looked at Pongo very thoughtfully. “Mmm, he seems like a nice enough dog, I say give him a chance”, he said breezily.

When it was Babu’s turn, he looked at Pongo as if Pongo was something

that a mouse had dragged in. “It’s definitely not my style to mix with dogs, but if he behaves himself, I’m willing to give him a chance”, he said, in a snobbish kind of way.

Next, it was Spunky’s turn. He looked at Pongo in a bored sort of way. Then he said snootily, “I just can’t see myself getting along with a silly dog like Pongo, and I really don’t think that he’ll fit in, but oh, all right, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ll chance it, and I just hope that we don’t regret it.”

Josie looked at Pongo, and said kindly, “Well, Pongo, if Suyaki, Babu and Spunky are all willing to give you a chance, then I’m willing to give you a chance too.” He cleared his throat importantly and over-zealously, and then he said with great aplomb, “So on behalf of everyone gathered here today, I want to welcome you into our lives, and I hope that you form a bond of friendship with us that will last forever and ever.”

Suyaki started clearing his throat emphatically, and when Josie looked at him with a quizzical expression on his adorable cat face, Suyaki said loudly, “Josie, you forgot the part about standing together through thick and thin.”

Josie slapped his own forehead with his paw, and blushed bright red. He felt highly embarrassed, and said sheepishly, “Ooh, how silly of me. Phew! I can’t believe that I forgot that part. Thank you for reminding me, Suyaki.” He hurriedly pulled himself together, and said without further ado, “As friends we will always stand together, and help each other through thick and thin.”

Suyaki nodded with satisfaction. Then Babu also had something to say. Something that he thought was very important. “Josie, you forgot the part about the smile”, he admonished.

Josie snapped to attention. “Oh, Babu. You’re so right. I did forget that part. Please forgive me”, he said contritely.

Babu smiled at him and forgave him instantly. Then Josie said hastily, “Oh, my. How could I forget something so utterly important?” He looked at Pongo, and then he said with a big smile, “As friends we will always greet each other with a huge smile in the mornings.”

Playful Pongo had a dumbfounded expression on his face, and he thought to himself that this was really getting complicated. “Are you done talking now? Can we start playing?” he asked cautiously. Josie was about to nod his head, when Spunky spoke up, and said with vigour, “Hmmm…not so fast. Josie, you forgot the part about standing up for each other and respect and playing nice.”

He sat there looking so smug, and playful Pongo knew then that this was going to be a very long speech indeed, and when Josie cleared his throat with such zest, and said apologetically, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Spunky. How stupid of me”, playful Pongo let out a weary sigh. He knew then that these cats were really into very long speeches, and he also knew that it was in his best interest to indulge them, so he listened with his two doggie ears wide open. Ooh, yeah, he was all ears.

Josie opened his mouth, and said pleasantly, “As friends we will stand up for each other, and treat each other with respect, and we will always be nice to one another, and when we play, we will always play nice.” Upon hearing Josie’s last sentence, playful Pongo actually got tears in his eyes. He put his paw on his heart, and said oh, so solemnly, “That was so beautiful, man. It was just so touching, and simply stunning. You sure know how to make a speech, Josie. You really outdid yourself. Wow, man. I’m completely bowled over.”

Josie pushed his chest out a little, and walked up and down with a little swagger. He felt more than a little proud of himself, and he decided that having a dog for a friend wasn’t such a bad idea. He was starting to like playful Pongo more and more. In fact, he was really starting to warm up to the dog. “Thank you for those kind words, Pongo. Now you can be our friend. Me and Suyaki and Babu and Spunky are cool cats, and you can be a cool dog, and we can play a whole lot of cool games”, he said smilingly, and while he said it, he knew that they were all going to enjoy playing together.

They played every day, and it felt wonderful. They played a whole lot of cool games, like follow my leader, hide and seek, ring a rosies, hopscotch, and they had such great fun. Playful Pongo felt like the happiest dog alive, because he loved to play, and his new friends, Josie, Suyaki, Babu and Spunky were really a couple of cool cats. He felt really grateful to have them as friends, and once they got to know him a little better, and they got into the habit of playing every single day, they knew that accepting him as a friend was one of the smartest things they ever did.

Playful Pongo was a one of a kind dog. He always got very excited when they played together. He would constantly wag his tail, and jump up and down and absolutely everywhere and he would leap energetically here and there, as if he didn’t have a single care. He would also stroke his cat friends ever so gently with his paw, making them purr with contentment, and each night before bedtime, they would say goodnight to each other with a big and happy meow, meow, meow and another meow, and an even bigger and happier woof!

Of course, one day, while they were all playing nicely, Josie suddenly started swaying his hips from side to side, and then he said cheerfully, “Babu, please, oh, please sing one of your lovely songs for us so that we can all dance.”

Babu thought for a while. Then he said joyfully, “Ooh, I’m going to sing the most beautiful song, and it goes like this:

Playful Pongo is our new best friend

We play until each and every day comes to an end

Our favourite game is hide and seek

And we play it a couple of times a week

Playful Pongo is the best dog eve

And we will most definitely be friends forever

As Babu sang in his high-pitched shrill little cat voice, Josie, Suyaki, Spunky and playful Pongo all started dancing, and they all had smiles on their faces, because dancing was such fun, and they were really enjoying themselves, and they were having such a good time. Aaah…life was great for Josie, Suyaki, Babu, Spunky and playful Pongo, and as they swayed their hips from side to side, and danced while Babu sang his little song over and over again, they felt glad that they were the best of friends.

About the author:

Heidi Nel is 44 years old. She’s a young at heart woman with a great sense of humour. She would love to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, and she would love to run the two oceans marathon and the comrades marathon. She would also love to go Bundu Bashing with a Knortjor (vehicle) across rugged terrain. Her motto in life is to keep on plugging away bit by bit and to keep at it with diligence and discipline. She’s a nature lover, and her hobbies are horse riding, reading, yoga and exercise.

Heidi’s other e books for children, also from Shakespir:

Presents for Christmas

Josie the Scary Cat

Josie Scares a Dog

Josie Rescues a Chick

Josie Makes Friends for Christmas

Josie and the Christmas Lights

Josie’s Best Christmas

Emma’s Xmas Miracle

Emma’s Horse

Emma’s Christmas Surprise

Cindy’s Dream

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