The Day The Uprights Cried  
 

Some things in life are too hard to understand.  Too hard for little kids, big kids, grown ups and even sheepies. 

Today was a day too hard to understand.  It started out like most other days.  The Mother Upright woke up and hugged and kissed all her children, the ones with fur and the ones without.  She fed them all, sent the furless child to school and let the others out to play. 

Henry and Guinness and Patrick O'Malley ran happily out in the yard and barked at the kids getting on the bus. 

"Our bus is better," said Guinness. "Our bus does NOT drive to school". The others agreed and wondered why kids without fur could not stay home and play all day.  Mother Upright called everyone into the house and went to work in her office. 

An hour later she came out to give each dog a cookie.  All the fur kids jumped up as usual and waited in a line.  All except Guinness, (who the Mother Upright called Guinney Gumdrops).  She was laying on the floor, and she did not move.

The Mother Upright had a terrible feeling.  As beautiful and as peaceful as her Guinney Gumdrops looked, the Mother Upright knew that she had died.  Mother Upright was in shock because Guinness was only three years old and she had just been out playing an hour ago.  And that is the part of the story that is too hard to understand.

 
Mother Upright knew this was very, very unusual, but as she held and kissed her little sheepie she cried and cried.  And that is the part that is easy to understand.  She called the other Uprights home to be together at this very sad time and all the Uprights cried and cried. The Boy Upright hugged Patrick O'Malley and tried to give him a cookie.  But Patrick O'Malley was so sad, and in so much shock, he could not eat the cookie.  He spit it right back out.  "She was like a mother to me, from my first day here." he sobbed.  The Boy Upright held him tight, but today was a day that nobody felt good.

Henry had a scared feeling because he was not used to seeing Uprights cry.  He was scared too by the big feelings of sorrow that were welling up in him.  "I will never see Guinness again," he cried. "She was my best friend from my first day here.  How can this be? How can this be?"

Patrick remembered that just yesterday Guinness had given them all presents. 
"The Pillows!" he blurted out. 
"That's Right," said Henry, "She told us there would be ruff times and that presents and love could help us through.  It is almost as if she had known."
"And how she told us all yesterday how much she loved us," added Scruffy.
"I don't want presents," cried Patrick.  "I just want her to come back".

Everyone seemed lost and in shock.  HT was the oldest of them all, and she had seen alot of things in her day.  "She died so peacefully in her sleep" said HT.,  "We were all right here and none of us knew.  Henry is right.  We should go get the pillows that she gave us."

So the four dogs went to get the fluffy bone pillows that Guinness had given them.  They were excellent for crying into. And cry into them is just about all they could do. Henry didn't know why, but he looked up to heaven and said, "Guinness can you hear me?  I miss you and I love you".  Huddled up in the middle of the room in tears, bone pillows under each of their heads, the four bereft friends fell fast asleep.