Now little person, explain it to me again. I am 9 months old and you are nearly 9 years old. I am lot younger than you but I am bigger than you, I weigh more than you, I can run faster and I am stronger. What happened? Did you forget to grow?
It must be scary for you living in a world of big things but don’t worry, I will look after you. I will add you to my one-sheep-flock and keep you safe from wolves and bears.
Goodnight little person. Sleep close to me.
Goodnight world.
I know my name is Bassa but it took me a while to understand that because the tall person and De and the little person call me by other names too, which was confusing when I was young. They still do it sometimes. The little person calls me ‘Bishy Bashy’ or ‘Bashy Bishy’, especially when we are playing. The tall person sometimes calls me ‘Bish’ and De calls me ‘Boosie Bassy’. There is also one other name that they reserve for when I have done something they consider to be naughty. They call me ‘baddie’. I quite like the name ‘baddie’. It has an edge to it.
They also have other, activity specific, names for me. If I dribble I am the ‘slobber monster’ (I hear that a lot). If I bite I am the ‘biting monster’ (I haven’t heard that for a long while). If I bark for no apparent reason I am the ‘barking monster’. Thank goodness I have never whined or I would be the ‘whining monster’!
I think the tall person sometimes gets confused and forgets my name because he looks at me and asks ‘who is my lovely girl’? Surely he must know by now! It’s me – Bassa, Bishy Bashy, Boosie Bassy, Bish, Baddie, slobber monster, biting monster, barking monster!
It can be very confusing. So, please don’t blame me if I don’t come quickly when you call me by any other name. My name is Bassa……………..though I do like it when the tall person calls me his ‘lovely girl’!
A huge fly came into the kitchen this morning and began to buzz around. I immediately recognized it as a non-family member and began to stalk it. It quickly realised that I was on its tail and began evasive manoeuvres. It was a very tricky fly. We have a tall ceiling in the kitchen and for a while it stayed out of reach but as it got tired it began to fly lower. I didn’t give it a chance to rest and after a few minutes I managed to swipe it with my paw and it fell to the floor but before I could swat it again it flew up and landed on De’s mobile phone. I think it wanted to call for reinforcements. Brave De shook it off and when it landed on the floor I pounced on it. Job done!
De was very pleased and gave me a treat. I felt very proud.
I hope this incident sends a very clear message to potential intruders – no unwanted visitors allowed, especially ones with six legs!
