Tuckaway Baci Sartini
September 10, 1990-June 14, 1998
I.
It was a warm, golden September morning when Lady's Secret, the majestic, spotted matriarch of Remmele's Dalmatians summoned her speckled pups around her. What a glorious abundance of spots! She gazed proudly at the noble, sweet faces of Two Dots, Ghost Face, and the other puppies, her gaze resting longest on Freckles, who happened to be the sweetest of all. Lady's Secret had a very special item on her agenda this morning. She had to decide which of her litter would go to the Sartini family, who wanted a Dalmatian for the son's ninth birthday.
Lady's Secret had put an extensive amount of thought into this decision. Oh, of course the family thought it was their decision. People were funny that way. As Lady's Secret repeatedly told her pups - it was best to let the humans think that they had all the power. People were remarkably pliable when they thought things were going their way.
Today, Lady's Secret looked with a bittersweet grin at her assembled pups. It would be hard to see them go, but it was the way of nature. Unlike people, dogs know that you cannot hold something beautiful to your heart forever. It soon must fly away, like one of the free and beautiful birds that even a non-sporting variety dog longs to chase. The mother was very brave as she said, "I have thought hard about this decision. I have looked into the beautiful, brown canine eyes of the red-headed lady and the warm, laughing hazel eyes of the head of the pack, and discovered that this family desperately needs a Dalmatian. It is a wonderful family, as full of love as a Dalmatian is full of spots. They will spare no affection toward their puppies."
"But Mamma," said Two Dots uncertainly. "I am sure that they are nice, as their breed goes, but are they silly enough to have a Dalmatian?"
"Yes," said Ghost Face. "I actually heard one of the girls say that Dalmatians are too silly!" Several pairs of ears lifted in consternation at this outrageous suggestion.
"Too silly! She should talk! She must have the silliest curls I have ever seen on man or beast!" cried Two Dots. Several yapping voices broke into a canine chorus as the dogs discussed the relative merits of the smell, taste and texture of the oldest daughter's curls.
"Wait a minute," came a
gentle, thoughtful voice. The spotted heads turned to Freckles,
who was furrowing his brow as he always did when he pondered
something important. "I have observed this family closely. I
too have watched their people-like pretensions and assumed
dignity. Yet I have also seen that they possess an illustrious
and intelligent interest in alliteration. They have been known to
pun for an hour in one sitting. I suspect that they really
possess an innate, hidden, unparalleled silliness."
At this delightful possibility, several tails thumped frantically on the floor. Freckles's sister was so excited that she bit his spotted ear, which of course created a catalyst for a frenetic puppy romp, which Lady's Secret watched tolerantly. She finally said, "Freckles, I applaud your perception. You are undoubtedly the right dog for this family."
Freckles looked excitedly at his
mother. Then his brow furrowed as he pondered the matter. All day
he furrowed and pondered. He pondered after his new mom and dad
took him to a stone house on a busy street. He sat in front of
his new fireplace on his new quilt and pondered. He crawled into
his new sister's lap and pondered. Finally, he decided that he
was indeed the dog for this family. His brow smoothed into a
simple and soft sampling of spots and he was ready to leap on the
boy when he came home from school. He willingly accepted the name
of Baci, and he tried laudably to live up to this name.
II.
Baci put all of his canine effort into pleasing his family. When he heard them discussing that some Dalmatians know how to grin, he practiced many hours in front of the mirror. One day, when they were out, he perfected it -- the perfect Grin! When the family came home that night, he flashed his grin at them. How happy they were!
Baci learned quickly that everyone
in the family loved music. He learned to love the voices of his
silly singing sisters, although sometimes they reached alarming
frequencies. He even learned to sing along to the boy's trumpet.
When the red-headed mother played the piano, he placed his nose
beneath the pedals and listened intently.
Baci learned to tolerate all of the strange whims of the family. When the boy's hair suddenly developed a waxy taste, he continued to chew loyally, although the rest of the family gave the son extensive Roberta Flack about this hair. He learned that it was okay to climb on the couches when he and the red-haired woman were alone, yet she protested when the rest of the family was there.
It was important for Baci to have a
nice, soft place to rest, so that he could ponder the mysteries
of the world. Sometimes he thought about the strange new smells
that the family brought into his house. Often he considered the
ineffable essence of the spot. But most of all, he thought about
how much his family would mourn his inevitable passing. It was
the only sorrow in his happy, spotted life -- imagining how sad
they would be when he left. He was especially affectionate during
these times, and would stare into his family's faces, wrinkling
his brow. They sometimes thought he was thinking about Immanuel
Kant, or some other silly human who thought he understood the
world. But he was really trying to think of how he could fulfill
his mission to bring them happiness and lessen their pain.
The years rolled happily by, even
though sometimes the two girls would leave him for months at a
time. Although Baci missed them, he always knew that they would
return, bringing with them a large quantity of dirty socks.
Baci allowed a nice young human to marry the oldest daughter, although his little black dog had a ridiculous name. His sister promised Baci that this new brother would not name any of his nieces or nephews, canine or otherwise.
III.
One day, the family took Baci to a big, beautiful farm and told him that it was all his. Baci ran and ran until he felt tired. Then he would lie on the grass and watch the golden sun roll across the massive sky on puffy white clouds. He knew that soon his days would set, like the beautiful sun. He never thought to be sad for himself, but he worried increasingly about his family.
When the time came for him to leave the family, Baci called them all to him. As they petted and held him, he felt wonderfully happy, and tried to tell them so, but their eyes were so clouded with sorrow that they could not see his joy and gratitude for all of their wonderful years together. As his eyes closed, he released one final wish from his heart-- that the family would not be too sad without him, and would let one of his spotted descendants take over Baci's mission. There was a lot of work left to do before this family attained satisfactory silliness. Baci knew that he would always live in the hearts of his family. This was more than enough for him, who never asked much from them. Baci was perfectly contented with that. His last wish was that they would be,too.
