1978 School Magazine

A Flat or G Sharp? (Continued) "You must decide." His mother was pressing him harder. He was totally confused. lf he made the wrong decision now, he felt sure he would never be free from the pain of self-accusation and the sense of inadequacy. Must it be either Ab or G#? He reasoned wildly that it could not be both, and there was noihing in between. Dear God, it was such a pity there could be no com- promise . . except that the pup might - possibly - have at least a compromise for life . . . "But anyone who is alive in the world of the living has some hope; and a live dog is better than a dead lion. Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, they are completely forgotten. . . They will never again take part in anything that happens in this world." 'lLet it live," Deane blurted abruptly, wiping his face wiih the back of his hand. He did not know if he was making the right decision. He did nol even know what key he was in. *** Deane reached down and extracted Claude f rom amongst the squirming, nipping, somersaulting puppies. It had not been a great shock to discover that the lame puppy was also completely blind, but Tessa had been a meticulously devoted mother - her strange son was as scrupulously clean, as sleek and chubby as his athletic littermates. Claude sniffed Deane's hand inquisitively, and nibbled it gently with affectionate recognition. Roll- ing on his back, he grasped Deane's thumb between his forepaws, shaking and gnawing it, Like a paraplegic in a wheelchair, he had developed tremendously powerful forelimbs by way of compensation for the degenerate stumps which his hindlimbs had now become. ln- credibly, the pup had shown very little inrtiative to at- tempt to learn to walk. After a few days of futile struggles to stand, during which Deane suffered acutely and could hardly bear to go near the litter, Claude happily became reconciled to his deficiencies. He romped and explored with the other pups; rolling, slipping, sniffing, listening in- tently, pulling himself forward with a curious, bouncing lurch, or sitting coyly with his head cocked mischievous- ly to one side, with what was now no more than a slightly ridiculous-looking tail thumping in delight. Earlier, he had suckled expertlyl, clinging stubbornly to the teat, and dog-paddling furiously against Tessa's patient side. Now he devoured his food ravenously, leaning forward to stand on the rim of the plate so that the food tipped towards him. Claude really has the edge on life, Deane thought. People had stared at first, then glanced away in disturb- ed embarrassment, finally they had learnt to smile and call out: "Good dog, Claude!" as Deane rode erratically up the street, wobbling, with his now half-grown dog balanced in an enormous basket fastened to the heavily reinforced handle-bars. Claude panted and grinned, leaning precariously over the edge of the basket, nose to the wind, ears pricked and flared like miniature radio- telescopes.

It was perhaps inevitable that one day he should lean too far, after some elusively distant sound that only he had heard. lt happened, and Claude was catapulted, yelping, onto the bitumen as the basket upended. Deane screeched on the brakes and flung the bike into the gut- ter, turning back to rescue the dog. But Claude had fallen to the right, away f rom the edge of the road, and he was now scrambling, unhurt, into a squatting position, right in the path of an oncoming car. "CLAUDE I HERE CLAUDE ! !" Deane yelled back, deafeningiy and with real terror. Simultaneously the driver pressed his horn. He had no way of knowing that the animal could not spring up and dash to the safety of the footpath. Claude had never heard a car horn before. For one silent split-second Deane's body cramped with absolute horror as the dog tilted his head towards the ap- proaching noise, with a nervous and mystified apprehen- sion. For yet another split second he seemed to waver, poised in indecision, then he lurched forward towards Dean and tripped headfirst down the shoulder into the gutter as the car sped past. Deane gathered the bewildered dog into his arms and hugged him as hard as he could. Why worry about Ab or G# when there were so many notes above to play with?