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“…Eyeballs…” Bk 1: 9. Hey, There’s A Dog In Here!
Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There?
By Kate Chamberlin
As Grace grows up, some of her stories are happy, some trying, some enlightening, and a few themes are sad, but, they’re all the warp and woof of what goes into the tapestry of life we call Family. The daily living skills and techniques demonstrated by the fictional characters in these stories are valid, tried and true.
#1. If You Can’t See…
#3. The Night Search For A Missing Puppy
#4. JUST DUCKY
#6. Grace, Martha, and The Sleep Shirt Solution
.#9. Hey, There’s A Dog In Here!
This is the day Grace’s Third Grade class has Show and Tell. She never brought in things that are ordinary; just things that no one else would think of doing. She’d already chewed off her fingernails.
“Where could my Show-and-Tell be?” Grace wondered. “My turn is next and she isn’t here yet. My knuckles are aching from holding onto my desk so tightly. I can feel my cheeks begin to burn.”
As the teacher calls my name, I hear a clickity click coming down the hall. I grab my long, white cane, zip out of my seat, and tappity tap to the door. I recognize the clickity click of Mrs. Carnes’s Guide Dog. I’m saved; she is here.
“Hi, Mrs. Carnes. My room is over here to the right. You’re just in time,” I say hoping the relief I feel doesn’t sound rude.
“Hi, Grace, your directions on how to get here were very good.”
“We’re ready for you, ” I say as I tappity tap ahead of them to pat the chair in front of the class.
Now my face is flushed with excitement. The kids are all talking at once.
“Hey, there’s a dog in here!” Fred hollers out.
“Future, Chair,” Mrs. Carnes quietly commands her guide dog.
When they get to the chair, Future puts her chin on the seat to let Mrs. Carnes know where to sit. Then Future lays down on the floor facing the kids.
“This is my neighbor, Mrs. Carnes, and her guide dog Future. I asked her to come for Show and Tell. She’s blind so Future guides her everywhere.” I sit down on the floor near Future, but, I remember not to pet her when she’s wearing her harness.
“Thank you, Grace. I always like to share my story with Others.”
Mrs. Carnes starts by asking, “If I can’t see, how can I tell what time it is?”
“Ask your mother,” responds Suzie.
“You could set an alarm clock,” Yolanda thoughtfully offers.
“Well, they are good suggestions, but, remember I can’t see to set the alarm. I am alone at home a lot so I can’t ask my mother.”
“Ask your dog,” giggles Fred.
“My guide dog is good, but, she isn’t THAT good! How else might I be able to tell time for myself?”
She gives them a hint by saying, “Think about your five senses.”
Grace has known Mrs. Carnes for years, so, besides being blind herself, Grace knows all the answers about being blind. She is more interested in how Future reacts to the kids as they warm up to talking with a blind adult for the first time. Future’s tail wags, thumping Grace’s side. She wonders if dogs can smile.
“You could get one of those really tall clocks like my Grandma has in her hall way. It rings chimes all the time. You’d hear it.”
“Oh, great idea,” she says enthusiastically. “But, could I carry it to school with me?” We all laugh at this idea. “I’ll give you another hint. Listen to my magic sleeve. It will talk to you.”
They are really surprised when she rolls up her cuff to show them the talking watch. Grace knows Future likes the watch because when she hears it beep around 3:30, she knows it is time to eat supper!
“My blindness is like looking through wax paper,” Mrs. Carnes says, passing around a piece of wax paper for the children to look through. “Blind is not catching. You could hug me and I could hug you and you would not go blind.”
“Hey Lady, you got eyeballs in there?” interrupted Fred.
“Sure, I do. They just don’t work too well,” Mrs. Carnes answers him.
Grace thinks it must be really hard for Future to lay still when she’d really rather play with the children. But, she knows her duty as a working dog. Only her tail wags.
“Now, since I can’t see, what other of my senses might I use?”
Future sneezed as she asked this question.
“Smelling!” they all yell at the same time.
The Sniffy Jars are fun, but, it is hard to name the fragrances. With Future’s long nose she can smell better than anyone.
“If it doesn’t smell or talk and you can’t see it, what other sense could you use?” Mrs. Carnes encouraged.
“I know,” Jeremy excitedly yells out. “Touch.”
“Yes, and these are Feely Cans for you to try,” she said.
Grace imagines Future perking up her ears. Maybe someday, Grace thinks, Future will stick her paw in there to feel what’s inside.
“Does anyone know how you can read if you can’t see the print?” Mrs. Carnes asks reaching into her carpet bag. “You can see these dots, I can feel them. It is called Braille. This newsletter has many braille cells on it. Here is one cell. Each cell has six dots. While you feel the Braille, I’ll put your name on an alphabet card.”
Grace supposes Future could never get the hang of using that slate and stylus. Grace wonders if the kids know the very large Braille cell Mrs. Carnes shows them is really a pan that can cook six muffins.
“This is called a long, white cane. Many blind people, like Grace, use it to keep themselves safe. You tap it from left to right as you walk. Just like marching! I used this one before I trained with Future. Listen to the sound it makes as you use it to go across the room. A tap on the rug is going to be different from the tap on the bare tile floor.”
Grace smiles as she hears the kids bump into a lot of things trying out the long white cane. She knows Future could guide them better than that!
“This is a family photo,” Mrs. Carnes says, holding up a full color picture of a Mother Golden Retriever and her puppy. Grace suspects that Future really perks up her ears now. She knows Mrs. Carnes is talking about her puppyhood.
“When Future was about ten weeks old, she was given to a family to raise. She learned to sleep in her own bed, eat from her own dish, and how to behave in public. After a year, she went to a guide dog training school.”
Mrs. Carnes gently puts her hand on Future’s silky head as she tells them how smoothly she can guide her through crowds of people, up escalators, and even ride on a school bus.
“I can feel the motion of Future’s body by holding the harness handle. When Future stops, I stop, feel with my foot, and listen. Then, I give her the command, ‘Future, forward.’ I can feel her go ahead and I go with her.”
When Future hears us clapping and saying Thank You, she gets up and shakes. She knows it is time for her to get back to active duty. The class all watch Mrs. Carnes stand and pick up the harness handle in her left hand.
Mrs. Carnes says, “Good-bye. Thank you for having us. You’ve been a wonderful audience.”
As they pass Grace, she can feel a breeze from Future’s wagging tail. It is as if Future is also waving good-bye to the class.