The Underground Fantastic - for Pang Pang

Hi All,

It was last Father’s Day when I picked up Pang Pang! We are having a big party for her tomorrow – will send you all some photos. One of the staff members is actually baking her a healthy cake with a recipe we found on-line. Regardless, our girl is still on a diet so she won’t get much.

One of our residents wrote the attached poem. He is a senior who loves rap and when he recites this, he does so in a rap style. It is just wonderful. I keep telling you all how much everyone loves Pang Pang. They even write about her!

Look for some fun photos soon!
Sharron



The Underground Fantastic

It all began that wonderful Friday morning around ten. As I walked into the Country Village Leasing Office, that’s when I first met my enchanting new friend. She was golden as sun beams streaming from the sky. Almost human-like with intelligent eyes; freshly groomed with a scent of honey suckle rose, sitting in a nearby corner, with an eye catching pose. I approached her with a slight apprehension. She raised her paw, as I extended my hand; we slapped five and then ten. I said, “Hey, Golden Lady, what’s your name?” She barked, wagged her tail and softly whispered, “Pang Pang”. A multi million dollars ran through my mind, gee whiz, this dog is one of a kind. Now we all remember Old Yeller, Rin Tin Tin, Deputy Dog and Big Ben. They’ve come and gone, done their thing, but none can compare to Pang Pang. She began to tell me about her history; joyful moments and times of misty colored memories. Her eyes began to shine like a cat in the dark that hypnotizes me with an affixation of her words. I stood frozen, like a man on ice, as she welcomed me into her world. A far off place, a distant shore, this was surly no fairy tale.

“I like to eat,” she said to me, “I have a voracious appetite. I’ll eat yours, I’ll eat mine, I could eat all night. After I eat I like to take a little nap. My owners got rid of me, when I ate the food for the cat. That was it, they had enough. They put me in the street, they said, “You’re big enough to stand on your feet.” My nights were lonely, my days were blue, my sun didn’t shine the way it use to do and so when I lay me down at night, my blanket was the sky and slowly I began to lose the twinkle in my eyes. For forty days and forty nights I was so all alone. I had no warmth or comfort, no home to call my own. I walked all day and slept all night; searching garbage cans for just a little bite. I soon would discover I was not alone; there were hundreds just like me, searching for a home. There was Poppy, Marengo, Jetty, Jet, Lucy, Lila and a cat named Tibet! We banded together like a group of thieves, hitting every garbage can, we could smell or see. Some of the town’s people became weary of our tactics, while supporters began to call us the Underground Fantastic. The will to live is what they saw in us and we were in no hurry to return to the dust. We were young and we were cool. We had no degrees from the Ivy League schools; Cambridge, Harvard or Canton. Finding a job was out of the question, we did what we must, one hundred strong and tough.” A slight tear began to fall from her check. She choked up for a moment but continued to speak. “Then came the day of the Big Truck Round Up. They called on the terminator to bust and move. When the job was finished he had holes in his shoes. They sent us to a place they called “rest” but I called it “R.I.P.” It was good for them but not for us or me!

My beautiful friends and the family within were destroyed over and over again. The clock was ticking, my heart was racing. Would I ever escape this place? I dreamed I’d be rescued by someone really nice, someone who loved me, someone to treat me right. As morning arrived a strange shadow fell on the wall. The clock had run out it was time to fall. They took me to the gallows and I took my last gulp, as my heart began to sink. This time Super Man would not arrive. I stared into the abyss; it was my time to die. Tears filled my eyes and my body did shake. I prayed to the Lord for my soul to take. I thought about my mother, my father, my sister and brothers. I was ready to meet them and all the others, Poppy, Marengo, Jetty, Jet, Lucy, Lila and a cat named Tibet. Suddenly I heard a shout from the gallows below and someone said, “Let Pang Pang go!” I didn’t know her name and I had never seen her face, but she said to me, “I’m getting you out of this place.” The door flew open and I took a deep breath. The next thing I knew I was on a jet; U.S.A, red, white and blue - Country Village for me, Country Village for you!”

Pang Pang, thank you for your story. You bring cool where there’s hot and warmth where there is not.

Your friend,
Sylvester/AKA Sly