It is Christmas Time!

RUBY, THE FOURTH MUST-A-TEA-ER!

(By: Karla Wagener, written on December 20, 2019)

You have all heard of the three Musketeers, of course!  This story is about the three Must-a-tea-ers!  Needless to say, they were three friends who got together once a week to have a tea or two, some snacks and chat about the week´s events.

Ruby loved this activity because there were always some delicious cookies and she was given more since none of the three friends noticed how much the others were giving to Ruby.  Also, the friends petted Ruby a lot and gave her a lot of attention.

As you know in the tale of the three Musketeers there was a fourth associate and they had many adventures.  So Ruby was considered to be a member also, just to add a little fun to the get-togethers.

For every occasion, birthdays, Friend´s Day, Christmas, or special moments, gifts were exchanged along with special cards and much affection.  Ruby usually got a special bone on these days.

The problem was Harry.  Harry was Ruby´s dog friend.  Harry was very old.  His teeth were beginning to rot and it hurt very much.  He had to take a special medicine and Harry hated that.  He tried to escape and run away when it was time to take the medicine.  There was no food that could cover up the bad taste of the medicine.  Not ham, ground beef, fish or even chicken (which he loved dearly).

So it became necessary for all three friends to corner Harry.  One would grab his back, another his snout and the third put the syringe deep into his mouth and pushed so that the medicine could go deep into his throat.  The first time they did it the medicine ended up all over the floor, counter and wall next to Harry.

Harry had a fit every time the process took place.  He was too old to run about so he stayed in one place and squirmed on the floor, crying and trying to spit out the medicine.  Ruby watched in perplexity.  There was nothing she could do to help her dear friend.  So Ruby also whimpered and tried to comfort him.

One day as this process was going on, suddenly, Horacio came home un-expectantly from work.  He happily opened the door.  ¨Surprise, I came to give you all a special gift for Christmas¨!  Horacio wanted to show his appreciation since they had given him a sculpture he really liked.  But when he saw his dear pet, Harry, wrestling with the three friends, and Ruby whimpering, his attitude changed.  He started to yell and scream and he grabbed Harry.  Harry got more nervous than ever, and Ruby got hysterical!

Suddenly, a rat came running down from a tree that hovered over from the terrace.  Myriam was terrified of rats so she ran out of the door and down the stairs out into the street.  Horacio grabbed Harry and left to take him to the Veterinarian.

At that precise moment two water pipes exploded and the house was flooded with water two inches deep.  The two remaining must-a-tea-ers had no idea what to do.  They did not know where the water shutoff was and Myriam had run off without her telephone, so they couldn´t ask her about it.  Graciela was more practical and screamed; ¨We must save the electrical devices¨!  They began grabbing electrical appliances and other artifacts and put them up high on tables or safe places.  Then they calmed down.

As everybody knows, there are no reliable plumbers in all of the City of Buenos Aires so it was useless to try to call one.  So, what could they do?  They began searching all over Myriam´s apartment for a suspicious switch which might turn off the water.  In the meantime, the rat, herself quite frightened, began running up and down and squealing in a high pitched voice.  The two friends were terrified and looked at each other in panic.

Ruby had already eaten all of Harry´s food and she had eaten cookies and treats so she was not hungry, something quite unusual for her!  But she found the little rat entertaining and began to chase it around the living room.  Furniture and appliances went flying!  All the dishes in the cupboard fell down and some broke.  The noise scared the little rat even more and she tried to escape.  The two friends screamed.  Ruby was perplexed.  What had she done wrong?  She only wanted to play!

Ruby nipped at the tail of the rat and a piece of it came off.  Then the rat disappeared into the branches of the tree from whilst it had come in the first place.

At that moment, Horacio came back and immediately turned off the water.  Myriam also showed up.  ¨Harry will be okay.  ¨The Vet has extracted his bad tooth.  Horacio informed them.

Horacio shrugged his shoulders and picked up the present he had brought.  Myriam was pleased to find three beautiful tea cups, one for each of them, accompanied by an array of fine British teas!  One cup had Ruby´s image on it, the second had Harry´s image and the third had an image of Graciela´s cat, Romi.  And there were three pretty bowls, one for Ruby, one for Harry and one for Romi!

Horacio left to go back to work as the three cleaned up the water mess and sat down once again for a delicious cup of lemon and ginger tea with honey on that terribly hot pre-Christmas afternoon in Buenos Aires!