Utec of Aztalan
The diary of a dog - part II
The Fourth Day
When I was a pup I only thought about myself. My momma was there to feed me. My brothers and sisters were there to play with me. And the sun was there to keep me warm. But now I think about the boy. Whenever he's not around I think, where's the boy? Now the boy has wandered off somewhere, so to find him I climb up into one of the guard towers that circle the city. It is warm and sunny up in the tower, so I decide to take a nap. I sleep and dream of chasing frogs, and when I wake the sun is setting in back of Aztalan. The moon is up. The night is gentle and warm. And then the smell comes drifting in on the settling breeze. The stranger smell is back.
I take a jump and a hop on the ladder and drop to the ground running, running to find the boy. I find him by the garden patch digging in the dirt by moonlight. I jump up on him and lick his face. He scratches my head and hugs me. The boy is safe. The strangers haven't bothered the boy.
I follow the boy all around until he goes into his house and crawls into bed. I sleep badly. I turn over and spin around and around. And when I do sleep, dreams about the strangers keep me uneasy. I twitch and whimper and my left hind leg keeps jerking around. The dreams have the strangers in them, and the boy running. The night is not good for Utec.
The Fifth Day
When I wake up the boy is gone. I panic. I run through the city barking and yelping. People shush me and say, "Utec be quiet." I run around the stockade. No boy there. I run to the garden. No boy there. I run to the woods. No boy there. I run to the river. A group of townspeople have collected near the shore, and the boy is right near the front of the group. Between the townspeople and the riverbank stands the whole group of strangers with their pointy teeth and all. One is in front of the rest speaking, and I run up and grab hold of his leg with my teeth.
The head stranger hollers and leaps about on the riverbank. I swing wildly, dangling from his leg by my teeth. Everybody is yelling. The boy comes up and grabs me and pulls me off the stranger. I snap and bark, and I can't stop, and there is yelling. The boy carries me away.
Later
For the rest of the day I hide in a hole under the boy's house. Nobody has a smile for Utec. The boy tries to coax me out from under the house. I poke my nose out into the daylight, and the boy gives it a little scratch. That good boy.
When the sun goes down I sneak out from under the house and head out to look for something to eat. The boy's mother has left some dried venison in a wooden bowl for me. That good boy's mother. I gulp it down and lick my jaws.
Down in the center of town there is a lot of commotion. A fire burns in the middle of a circle of people, and the strangers are there in the circle. The stranger I had chewed on previously speaks and gestures to the city leaders. I stay in the shadows. In the firelight the stranger's pointy teeth glint a reddish-brown and make him look more like an animal than a person. A pile of silver metal embedded with blue stones lays on the ground. There's lots of talking, lots of babbling. The strangers unusual and indirect tone of voice makes my lip curl. They talk and babble and talk until I can't stand it anymore, and I fall asleep right where I lay.
The Next Day
They're leaving, they're leaving, they're leaving. The strangers are loading their canoes. Some town men are standing on the shore helping them leave. Yippee.Yippee. I trot right down to the riverbank and spin around three times in joy. OOPS, that leader whose leg I bit is looking at me. He glares. Ha! I don't care. I kick some grass up with my hind legs just to show what I think of him. They're leaving. Now life will get back to normal. Nobody waves goodbye. Like before they paddle away in silence. Just as suddenly as they interrupted my life, the strangers glide right back out of it.
Later
The boy skips by. It looks like he's going somewhere. I trot along as he hikes up to the swampy place. I love the swampy place. The boy fishes. I hunt frogs and chase muskrats, and the day slips by lazily until I completely forget about the strangers. I am happy. I roll and roll and roll in a carp carcass, a divine stink any dog would be proud of. It's exhilarating. Unfortunately the boy's mother doesn't think as I. When we get home she wont let me in the house to sleep in my cozy corner. "Utec you stink," she yells. "Get out, go, go" take a bath. Come back when you smell better." The boy just looks at me and shrugs. I don't understand. It's just a little river stink, no different than if I had rolled in any other dead animal stink.
I wander around the city looking for a place to sleep. I try to be friendly with the people I meet, give them a puppydog smile and a little rub on the leg, but I get the same response as with the boy's mother. I finally end up sleeping in one of the stockade guard towers--alone. The weather is fair, so sleeping is pleasant. But I miss the boy.
The moon is high and full when I wake. I might have heard a sound. I'm not sure. But what really jerks me out of my sleep is a smell--smoke. The smoke smell is faint. I peek out of the tower. At the base of the stockade wall comes a flicker and a crackle, and maybe something rustling through the weeds. And then down the other way is more fire, growing higher. I bark. The fire grows. I bark. I'm afraid. I can't stop barking. I start thinking about the boy. Lots of fire is all around now, scalding my nostrils with searing smoke. I keep on barking, howling now as I jump down from the tower and run to find the boy In the firelight, the strangers pointy teeth glinted a reddish brown color.. People come out of there houses to scold me but then turn, and I see the flames lighting up their horrified faces. Yelling and running feet surround me. The feet run to the stockade wall. I run the other way, to the boy. I find him still sleeping in his bed. I jump up and lick his face and paw at his body. The boy's mother is running out the door. The boy follows. All through the night people yell and run and dig dirt and haul water and throw it on the fire. The boy helps. All night I watch the boy.
Finally
In the morning the fire is gone and smoky black logs have taken its place. Men in groups are patrolling Aztalan. The city feels safe with the men on patrol. They'll make sure there's no more fire. The boy and I walk around the stockade fence. I sniff and scratch at the places where the fire was. I'm glad the boy is safe. I try to lead him away from the charred places and down to the river where we play. He is following. As I meander through the bushes toward the river I catch a smell. I get a little twitchy and stop. The boy passes me and stops. "Hey Utec, look at this," he says. He bends down and picks up a shiny silver thing, a shiny silver thing with a blue stone. He straps it to his wrist and laughs and skips on down toward the river. He makes goofy babbling talk as he goes along. A shiver makes the hair stand up on my neck. Never trust a stranger bearing gifts, I say, especially if they have filed pointy teeth. I run after the boy. He's a good boy, but he sure needs Utec to look out for him.
Learn about the real ancient city of Aztalan
