The first day that I took Laika back to my apartment in early 2007, she was having so much fun playing with my friends and I. We were all sitting in the dining room, petting her and watching her run around with toys; all the while with a huge smile on her face. Suddenly, she disappeared from the room for a few minutes to go explore the apartment alone...or so I thought. About 10 minutes later, I went to get something from the living room and noticed that she had pooped directly in front of the TV. Oh well, accidents happen. Then, I went into the half-room, which had my roommate's gaming systems, and saw that Laika had pooped directly in front of the TV there as well! This seemed planned, but I couldn't be sure, until...Several weeks later, Laika managed to break out of her crate (because she was too smart) and, after eating several apples off the kitchen counter, left her mark(s) again; this time, directly on the power strip of the living room TV and, again, in front of the TV in the gaming room. This was no coincidence, this was the beginnings of Laika's on-going, four-legged war with technology.
Laika's next battle was fought with the other end: her teeth! I am not much of clean-freak, but vacuuming became necessary after adopting Laika. As soon as she would hear the noise, she would transform from tail-wagging, happy lady to full-on snarling beast. She would then lay in wait to attack the vacuum and bite at the rubber bumper parts; at times, even hitting the power-button, to which she would give an extremely proud look; thus proclaiming her victory. As soon as it would start again, it was back to the front lines for her. I would reprimand her and tell her "no," but it was to no avail. It was too funny. I think Laika finally listened when my mom scolded her once, but it was short-lived. After about 8 years, Laika gave up her active fight and soldiered-on through her own "cold war" (as noted by her icy, watchful gaze) against the vacuum.
Laika also exhibited some other on-going Luddite tendencies. I should have mentioned this many stories ago, but it is kind of surprising that I have as many clear photos of Laika as I do. She had some sort of 6th sense when it came to people trying to take photos of her. She would constantly move or turn away just at the click of the shutter. It was kind of uncanny. Additionally, she, one time, hid my mp3 player in deep her the blankets of her bed. I seriously thought that she swallowed it, but, luckily, that was not the case. When it was discovered, I was relieved, despite the several bite marks that the cover had sustained.
This last story kind of takes the cake, though. Laika was staying at Missy's house for a few nights while I was away in Ohio (I think), probably 4 years ago. The first night and day, everything was fine. (I chalk this up to Laika secretly planning her attack, though!) The next night, Missy went out for a few hours only to return home to a war zone; finding the aftermath of Laika's anti-technology campaign that, this time, was waged with both ends! According to Missy's account, Laika broke into Ramona's food and ate a few pounds of it. Following this initial act of gluttony, she then proceeded to have diarrhea all over a pile of various computer cables that was in the corner of the room (this has since been dubbed "diarrhea spaghetti"). From there, Laika unzipped Missy's laptop case, removed the laptop and hid it under the couch. Of course, this timeline is purely speculative, but one can assume that the food was eaten first.
Missy was furious (and rightly so). She said that Laika was more or less unrepentant, but the real concern at first was that the laptop was missing. After a few minutes of searching, Missy found it under the couch in a relatively safe state, save a few teeth marks in the case! Laika, was, of course, fine from her gluttonous, destructive rampage and was probably pretty proud of the damaged she had inflicted against technology that day. In the future, Laika was not allowed in Missy's house unsupervised. This was ok, as we lived only a few blocks apart and when Missy was nice...I mean, brave...enough to watch her again, Laika would stay at our house during the workday and while Missy was out.
What started as a few poops in front of TVs, obviously became a life-long war for Laika. She did her best, with her given weapons, to do battle against technology. As Missy and I often joked, Laika was actually not from this planet. She was sent here to learn about the ways of Earth and then return to the mothership with a full report. Perhaps these acts were ways for her to communicate with the rest of the space-dogs...or, perhaps, she really just didn't like electronics and clean houses! Join me tomorrow as we, again, journey into The Twilight Zone...
No comments:
Post a Comment