Mr. Pug & Mr. Other Pug Get Lucky
“Two pints please..” shouted Mr. Other Pug to the bartender.
O’Puggies, Mr. Pug and Mr. Other Pug’s favorite Irish pub, was packed to the rafters. There was a traditional Irish band singing traditional Irish songs and there was a traditional Irish fireplace with a traditional Irish stew. There was no better place to spend St. Paddy’s Day than in O’Puggies. They even wore kelly green collars to add to the festive mood.
Mr. Other Pug made his way back to the table that Mr. Pug had snagged.
“What’s this?” asked Mr. Pug.
“You asked for a pint,” answered Mr. Other Pug.
“Is it a Guinness?” asked Mr. Pug. “You know Mavis only drank Guinness.”
Mr. Pug remembered how Mavis, their previous owner, would pop open a can of Guinness, pour it into a mug, and allow Mr. Pug and Mr. Other Pug to feast on the foam. After Mavis had finished her sixpack and was fast asleep, the puggers would attack the empty cans like they were high priced toys that they couldn’t afford. By the end of the game Mavis would be snoring and both puggers would be a little woozy.
“Yes, it’s a Guinness,” said Mr. Other Pug. “Properly poured too. I watched. That’s why it took so long.”
Mr. Pug smiled and swiped his tongue at the foam atop the creamy brown beer. The two sat and drank their pints, watching the regular bar patrons dance, fight and tell off-color jokes that they didn’t quite understand but laughed at anyways out of politeness.
After a few more rounds, some that they bought for their new friends and some that were bought for them, Mr. Other Pug came to a conclusion.
“I think I’ve had enough,” said Mr. Other Pug.
“I was there a half hour ago,” stammered Mr. Pug. “We’d better leave.”
Mr. Pug and Mr. Other Pug bounced from the pub, crossed the parking lot, and swerved into the empty lot just behind their house. Even though they didn’t have very far to go, Mr. Pug saw his favorite tree and took a biology break, after which he fell down into a patch of grass.
“Are you okay?” asked Mr. Other Pug. “Are you drunk?”
“No, I’m not drunk. Something caught my eye,” said a distracted Mr. Pug as he picked something out of the grass and headed over to the nearest streetlight. Mr. Other Pug followed.
‘What is it,” asked Mr. Other Pug.
“I’m not sure,” said Mr. Pug as he held up a four-leaf clover.
Later, when they got home, Mr. Pug ran to the den and returned with a book in his mouth. Exactly at the page he opened it to was a worn and yellowed picture of Mavis holding both Mr. Pug and Mr. Other Pug. It was the only picture of the three of them together that survived the move. He took out the 4-leafed clover and placed it gingerly in between the pages, right alongside the treasured photo.
“We were lucky to have Mavis,” said Mr. Pug.
“And we’re lucky to have each other,” said Mr. Other Pug.
“A toast?” said Mr. Pug as he handed Mr. Other Pug a crushed beer can.
“I got one,” said Mr. Other Pug. “Here’s to you, here’s to me, the best of friends we’ll always be, but if by chance we disagree…”
Mr. Other Pug paused, ran out the backdoor and over to the tree in the empty lot next door.
“Well?” Mr. Pug called out after Mr. Other Pug.
” …if by chance we disagree…I forgot to take a pee.”
