What?! Timmy is Trapped in the Well?

The dog is barking furiously. Mary removes her headset and lowers her knitting- “What does that stupid dog want now?” Mary makes eye contact with John’ “It was your idea to get a dog. Don’t blame me. I told you to take it to the Obedience School. But did you listen? No!”

The dog stands in front of John barking as she shifts balance from left to right, backing up a step, coming forward a step with her tail erect and wagging rapidly. Mary has returned her headset to her head as she continue knitting. The “Sound of Music” brings her to her happy place.

John tries to ignore the dog as he disappears behind a newspaper. The dog, with full object permanence see this avoidance play. She jumps forward resting her two front paws on his knees. She then proceeds to yank away the paper flinging it to the floor. She paws at the paper. John understands his job. As her paw points to a letter in a headline John dutifully writes it down and repeats it loudly.

John misreads the signal now and then. When this occurs, Lassie growls quietly and corrects John. For example, John got to “T, I, M, M, Y, I, B …” when the growling began. John said “sorry, I guess you meant an ‘S’ here”. Lassie, ever patient, wagged her tail in affirmation. John never was very good at the “Wheel of Fortune” since he wasn’t one to see the big picture. Mary always got the puzzle quickly.

Finally Lassie collapsed with exhaustion as John read the entire message. He spoke, “Let’s see girl, we have here- ‘Timmy is trapped in the well. Get him out now or I will bite your sorry butt. Hurry up. Stop! We are done writing, Stupid’ “. John was a little annoyed at that last insult but he understood the urgency and excused her rudeness.

John got his cane and ambled off with Lassie who was always five feet ahead barking out her orders to hurry. Of course, by the time they got to the well it was too late. Timmy had bled out in the bottom of the well. John gave Lassie a dog-treat for his effort and he praised the dog effusively to the police that arrived later.

The detective emerged from the well and walked over to Joh, “I have bad news. We are going to have to arrest Lassie”. John stared down at Lassie who had lowered her head and looked away in shame. The detective went on, “It seems that Timmy was conscious for a bit. He scratched out his last words on the wall with his finger nail- “Lassie pushed me’”.

At the trial, Lassie’s defense attorney made a valiant effort to get his client off, noting that Lassie made a great effort to alert the parents. However, the jury unanimously voted guilty, pointing to the fact that Lassie was likely simply creating an alibi knowing full well that John would take at least an hour to finally write down the barked sentences and limp to the well.

In the final scene we see the guard at the dog-pound taking notes as Lassie paws the newspaper headlines on the paper lining her cage. An escape plan is hatched.