The Miracle of Nippit the Dog

Nippit the dog lay down with a sigh

As he gazed at the world through his one working eye

Annoyed by the other which often was blurred

 Whenever he watched the movement of birds.

And it all made poor Nippit incredibly shy.

When he left his home to go out walking

He always overheard other dogs talking

‘My oh my, how does he get by

When he looks so drab with only one eye?’

Poodles and corgis to each other would sigh.

And for Nippit it continued day after day

 As he watched the moon and the sun pass away.

He often went out on his own in the park

But all the other dogs turned and ignored him

Every time he tried to be friendly and bark.

 Then one evening in the middle of May

As many young children had gathered to play

 He suddenly noticed in his one working eye

 People were forming a very large crowd

Shouting and screaming and calling out loud.

 Waving and pointing past ducks and a drake

To a very small girl all alone in a lake

Who had fallen over the side of a boat

 As water crept into her mouth and her throat

 She panicked and splashed but was unable to float

But as no one moved or went into help

 Nippit set off with a growl and a yelp

Dashed in the water and took hold of her hand

Then paddled furiously back to dry land

 Until they reached a stretch of soft sand.

Blankets and hot tea for the girl from the lake

But as Nippit stood by so soaked to the skin

Everyone stared at his one blinking eye.

‘Yuk,’ they said as he tried to get dry.

No one went near him as the little girl cried.

So, with a trail of droplets behind

 Nippit walked off and sat in a hollow

Where a close-knit happy family of swallows

Swooped and dived as they looked for grubs

While he found shade in between shrubs.

Head on his paws and a sense of dismay

When nobody thanked him or shouted hurray.

Daylight faded and the evening arrived

Nippit was sleepy as he started to dry

But just as he was closing his only good eye

He caught a glimpse of a wandering light

Puzzled he stared as the light grew dimmer

Until he could see the long cloak on a figure

Who seemed to be floating over the ground.

Nippit sat still and did not make a sound.

The cloak looked like it was covered in stars

With drawings of planets like Neptune and Mars

Nippit trembled when the cloak lifted his paws.

The ground became smaller the higher he rose

And the touch of the clouds tickled his nose.

‘I know Nippit you haven’t been blessed

And only one eye may feel like a curse

But I am amazed and really impressed

By the way you saved that girl in distress

Not for a moment did you think of yourself.

‘Now,’ said the figure ‘what do you deserve?

Come with me Nippit for I have a surprise

 And for you it will be a most precious prize.’

Nippit was dazed as if lost in a trance

Happily, followed without even a glance

At the swallows silently spinning their dance.

Up he went without leaving a trail.

While the end of a rainbow under his tail

Surrounded Nippit in a colourful veil.

And formed the shape of stairs in the air.

And Nippit without any worry or fear

Climbed up until he just disappeared.

At the top of his path his eye opened wide

He stared in amazement for under the sky

And as far as his eye allowed him to see

Animals he knew and some never seen

Were standing and waiting in line to be cleaned

He saw a wild woolly cat without any claws

And two crocodiles with peculiar jaws,

Opening and closing like old broken doors.

He saw an irate elephant with one huge tusk

 Which from top to tail was covered in rust,

Being slowly scraped and turned into dust.

He gazed at a bull with no ears or a tail

Which had stopped to tell him a terrible tale

About how he was trapped and came to be wrapped

In thick barbed wire that was covered in nails.

Nippit saw monkeys with rings on their tails

And a serious deer with its antlers in splinters

Looking like his head had sprouted fish fingers

Never before had he seen such a scene

Nippit believed it must be a dream

For none of the animals seemed to be real.

The figure then whispered ‘Nippit lie down

 Stay  very still, and try hard not to growl

It is time for your story to turn and become

The prize I said you deserved to have won.

How much better it is with two eyes, not one.’

Nippit fell sleep and soon started to snore

And dreamed he was chasing a bone on a floor.

It was so very easy as he looked this way and that

Without a care in the world, he stopped, and he sat

Admired by his neighbours including the cat.

Then he woke up in his kennel at home,

With a bowl of large meaty leftover bones.

And there in front to his enormous surprise

 Were so many dogs who had arrived at sunrise.

Thrilled to see Nippit’s two perfect eyes.

And  he was amazed to find it was true

Instead of one eye he really had two.

At last, he could say he was good as new,

And would never forget the sights he had seen

Whether or not they formed part of a dream.

Now he could walk out in a confident way

His eyes shining brightly on this new summer’s day.