Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Mrs Won

*

“Please…take me to a dog restaurant,” said Fred. 

One of the other housewives within earshot heard Fred’s request. She chuckled and repeated it to the others.

Within seconds the entire line of housewives broke out laughing.

The tension lifted but Fortune Teller’s last words – and that evil laugh – reverberated in Fred’s mind.

Even though Mrs Won had done her utmost to downplay it, Fortune Teller’s message left Fred with an unsettled feeling: He was convinced he had to eat dog.

It was his only chance.

He didn’t want to whole thing to simply be laughed off by the housewives.

“Please! I must eat dog soup!”

The housewives sensed Fred’s seriousness and one of them exclaimed, “Mrs Won, there is a dog restaurant down at the bottom of this trail.”

“Why don’t we take Mr Fred there? Dog is quite expensive so we will pay.”

*

The dog had the saddest eyes Fred had ever seen.

When he and the housewives arrived at the restaurant and got seated on floor cushions in a booth, he excused himself to wash his hands.

The restaurant ajumma pointed him down to a back door.

The washroom was outside in a small, walled-in concrete courtyard and that’s where Fred came across the lanky canine.

Tied to a post with a length of thick twine, the dog reminded him of the cartoon canine Marmaduke.

But as he passed by the pooch and their eyes met, he’d never seen such a look of finality and doom.

* Will Fred be able to go through with eating it? *

Guess I wouldn’t be jumping for joy if I was going to end up on someone’s plate later today.

At the little washroom he ran ice cold water down on the web between his thumb and forefinger.

He felt a pang of sympathy for the petrified pooch but also realized that every living thing has a fate.

On his way back into the restaurant he made eye contact with the morose mutt.

“Sorry my friend,” he said extending a friendly hand, “I have no choice.”

The dog ducked its head to avoid the touch and shyly retreated.

* 

The dog meat was barbecued at their table and resembled thin slices of roast beef but more savory, having been marinated in a very spicy hot sauce.

Fred learned from the housewives that before the dog is ‘harvested,’ it’s beaten with a heavy club to release enzymes which make the meat tastier.

Fred nodded as he was told this by a housewife, accepting the information objectively and not with the inner horror of some sentimental animal lover.

Dining at the dog restaurant was one of those magical experiences that he’d never do himself; but having lucked into the chance due to the wives’ generosity, it was simply a case of breaking out of his shell and going along for the ride.

* 

In Mrs Won’s car on the way back to work, Fred had a free and easy feeling from the hike, the consultation with Fortune Teller, and the cheerful lunch.

Traffic was unusually heavy as Won neared Central and weaved around back down the narrow alley.

She stopped by the concrete parking pad where Go used to park, dropped Fred off and bombed out of the alley.

Back to reality, mused Fred.

Up at reception, yet another new receptionist told Fred that someone was waiting for him in the manager’s office upstairs.

She didn’t know who he was.

* Who could it be? *

Half-seriously, Fred asked her how her keyboon was toward the visitor. The youthful lady put her hand up to her mouth to hide her teeth and giggled.

“Oily.”

*

Tomorrow: Begin to learn what Dame really thinks of Rose.