A Wall of Books vs. Pepsi
March Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Pet People”
I can still see over it.
The 5-second rule for food dropped on the floor does not apply if you have a 2 -second dog. Pepsi was both a 2-second dog and the Queen of Slobber.
From nowhere, she’d pounce on food dropped on the floor. If Pepsi was sound asleep in the backyard and I opened a bag of lollies, she would magically appear at my side. And she’d groke*.
Pepsi didn’t merely groke. She would groke with slobber. There’s nothing worse than intense eyes watching you eat as slobber dribbles over your foot.
But even a wall of books couldn’t stop Pepsi from groking at my food…
*Groke is an old Scots word describing how a dog intently stares at you while you are eating. Later adaptions of groke saw the word expand to include gazing at someone while they ate while secretly hoping they will offer to share their food. Also spelt groak, and grok — depending upon your source.
I first discovered groke when researching old and lost words for a (still-unpublished) middle-grade novel. Some words I unearthed made it into my everyday vocabulary — and groke is right there at the top of the list!
