Non-fiction - Alpha Dog of Cholla Bay

The
Alpha Dog of Cholla Bay

Based
on a true story

Illustrated
by John Babbitt

Written
by Stephen Babbitt

Chapter 1

The wind howled
relentlessly, covering almost every flat surface with sand. Lawn
chairs were blown over, and then covered with sand, only to have the
sand slide off the smooth plastic surface and then be replaced by
more. Several dogs out in the streets sought shelter, behind garbage
cans, under cars, and for those who were owned, in houses. But the
Mexican windstorm was powerful enough to knock over most garbage
cans, and it could go under cars, as well.

Other dogs realized
they could not escape and lay down, squinting their eyes against the
sand and grit being blown about in the air. One of these was a yellow
female. She had a muzzle of medium length, and a small head, with
soft ears that stood up, and did not droop. Her size was about
average, and she had a stout build, with lean legs. She had a tail
that was not bushy, but not smooth-furred either, being somewhere in
between. Like most of the common dogs in Mexico, she was a mutt, not
looking at all like any certain breed in particular. Her golden fur
was short and shiny.

But what set her
apart from other dogs living in Pelican Point was the fact that she
was an Alpha Dog. She practically ruled Pelican Point and the
rest of Cholla Bay. Her fighting skills were famous among the humans
living in Pelican Point, and every dog that had seen her. Just to
exercise her dominance, she would attack most dogs when they came
into her view. Her famous fighting skills were such that even though
she fought almost every dog she could, she had not one noticeable
scar on her body.

As the Alpha Dog of
Cholla Bay lay on the side of the road, squinting her small round
black eyes against the sandy gritty Mexican windstorm, sand pelted
her fur, embedding itself deep into it, and making it gritty and
itchy. She whined and grunted, and then lifted her head slightly and
gave a short howl, which was muffled by the wind. She cast a glance
around her, and saw another dog lying a few yards away from her. She
did not even growl, much less attack the dog, though she yearned for
a fight. It was too windy. After the wind stopped she would start
one, but now fighting would only make her more miserable.

She was tired. Her
back paw scratched her fur, making patches of gold among a sea of
dull gritty sand. When she was satisfied, she put her leg back down
and closed her eyes. As she drifted off to sleep, the wind blew more
sand into her fur, but she didn’t notice. She was asleep!

The golden Alpha Dog
awoke to barking. She opened her eyes and looked around. A truck was
driving down the road. She looked around a little more and saw three
dogs chasing the car, barking at it as it drove along. In the back of
the truck were two big Doberman pinschers. One was staring
challengingly at her. She growled and stared back. Normally she would
have left chasing the vehicle to the others if she had just woken up,
and then exercise her dominance on them when they came back, panting
and weary. But this new dog was possibly a threat to her. If he had
the courage to stare at her so arrogantly, he must be a good fighter.

She dashed after the
truck, slamming her shoulder into the side of one of the other
chaser’s ribs, knocking him over. Forgetting herself for a
moment, she jumped on him, latching her jaws onto his ear and tugging
gleefully. Then, she heard the barking and raised her head, her mouth
still on her victim’s ear. Her ear twitched, and she remembered
the newcomer, and then dashed after the truck, after releasing the
fallen dog’s ear.

She and the other
two dogs chased the truck for miles. Finally, it pulled in at a house
on the beach. The Alpha Dog crouched slightly and bared her teeth at
the possibly threatening Doberman. The other newcomer was smaller and
younger, almost a puppy, and wanted nothing to do with this menacing
mutt. He jumped out of the truck and dashed off. The other two dogs
besides the Alpha Dog and her possible rival looked uncertain, but
eventually they turned and growled half-heartedly at the Doberman
pinscher. He ignore them and growled at the golden Alpha Dog.

She was sure now:
this Doberman pinscher was a rival Alpha Dog! Her front paws
scratched the ground in front of her for a moment. Then she leaped!
She leaped into the back of the pickup and into the front of the new
rival. She sunk her teeth into his front leg, right above the paw.
This was one of her favorite fighting techniques against big dogs.
When her powerful canine teeth bit into a dog’s front leg in
just the right place, it paralyzed their leg momentarily and made
them yip and jump back in shock for a moment.

That moment was all
she needed. A golden thunderbolt of fangs and muscle hit the Doberman
pinscher as he went into his moment of pain and shock with a
temporarily paralyzed front leg. As she leapt at him, she went for
his throat. He tried to back off so quickly that he tripped over one
of his back legs and fell out of the pickup. Her teeth clipped some
loose skin as he fell, but that was all. The Doberman pinscher dashed
off running on three legs the instant he got up. She jumped on his
back as he ran, prepared to make taco meat out of him.

Suddenly, a rock bo