Book Detail for Life on The Road
Life On The Road by Peter Frederick.
Category: Humour
Paperback: 189 pages
Language: English
ISBN: 0646470973
EXTRACT FROM THE BOOK
A MAN AND HIS GREAT DANE DANCING
Having completed my turn into Hills Avenue and gazing automatically ahead towards the veterinary surgery, which was about half way to my destination, I saw something that made me sit bolt-upright. Outside the entrance of the vet’s were two men dancing!
'What?' My tranquil eyes snapped wide open and I looked again. Although still far away, I could definitely make out two men dancing. They were about the same size and holding each other in an embrace while dancing to the tempo of an imaginary English Waltz.
'What is happening to me?' I looked again, this time squinting, yet there they were, still dancing! All the time I was getting closer and seeing them more clearly. On and on they danced, on the spot, in front of the entrance. But having nearly reached the two, I suddenly noticed that they were not two men, but one man and his Great Dane! They were holding each other the same way: upright, hands and paws at each other’s shoulder blades, staring into each other’s eyes with utter concentration, but neither saying a word. The man was rather elegantly dressed in an expensive suit and his face was almost as red as a stop sign from embarrassment and effort.
Wondering what the problem was with the two and slowing down almost to a halt, I suddenly perceived the true situation. The man was trying to get the Great Dane into the veterinary surgery but the dog didn’t want to go. Obviously the man had tried brutal force by positioning his dog in the doorway and trying to push him through. The dog had, in return, reared up on his hind legs and got a hold of his master exactly the way he, himself, was being held. Every time the man tried to push the dog through the glass door into the waiting room, the big dog took evasive action. Obviously, he was smarter than his owner because every time the man tried to push him hard against the door, he did not push back - oh no! Instead, he quickly side-stepped so that the man found himself in the doorway, with the dog on the footpath side!
So he had to resume his original position again, with the dog in front of the door and him on the road-side. Another push against his dog was parried again with a side-step (actually a 'Quick-Step', as they teach in dancing schools) and, once more, he found himself in the doorway instead of his dog! A step forward, side-step, reverse position and, again, round and round they went. If it had been a dancing competition and somebody had played the tune of the 'Tennessee Waltz' they would have won a prize for sure! They just kept looking at each other very seriously whilst pirouetting on the spot.
I had to drive on and was long past the two when I glanced into the rear vision mirror and saw that they were still dancing. And they really did look like two men dancing! Except one of the two had his trouser bottom rather low, with spindly, unattractive, legs sticking out!
Backcover of Life on The Road
