MAD SEASON

The morning sun's rays reflected off raindrops that were clinging to Mr. Bleakman's roses.

"The thunderstorm from last night left puddles in our backyard," thought Clifford. "Emily Elizabeth gave me a bath yesterday and if I am not careful, I'll get all muddy. I sure don't want Emily to get upset."

Clifford made his way around the puddles and walked to the steps in front of the house. It was a school day and Clifford didn't want Emily to be late. He sat patiently at the front door while Emily said goodbye to her mother.

Emily opened the door and smiled, "Good morning, Clifford. Ready to go?"

"Woof," said Clifford.

Emily climbed up onto Clifford's back and away they went, toward the schoolhouse. Clifford listened to Emily's light chatter as she commented on the singing birds, the smell of freshly cut grass, and how much she was looking forward to this afternoon's soccer practice.

Clifford left the school yard after Emily ran inside with her best friend, Charlie. It was going to be a "beach day" for Clifford. His friends Cleo and T-Bone would be going to the beach this morning, too. The high winds from the storm would have washed up all kinds of great treasures from the sea. Clifford walked through town and started searching for his friends.

T-Bone and Cleo were walking along the shore line near the old light house when Cleo spotted something on the beach.

"Look, T," cried Cleo excitedly. "Come on, lets see what it is."

T-Bone followed Cleo up to the dark, motionless shape. T-Bone sighed sadly, "Oh, the poor raccoon."

Cleo walked a little closer to get a better look. "I can't tell if its still breathing," she said with a sad voice.

"Hey, guys. Whatcha doin'?" came a booming voice from behind them.

Cleo and T-Bone turned to see their good friend, Clifford, coming up the beach to join them.

T-Bone was the first to speak, "Hey, Clifford. The storm last night was really bad. We just found this raccoon, but Cleo doesn't know if its still alive or not."

Clifford leaned down and sniffed the raccoon. "Oh, the poor little guy," he said. He nudged the cold animal with his nose. At first nothing happened. Clifford began to prod the raccoon a little more and the raccoon sprang to life. It landed on all four feet and its fur stood on end.

A loud hiss came from its mouth as it sank its razor sharp teeth into the tender flesh of Clifford's black nose.

"E-Ouch!" Clifford howled and began to shake the raccoon loose. The raccoon had all four claws attached to the sides of Clifford's nose and continued to bite repeatedly.

"Oh my gosh, Clifford!" Cleo yelled and T-Bone began to whimper and wet himself.

Clifford was hopping around in circles and violently shaking his head.

Finally, the raccoon lost its grip and was tossed into the sea. A wave carried it away and the raccoon was never seen again.

"Oh, my nose! I need to go see Dr. Dinn right away," Clifford whined.

The three dogs raced to the Veterinary Hospital.



Dr. Dinn had just finished with her patient when she heard dogs barking outside the clinic. She opened the front door and saw Clifford, Cleo, and T- Bone dancing impatiently in circles.

She smiled and asked, "Hello, what are the three of you up to?"

Clifford dropped to his stomach and put his chin on his front paws. His nose was oozing blood and pooling at Dr. Dinn's feet.

"Oh my goodness, Clifford. What happened to you?" Dr. Dinn ran for some clean, white linen and antiseptic solutions. When she returned, she began cleaning Clifford's nose and examining the wounds.

"It looks as if a large cat did not like your nose, Clifford." Dr. Dinn decided that there wasn't a need for stitches, but asked Clifford to stay put. "Clifford, you need to go home and lay down for the rest of the day. I am going to call Mrs. Howard and let her know what happened. She will need to keep an eye on you and make sure your nose does not get infected."

Cleo and T-Bone looked Clifford over and tried to reassure their friend.

"Does it hurt very much, Clifford?" T-Bone asked.

"Yeah, T. It is pounding like a drum. I don't understand why that raccoon bit me. I wasn't going to hurt it. Certainly not like it hurt me."

Cleo shook her head and sat in front of him. "I am really sorry, Clifford. I guess we should have left it alone. Maybe it wasn't from Birdwell Island. It must have come in on one of the waves. None of the animals on this island are mean like that."

Clifford sighed, "Yeah, I learned my lesson. Never approach a strange animal. Will you guys walk me home?"

Cleo and T-Bone said, "Of course, " at the same time. "We can even stay with you and keep you company," said T-Bone.

Later that day after Cleo and T-Bone went home, Clifford stayed in his dog house. The medicine that Dr. Dinn had given him made him very sleepy. He napped all afternoon until Emily Elizabeth got home.

"Hi Clifford. Mom told me you got into a scrape with a wild animal. How are you feeling, boy?"

Clifford gave a soft, short bark.. He looked at Emily with sad eyes. "You will feel better tomorrow, I promise."

Clifford licked Emily's face and watched as Emily sat beside him and opened a book. Emily did her Math and Science homework while she stayed with Clifford. Once she had finished, she opened Clifford's favorite book of Speckle stories. She read him two stories and then it was time for her to go inside to eat dinner. Emily spent a little extra time with Clifford before she had to go to bed that night.

Clifford woke up around 2 a.m. that next morning and stared up at the moon. He had never faced such an attack like that before. He began to wonder what could cause such evil in a living creature. Clifford had only know kindness and love his whole life and he was trying to sort through his mixed feelings. After a while he drifted off to sleep once more.

Clifford was sick for the next few days. He had a fever and Dr. Dinn was called upon to make house visits to treat Clifford. Cleo and T-Bone were not allowed to play with Clifford, but they did come by once a day to let Clifford know that they were thinking about him.

Clifford began to feel like his old self on the fourth day of the accident. He was able to take Emily to school that day and walked to Cleo's house to invite her to play, on his old tractor tire with him.

The morning was warm and Clifford played heavily with his two best friends. He swung them high in the air with the make shift tire swing. After two hours, Clifford began to tire and a slight headache caused him to decide to lie down and rest.