Part II

“Dog!” Fish cried. “What are you doing here? You cannot swim! You could have drowned!”

“Man brought me here,” explained Dog in-between gasping gulps of air. “He wanted to be rid of me. He lifted me in his arms and carried me across the jetty. I barked, I bit, I howled, I hit, but nothing I did kept him from throwing me into the water. If you had not saved me, I would have drowned. I owe you my life. Thank you, Fish."

“Dog,” asked Fish, stunned by her revelation. “Why did Man throw you into the water?”  

The question evoked a heartbroken whimper from Dog, her head drooping in shame. “Because I am not as clean as Cat is, or as quiet as Cat is, or as smart as Cat is! I am too messy, too loud, and too dumb! I depend on Man to live, and he has grown tired of this. But it is not my fault! How can I be like Cat, when I am not Cat?”  

Fish mulled on this for a moment, contemplating the possibilities. Perhaps this chance meeting was a blessing in disguise— Fish, like all others, was aware that Dog was the only animal who had ever struck fear into the heart of Cat. He had heard the tales of how Cat and Dog had both sought the love of Man, and had declared themselves eternal enemies. Although Cat had her cunning and wit, her quest for Man’s favor was almost always defeated by the sheer force of Dog’s brute strength. After all, an animal as dainty and delicate as Cat had no hope of besting Dog in an actual fight.