Weekly Photo Challenge: Companion(able)

Posted by MoreThanACat on Jun 29, 2013 in weekly photo challenge, Whimsy | 8 Comments

Meet Lankey.

From Guest of Honour at my wedding, to kidnap victim – when my car was stolen in Oxford – Lankey has been my boon companion and confident for more years than I care to remember.

A present from my Auntie Ann when I was in the cradle, this small orange toy dog has been everywhere: Paris, New York, Amsterdam; London, Edinburgh, Bristol. You name the place in the UK and he’s probably visited it.

We have only be separated twice – three if you count the day my cleaner tried to throw him away thinking he was one of ‘Dog Dog’s toys. The first time it was one of those moves that only military brats really understand. We were going into married quarters while we waited for Dad to come out of the Navy. Everything went into storage – the removal men took the wrong box of toys.

It was six months of HELL!

The second I have already hinted at; and I was lucky to get him back.

It was in the days when stealing cars and taking them on joy rides around Blackbird Leys was all the rage. Mine was the last car to escape torching. A mechanic from the garage where they took my poor, sorry, beat up  Mini Metro, sent Lankey home in a box with holes in it and: “Dog in Transit… Handle with Care!” emblazoned on the sides and top. The guys at the post office were concerned and made sure I opened the box in front of them. Hilarity ensued.

Being honest, Lankey has never been a robust kind of dog; his middle has always sagged. But he is tenacious. If I’d been in the washing machine the amount of times he has, then I’d be in a pretty rough shape. He (as you can see) is as serene as only a companion can be. Over the years, he has had more stitches than Tom Baker’s scarf –  yet he has always pulled through surgery. Like the Six Million Dollar Man Lankey has returned to duty, “Better than he was before. Better…stronger…faster.”  New ears; new noses; new eyes; and pound upon pound of kappock stuffing.

Go on…Be honest… how many companions can you say that of?

For other takes on the Weekend Photo Challenge: Companionable – click here