Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller
Keeping my vow to always include dogs in my books, “Bo” is the dog of choice in A Good Place.
Bo is the hog dog and companion of Mayo Moore, the narrator of A Good Place.
Today I’ll be adding snippets of Bo’s friendship and adventures with Mayo. Hopefully, readers will enjoy them without me giving the story away.
A Good Place begins with a surprise 1862 hurricane. Young Mayo Moore and his family are working on a clear August morning when their dog, Bo, gives the first indication of trouble coming:
Shrugging his shoulders, Daddy sniffed the air and added, “Air even smells funny. Gives me the doggone willies.”
As we’d returned to the house for breakfast, I’d noticed Bo under the steps and called him out. He wouldn’t budge, even
when I whistled and hollered, “Hunt ‘em up, Bo.”
Another omen missed.
By midday, the morning’s clear weather was long gone—replaced by dark clouds rolling northward on a gusty wind.
Author’s Notes: Writing this passage, I remembered stories of animals and their strong sense of bad weather approaching. When I visited Indonesia after the tsunami (2005) various villagers told of water buffaloes breaking out of strong pens before the tsunami wave stormed ashore. Shaking their heads, the villagers would sadly say, “We should have known this was an omen. If only we’d noticed.” That’s where Mayo’s thought of “another omen missed” comes from.
