Level Two. Little Herbert will see it through.
Level Two – Little Herbert will see it through.
By Michelle Lloyd.
“Don’t leave things half finished. See it through.” This was a favourite saying of Little Herbert’s Dad and he was known to have said it often. As sayings went, it was not a bad one and Little Herbert could understand why it was said. Knowing why and actually putting it into practice were two different things. Little Herbert had a bit of difficulty with the latter.
It was a habit of Little Herbert to start things off, love it for a little while and then see something else that interested him more…so off he would go and leave things unfinished.
Little Herbert’s Dad had tried and tried to get him to finish things off but lately it was clear that this behaviour was not something that he could correct. Little Herbert was the one out of his friends most known for not doing as he had promised.
“I’ll call you later!” Would translate to his friends as – I’ll try and call you later if I don’t and probably will get distracted by something else.
“Let me have a go at that game.” From Little Herbert would mean – Can I try that for two minutes and then move on to something new.
“Leave that to me. I’ll do it.” Was the worst because when that came from Little Herbert, both New One and R V, his two friends knew that if they did leave it to him then it would simply not get done.
It was something that did upset his friends, a bit, but they knew it was a part of what Little Herbert did. They forgave him. Moved on. He would do it again. It was something New One and R V knew well.
One day the three friends were playing at their after school meet up and New One let Lana, his beautiful pet dog, in to be with them all for a while. New One started to tell them that they were going to be going out for the evening and Lana was going to be left home alone for the first proper time. It was worrying because she was not a puppy who took to time alone well. Plant pots could go flying, carpets may get chewed and doors could get scratched because of the distress of it. New One wanted to go with his parents for an evening out but he was worried about what they would come back to at the end of it all.
It was at that moment that Little Herbert had an idea. He told New One not to worry because his Dad and him would take Lana for the evening. R V’s look of dismay matched New One’s expression of worry. The friends both knew that Little Herbert meant well, so often, but he didn’t have a good history of coming through with his promises. On seeing the expressions on his friends’ faces he tried to lessen their worry by declaring that on this occasion…he would not leave his promise unfinished and Little Herbert would see it through.
Arrangements were made and so it was that a rather too happy Little Herbert and an extremely disgruntled Little Herbert’s Dad found themselves dog sitting the excited Lana dog.
It went well to start with…only two torn pillows and a knocked over table was good going for Lana. Little Herbert felt confident in his abilities, he had done as he said and kept the first part of his promise to his friend New One. It was about half an hour to the time when New One’s parents had told them they would be round to get Lana and it was at that precise time Lana started to get anxious for their return.
Scratch, scratch she went at the door. Paws patted round and round Little Herbert as he watched her looking for his friend New One. He started to get sad for Lana and so he suggested to his Dad they should take her out for a walk.
Little Herbert’s Dad had not thought that a good idea, he explained that taking a dog out needed a lot of care and attention. Two things Little Herbert could be known to lose on occasion but Little Herbert had liked his new found ability to see his promise through and off he went again with his speech about seeing Lana’s walk through to the end.
Out the two went for a walk with Lana, the feet pounded the pavement and the paws did the same. Sniff, sniff, sniff went Lana after almost every car and her eyes looked hopeful as she scanned passers by for any clue as to where New One was. Little Herbert found it cute that she loved his friend so much, she had been a stray dog who had adopted New One and his family almost as much as they had adopted her.
Little Herbert watched as Mrs Next Door saw them and hurried over. Conversation started as he knew it would and all too soon Little Herbert’s Dad had to go into an explanation as for who Lana was and no she was not the newest member of their family. As they talked, talked and talked some more Lana and Little Herbert started to look at each other with what were equal tired expressions. Lana was bored, she clearly did not think much of Little Herbert’s Dad walking skills, this was something she showed as she pulled away from him bit by bit…
Little Herbert tried to tell his Dad but he was told off for interrupting. As Lana pulled on her lead Little Herbert had little option but to go with her and so he got a little walk of his own on the end of a know it all Lana. She loved her walks and walked the area as if she would win the award for the dog with the most knowledge on location, location, location.
Little Herbert strained to keep up with her as Lana did her sniff chase walk where smells would lead her direction and destination. It had meant to be only a few minutes walk away from his Dad but all too soon Lana had taken them so far away that he couldn’t hear the conversation or familiar loud voice of Mrs Next Door.
He tried to talk to her, talk her out of it but Lana was not a dog to be persuaded that she was wrong. Little Herbert tried to keep up but they passed something that caught both their attention. Lana stopped, sniffed at the comic. It had been abandoned on the floor by someone. It was something that Little Herbert found hard to resist. He had asked his Dad for that issue and he had not yet got it for him, it was there so close and all he had to do was just retrieve it from the floor. He bent down to get it, loosened his hold on a certain lead as he looked through the bright letters on the front, he started to catch up with the wording, the events and as he started to get a better grip on it he let go off a daring Lana…and that was all it took for the dog to take off.
Tears washed down Little Herbert’s face as he tried to explain it all to his Dad who had found him minutes later. He had shouted for him and it was a sad, sorry story as to what had happened. All Little Herbert could see was New One’s face when they told him, his friend would be so sad. He loved Lana. What would he say?
Little Herbert’s Dad tried to comfort him but he could not get him to stop crying. It was the comic. He had lost his direction of attention and the comic had taken over from Lana. Little Herbert could not bring himself to tell his Dad he had failed again. He had not been able to keep his promise and he had not seen it through. Worse was Lana, he was so worried about her that he did not notice his Dad talking to a policeman or a set of paws make their way up to him. It was the lick on his face that meant he saw who had given him the soppy kiss and Lana looked at him with a guilty but happy to see him expression.
After all was explained, the policeman who had found Lana a few minutes after her escape and in the next road, left Little Herbert and his Dad to get Lana home. Little Herbert’s Dad handled the safe return of Lana to New One and there was a lot of relief for all. It was later that evening that Little Herbert was approached by his Dad. He had been so distraught that he had not talked about the event of Lana going missing at all and when his Dad looked at him he broke down into tears again. Little Herbert’s Dad did something he did not expect. He gave him a big hug. It had not been all Little Herbert’s fault, he explained, he should have noticed Lana taking him off and he had done well to call for aid when he needed to. Little Herbert took one look at his Dad and found himself confessing all about the distraction of the comic. It took a while for Little Herbert to calm down but when he did his Dad told him that as long as he had learnt his lesson, then he had achieved something and perhaps he had taken on a few too many promises for one go. Little Herbert knew he had learnt his lesson. He had thought his heart was going to break when he had thought that Lana was gone. He went to say that he would never get distracted again when his Dad stopped him. In life Little Herbert’s Dad told him that there would be many times when things may not go as you think they might but you have to do whatever you can to see things through, if things go wrong that is not always what is important, what matters is what you do in response to it. Little Herbert knew he had learnt a lot that evening and seeing things through was about more than making sure something was finished, whatever he did he would do as well as he could and he had learnt that in life that meant a lot.