Mack
Legacy Name: Mack

Profile

After a few days of unpacking and trying to find places for everything, Jenny decided to take a peek in the loft, just to see what was there. She remembered from their previous viewing that the loft was quite spacious, but there had been a few boxes left by the previous owners. Jenny was curious to see if they were still there, and what might be in them. Sure enough, there were two boxes left. She slid them over to the loft hatch, and Tom carefully took them down so they could investigate. Annie wasn't the slightest bit interested, she was too busy exploring in their new garden. But as usual, Ben was right there, watching intently on everything that was going on.

Tom picked through the items in the first box, it was mostly just junk - an old coat, several coat hangers, a couple of paperback books. Jenny climbed down from the loft and started looking through the second box. Again, mostly junk. There was quite a pretty dressing-up outfit that Annie probably would have liked but it was so dirty and dusty it really wasn't worth the effort of trying to save it. Ben looked over into the box and quickly grabbed something soft. He dragged it out to inspect it more closely. It was a dirty, dusty, damaged soft toy. A dog, maybe? Jenny wasn't sure but she went to take it from Ben so she could take the whole box out to the trash. Ben made a moaning sound and held on tightly to the toy. Jenny softly said "No Ben, it's all dirty, see? It has to go back." Ben replied, "Mack." Tom said "no, not Mack...it has to go back. " Ben clutched the toy tightly to his chest, his eyes began to well up with tears. "MACK!" he said again, more insistent this time.

Jenny and Tom looked at each other and shrugged. Maybe he could be washed, it was possible. Ben's outbursts could be very draining, and Jenny was keen to try to avoid that happening, where possible. His speech was very limited, and a lot of the time he wouldn't communicate at all. She sat down next to Ben, and said "Let me have a look at him, I'll see what he needs doing to get all fixed up". Reluctantly, Ben passed the toy to his mother, again stating firmly - "Mack". She had a quick look over, and figured washing it in the machine would be a good start. Then his ear would need sewing back in place. But, he might be salvageable. And, if it made Ben happy, then why not?

Together, Jenny and Ben placed Mack in the washing machine. Jenny set the cycle to 'gentle wash', and Ben sat right in front of the machine, watching as Mack was spun around inside. After the cycle had finished, Jenny allowed Ben to reach in and grab his new friend. Well, she thought, he certainly looks cleaner! "Let's go and hang him on the washing line! Come on Ben, outside - you can help!". Ben followed his mother outside into their garden for the first time. He had refused to go out there at all yesterday. Jenny hung Mack on the line, and watched as Ben dragged a small plastic garden chair over to the washing line. He sat there for ages, occasionally pointing and saying "Mack". After suffering the indignity of going through the washing machine, and being hung on the washing line by his ears, Mack was brought inside, washed and dried. A quick fix to his ear, his back legs, and a small split on his tummy, and Mack looked much better. Jenny handed it to Ben, and said "There you are honey, all fixed! What do you think of him now?" Ben held Mack tight, and simply said "Mack".

Jenny knew then that Mack was going to help Ben settle in to his new home,. She chuckled and thought to herself - "all thanks to that dirty, dusty, scruffy old dog".
And from that day on, Mack never left Ben's side. .







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INFO:

Legacy name: Mack
Born: June 29th, 2005
Overlay: PUNK
Story: PUNK
Background: Glittergraphics