Dennis was a short, fat boy with a lisp and he 'fancied' me. He was always at our house, arriving at any time, and staying for ages. It didn't bother me either way, whether he was around or not. He was always nervous of Spike as a puppy, and when he became a fully grown bulldog, he literally quaked in his shoes. It made the lisp even worse. One Sunday morning we were all sitting on the divan couch talking when Spike came in and jumped up next to Dennis, putting his large meaty paw on his chest to greet him. Dennis started screeching and jiggling up and down to get rid of his bulk, and Spike's paw cut his upper lip. Then chaos erupted. Dennis was screaming at the top of his voice, blood was running down on to his shirt, Ma grabbed Spike and pushed him to the floor, and we all rushed over to ascertain the damage. His parents were wonderfully understanding, rerfusing all medical payment for the stitches, and went off gracefully and gratefully taking their blubbering blob with them. Of course he never came over to our house again, just admired me from afar!
