Benny the Bright Light

I didn’t find Benny, he found me.

I got out of the car and left the door open while I shut the gate to the house next door that I have been cleaning. I saw a little black and white dog on the road looking at me, but I was exhausted and didn’t take much notice. When I turned to get back in my car, he jumped in and sat on the passenger seat.

I laughed and told him he better hop out, but he didn’t. He just sat there grinning at me and so it began. I took him home. Literally from one driveway to the other. When I got out, he got out too and followed me to the door.

In he went and promptly looked around. I talked to him for a while and expected he would leave soon. No chance. He wasn’t going anywhere. I was too pooped to worry about it and so he stayed the night.

When I went to bed, these little paws edged up to the side where I was, and his imploring eyes spoke volumes. I laughed again. He seemed to have that effect. Next thing he had jumped on the bed and excitedly smooched around my face before settling down at the end of the bed to sleep.

The next morning, I opened my door and fully expected him to leave, but no, he stayed. He wasn’t going anywhere, so I looked around to see what I had to feed him with.

I wondered where he came from. There were bungalows around here, and a lot of visitors that just came for the weekend. I thought maybe his owners had gone away, or maybe he had fallen off the back of a truck.

I have to say I was enjoying his company like nothing else. He was a little ray of sunshine that came into my life, even if just for a moment. I felt a bit guilty having him there as he was obviously well looked after, but the door was open he could have gone down the driveway at any time, after all where I found him was literally at the next-door driveway.

He just followed me around everywhere that day. I would talk to him and he would just look at me as though he understood. Later that day I decided I better take him for a walk around the bungalows. We didn’t see anyone to ask, and we walked past all the bungalows. He pranced along next to me and made no signs of belonging anywhere.

Back he came for night two. By now he was comfortably settled in. At about this stage I started to realise he hadn’t made a sound apart from panting sounds. He was the quietest dog I had ever met, and intriguing. His eyes adored and implored. It felt like he needed me as much as I needed him at that moment.

Later it turned out he did bark, and I had to wonder if he had been lying low those first few days, not wanting to be found. The fugitive from his own life, in hiding, enjoying his holiday, his home away from home. That is what it became.

Day 3 and I had to go back up the hill. He wasn’t making any moves to go anywhere and so I took him with me. We sat in the car for a moment while I checked my phone, as I only had reception on my mobile up the top of the hill at that time. I had a landline at home.

I was engrossed in my device and didn’t even hear the car come up the hill behind me. I had got out of the car and to my surprise there was someone I knew who lived down by the lake. He asked me if I had seen a little black and white dog. I laughed and said he’s in the car.

I explained what had happened and it didn’t seem to come as a surprise to his owner. He bundled him up and took him back home.

Well at least I knew where Benny lived now, and he had a name. It was virtually across the road from me and down a few houses. Benny had walked straight past it on his walk around the bungalows with me, and he hadn’t even turned his head to look in and see what was happening at home. I wouldn’t have had a clue.

I felt a little sadness as Benny disappeared down the hill in the car, and I went off to do my days work, Benny niggling in my mind all day. Why hadn’t he gone home? Why did he pick me? Why didn’t he even show an inkling of home when we walked right past it?

These questions became answered later, but at the time he was the most curious dog I had ever encountered. Part of that was his soundlessness. Every other dog I knew would bark at something. Not Benny, in those first few days at least.

Back home later that day it seemed rather quiet without Benny. I had gotten used to his little face looking up at me, his little snuggles, and to sharing my bed with a dog, which I thought would never happen. No dog before him had ever done that.

It wasn’t long before Benny returned in my life. He came up my driveway like a bolt and was so excited to see me. He ran all around my legs, jumping up on me, with the hugest grin on his face. This time I knew I had to take him back home. So, a little play and I took him for a walk. Back down to the bungalows, only this time I went and knocked on the door of his home.

This time, his mum answered the door. She laughed when I told her what had happened. We had a bit of a chat about him, and she took him inside.

This became a bit of a repeat event. It turned out Benny didn’t like fighting and they had been having words. Any sign of dispute and he was out of there.

Sometimes Benny would turn up in the middle of the night. The first I heard was a 'ruff, ruff' outside the door and some thumping sounds. I got up, opened the door, and to my surprise, there was Benny, bolting inside, racing into the bedroom and up onto the bed.

Too late to do anything about it, so I went back to bed. I realised he did make noise. I had mentioned his silence to his owners, and they laughed because he did bark, and quite often apparently. So, he was being quiet on purpose lol.

One time Benny came bolting up the driveway with a clown toy in his mouth. When I had returned him, his owner laughed and said he must be packing his bags and moving, because that was his favourite toy.

Eventually his owners started asking if I wouldn’t mind looking after Benny. They brought me food to look after him, a lead, a dog bowl, and toys. This also happened regularly. Sometimes I would find a note on my door asking if I could have him for a few days. Of course, I loved to. He was no trouble whatsoever.

I used to take him on cleaning jobs. I had a popup shop with other artists, and he came with me when I was looking after him. He was like our little mascot, although sometimes there would be trouble at the door if another dog came close.

Benny always thought of himself as a big dog, I think. Certainly, he was big for his size. Big in character, big in love, and a huge personality.

When I would take him in the car, he used to sit on to p of my bag on the console and lean into my arm. So cute.

I took him everywhere. He got to visit the hardware stores with me a couple of times. At Bunnings, the staff lined a trolley with cardboard so he would be comfortable while being pushed around the isles. Of course, he caught the attention and smiles of many shoppers.

At another hardware store he was allowed to come in on his lead while I shopped. He was the talking point and conversation starter on many occasions

I used to take him to my friend’s house, at the Boneyard NT, where there were two big dogs, Dropper and Camper, and a crocodile, Fat Boy, in a pond behind glass just outside the back door.

The first time I took him there I was worried to get him out of the car. The dogs there also love me, but I wondered how he would get along. As it happened, I needn’t had. They got along swimmingly. Benny used to get fed bones as big as him there. He just fell in as part of the gang, right at home.

Back at the lake, when he was with his owners, he would be taken out on the canoe. He would sit up there like a little sea dog. He also used to go swimming in the lake and had his own floating bed. He would join the afternoon social gathering in the lake and float about quite comfortably.

For a couple of years, I was Benny’s surrogate mum, and I loved his guts. It worked well for me and his mum and dad. There came a point where I had to go away, and his owner was working too. He went to stay at a place down the road while I was gone.

When I returned, they had adopted him. He came over once, so happy to see me. he shot straight inside and onto the cushion I had made him. He was ecstatic that I had returned and so was I that he had.

The phone rang. It was his new adopter. She asked me if he was there. I said yes. The next thing she came over in her car. Bundled him up and scolded him for leaving them. Told me how much her husband liked Benny and how he sat on the chair with him.

And then he was gone. I will never forget his little face looking at me beseechingly as he was bundled toward their car. I was stunned and saddened.

I never saw Benny again. The next news I heard was that he had been run over on the road on the night the firies were burning off the hill. My heart broke for Benny. He was a bright star in my life and heart and found his way into others hearts as well.

He was like the Red Dog of our neighbourhood. To understand that you have to know the story of Red Dog from Dampier in WA. He was a local legend, and a statue stands at the beginning of Dampier of the Red Dog. I had bought a book about it in the local Seafarers shop. There is now a film made about Red Dog.

Here's a link to a small video I made of Benny using the Plotagraph App by Plotaverse. It is on my Instagram page and I have added sound and effects, but some of the sound is Benny barking, so make sure the sound is on. It's the bark that did come out eventually!

I will never forget Benny. My little ray of sunshine and shining light in the dark. RIP Benny and may you walk with the angels.

If you enjoyed this memorial to my little friend Benny, feel free to leave a heart. 💚