What is a ‘Marvel’?

This is the first ever post on my new blog! I will be writing about my handsome puppy-dog and her past life. If you have ever met the tiny gorgeous beast who lives at my house, you would know of the frightening, the ambitious, and the admirable traits of the beautiful furry creature- but where do you think she picked up the praiseworthy attributes? Though it is not common knowledge, my dog Marvel was once… A STREET DOG IN MEXICO.

So what?

Before she was accustomed to soft beds and an abundance of organic food, the two pound furry baby we now call Marvel was used to fighting for her food, and for a dry and warm place to sleep. Now she scarcely barks about her past life, however, I have talked with the one dog who saw it all, her brother, Duker. (Pronounced D-OO-K-ER) Here is what I have learned about Marvel’s life as told by Duker.

The real story…

*The first thing I remember was our mom, Jamm, me, and my sister living in one of those boxes with the big blue letters spelling out IKEA in the alleyway behind Señor Escovedo’s fruit stand, beside the two blue dumpsters. Jamm would leave every morning to find us some food, usually returning by mid-day with some moldy scraps. Back then, before we were Marvel and Duker, we were Jarrito and Mango. Anyway, we would have to entertain ourselves so we made up games, like catch the mouse, which Jamm outlawed after she saw that the mouse was twice our size. You might be thinking, what happened to Jamm? I still remember the night. Me and Jarrito were playing chase, when we saw Jamm running towards us, full speed barking.

“IN THE BOX! NOW!” She pushed us to the box, and then flipped it over on top of us. her bark was muffled when she called, “Now be quiet.” We can only assume that she was taken, just like we would be soon. We hid in the box until we were too hungry to stay. We decided to follow her scent as long as we could, until we eventually found a dumpster. We were planning to stay there for the night, until a group of stray cats chased us out. I thought we were dead meat, that is until a big pit bull ran over and stopped us in our tracks.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she said, and I was about to run, when little Jarrito marched right up to her and said:

“Why do you care?” Jarrito barked, and the big dog growled.

“This is out turf, no place for weak little pups like you.” At this point I was ready to pass out, but Jarrito barked right back

“Who said we’re weak?”

We were both nervous, but Jarrito knew that if we didn’t have somewhere to sleep, and something to eat soon, we wouldn’t make it through the night. Anyway, the big dog rolled her eyes, and told us,

“Come with me.” I remember looking at Jarrito thinking ‘We’re gonna run right?’ but no! she followed the big dog, and did it with swagger.

We followed the big dog to a dead end, a big brick wall. At first I was confused, and then I was REALLY confused when the big dog walked through the wall? We stood there puzzled, before the big dog stuck her head back out asking us to follow.

“Come on.” We inched towards the big dog’s head, and saw that she had slipped though a crack in the wall, just barely big enough for her to fit though, but easy enough for the scrawny things we were.

Behind the wall was like dog heaven. Piles of trash, food scraps, and bones covered the ground. Dogs of all breeds and sizes roamed happily, digging through trash and gnawing on bones. In the centre, there was a huge beanbag, covered with dirty blankets and more bones. The Pitt marched up to the to the beanbag, and a tiny brown speckled head popped out. I noticed a long scar from its eye all the way down to its chin.

“What is it Dave?” ‘Dave’ the big dog who had taken us here, sat down in front of the beanbag and nodded towards us.

“Found them walking around the Cat Dump.”

“And?”

“Well, they looked hungry, and if I left them there, the cats would have eaten them.”

“Well if they are here to stay, at least put them to work.”

Now…

Duker then told me about how Marvel/ Jarrito slowly began to take over the group, until she finally battled Moosh (the little dog) for the bean bag throne. After she bested the little dog in a game of tag, the group morphed into a Mafia. Jarrito soon became the dog everyone feared. She ran many illegal businesses, from gambling rings, to rigged games, and was on the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Until one day, she and her brother were taken, just like their mother, to be adopted and pampered. Jarrito was forced to retire her Mafia career, but still practiced the art of manipulation on her adopted older brother Soda, and she still is the owner of all bean bag chairs.

*This interview has been translated from DOG to ENGLISH