Roberta Writes – I’m Late for Tanka Tuesday and Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge & CFFC & The Flower Hour

#CFFC, Childhood Memories, Esther Chilton's Word Prompt, photography, poetry, Tanka Tuesday, The Flower Hour 2 Minutes

Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge

Esther’s challenge for last week was to write about pets. I’m late but never mind, I’m often late. You can read other peoples work and join in Esther’s new challenge here:

Dog Tragedy (shadorma prose)

When I was a girl of twelve we lived on a plot in Honeydew, Johannesburg. It was the second time we lived in this same house as my father had returned to his dream of farming part-time. The property was large with much of the ‘garden’ comprising wild veld grass and scrub bushes. My parents bought two pedigree Great Dane dogs because my mother had always liked this breed and there was a lot of space for them to run about. They were also supposed to be guard dogs but that didn’t pan out well because Harry and Lucy were exceptionally stupid animals. They were a lovely rich light brown colour, with friendly temperaments, and slobbery mouths. I have never been a big fan of slobber but I did like this gangly pair who were always delighted to see me and full of enthusiasm for life.

Some months later, my mother was asked to take another dog. The dog’s family was immigrating and they needed to rehome her. My mother agreed and the new dog soon settled into the family. Her name was Runt and she was partly Chihuahua and partly who knows what. I took a great liking to Runt and she became my dog.

The property adjacent to ours was a working sheep farm. The sheep were even more stupid than Harry and Lucy who took great pleasure in barking madly every time a sheep came into view on the other side of the fence. The sheep never knew what to do about the barking and just stood frozen until the dogs grew bored and moved on to new entertainment. Runt, however, was a clever dog. She also had the instincts of a hunter. Runt took a great interest in the sheep over the fence.

One morning, Harry and Runt were missing when we awoke. We called and called when breakfast was served but no dogs appeared. Eventually, Harry turned up in a bad state. He had been shot in the leg and was bleeding badly. My father had to take him to the vet for treatment. Runt never came home. Later that day, the farmer came to call. Runt had discovered a hole in the fence and she and Harry had wriggled through. Runt had led Harry in an attack on one of the lambs. The farmer, hearing the commotion, had shot at the dogs, killing Runt and injuring Harry. In those days, farmers defended their livestock by shooting any predators which is part of the reason why wild dogs and leopards are so endangered now. I was devastated when I learned the news and I’ve never had another dog since. We were told the lamb had died but there was never any proof of that.

keen prey drive

mixed breed chihuahua

looked for fun

found trouble

victim of a farmer’s anger

crossed the rainbow bridge

Tanka Tuesday

Colleen’s challenge was to use variants of the word yellow in a syllabic poem. You can read other poet’s entries here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/06/04/tankatuesday-yellow-things/

Flowering Aloes (tanka)

organic gemstones

string of lemon quartz flowers

lifeblood of aloe

produced in heartwood of plant

basking in cool amber sun

CFFC – Yellow & The Flower Hour

These are the flower pictures that inspired my Tanka Tuesday poem above.

You can join in CFFC here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/06/08/the-crayola-box-of-8-yellow-cffc/

You can join in The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/06/09/the-flower-hour-34-roses-in-memoriam/

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

Published

94 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – I’m Late for Tanka Tuesday and Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge & CFFC & The Flower Hour”

    1. Hi Priscilla, yes farmers protect their assets and predators are sacrificed. I understand the farmers point of view but this is much bigger than one dog. Perhaps it was the start of my animal activism. Humans have taken so much land there is nothing left for the wild creatures. Aloes in flower are beautiful.

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  8. Marvelous tankas on the dogs and flowers, Roberta, and lovely flower photos! It’s too bad that Harry and Runt went after the sheep and were shot by the farmer who was protecting his sheep. I hope Harry’s wound was well taken care of.

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  11. Isn’t it amazing that your great dane allowed himself to be led into such mischief at the word of a chihuahua mix! I do not agree with shooting animals known to be pets- but it happens here more than I would like to admit.

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  13. Who would have thoughts that aloes could more than plain? They are beautiful. Love the tanka too. Sad about the dog. I lost a dog that way, he was a hopeless sheep dog and he got out and was causing havoc, a neighbour shot him 😥

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  14. I am so sorry to hear about Runt. Too bad the famer didn’t know Harry was too dumb to hurt anything and Runt too small!
    Lovely tanka and flowers!

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  16. This is always sad but happens every day out West here. Own anything you want, but keep it at home. Your flowers are really interesting. I’ve never seen any quite like those.

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  17. Oh Robbie that is so sad 💔. It is the same here though still, the dog doesn’t even have to attack a sheep, just to be off lead on their land with the possibility to upset is enough… 😢.
    I do love the flowering aloes.. 💞

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  18. Hi Robbie! I am so sorry this occurred and that you were devastated by the loss of Runt. Childhood memories involving beloved animals often stay with us for a lifetime.

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      1. Absolutely! My aunt had one when I was growing up, and my goodness, that little dog spent more time at the animal hospital than at her house. He liked fighting big dogs, so you know who lost every time.

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  22. That is a sad dog story, Robbie. I understand why you never had a dog again.

    Nonetheless, you wrote well, and the poem with tale is a lovely tribute to Runt, Harry and all dogs who meet misfortune.

    Wonderful yellow post, and those cactus flowers are beautiful. Thank you!

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    1. Hi Liz, it was a great tragedy for me and I’ve never forgotten it. Yes, I took the photographs of these flowers at Bakubung Lodge in the Pilanesberg National Park when we visited in late May for TC’s birthday. It is very South African with fewer tourists as it is not as glamorous as some of the lodges we visit. It has self catering available. We didn’t self cater. I cook all the time so when I vacation I don’t want to cook. It was lovely because we could self drive which I enjoyed very much.

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        1. For me, it depends what you want to see. It’s easier to see leopards and other cats with a guide because they are all in touch with each other and call in sightings. Many parks don’t allow self driving because people are stupid and animals are dangerous.

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  29. What an awesome thing about your dogs, Robbie. A terrible memory to have.
    The fact are awesome — all those tiny flowers so perfectly arranged along the edges, and what an extraordinary shape! That variety must be native to Africa. I’ve never heard of one like it here. Big hugs.

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  30. so sad; I’ve heard of such tales in the bush when In served at a country high school; a farmer warned us to keep our dog close because he was almost shot for menacing sheep; the farmer knew us and the dog so gave us this timely warning —-

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  32. Hi Robbie, this was very sad. A connection to an animal can be a very powerful thing, and that farmer could have taken different actions. I am so sorry you went through that.

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  33. That is a very sad story. I am so sorry that happened to Runt and Harry. There’s got be a better way than shooting at everything coming after your sheep. How about a tranquilizer or a better fence. You wrote beautiful poems.

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  34. I have had mature aloe plants, but they never flowered. Yours are beautiful, I enjoyed the story of your dogs, even though the ending was sad.

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  36. we had a dog too when I did my country service and lived close to a farm. One day a farmer came over who knew us vaguely and warned us about our dog who had been bothering his lambs. We kept him confined to our property after that but took him on long walks —

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  37. The news about Runt brought tears to my eyes. I’m so sorry that happened. That had to be very traumatic as a child, even to an adult. You story is both humorous and sad. I loved every part of it. These lines are so poignant:

    “mixed breed chihuahua

    looked for fun

    found trouble”

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      1. You don’t need to own a dog to love them. I’m glad I have Goldie. I was heartbroken when Kalev had seizures and we had to make that difficult choice. I thought I was going to throw up my heart. It took over a year before I felt well enough to try again to let a dog into my heart.

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