Once upon a time, in a small village by the bay, lived a Queen and her kingdom. This was not just any queen, however. This Queen was a Yorkshire Terrier dog, Blossom, who had difficulty understanding that she wasn’t human... 

On this particular sunny morning, Blossom and Mommy went for her favorite walk amongst the shops of Fairhaven. Fairhaven was the nicest little town, a haven to the fairest people of all. Its people were friendly, the shop owners had dog treats, and Blossom was welcome to visit just about everywhere.  

 Through Blossom’s old eyes, things seemed amiss as they walked along the sidewalk. She sensed lots of activity here and there and, although her Mommy guided her along their normal path, it didn’t seem quite right. Always cautious and looking out for herself and her Mommy, she hesitated to cross the busy street. All of this motion was confusing to her. But then the crowd cleared and she could make out a familiar, well-loved site:  the door of her favorite bookstore! So Blossom agreed to cross the street with Mommy.  

Blossom loved that bookstore most of all. Some days it was quiet. Too quiet, as then no one would stop to rub her ears or give her the attention any Yorkie Queen deserved. But most days the shop was abound with customers who were well mannered, recognizing the importance of a gentle ear rub for the Queen of Fairhaven. 

Today, however, Blossom’s Mommy did not lead her into the bookstore. Instead, she went directly down the hill to the Village Green, a small grassy area with benches and a stage. Usually the green was quiet, and had interesting smells so Blossom enjoyed walking through it on the way to a shop. Today, however, Mommy carried Blossom around, and Blossom sensed a hubbub of motion. People everywhere, or at least from what little she could see with her old eyes. There were tables, one after another, with people giving information or selling things.  As Mommy carried Blossom from table to table, she spoke with a woman at length. What are they talking about? Who are these clothes for? thought Blossom. It was only a moment later when an orange dress was being strapped around Blossom! She twisted and gave her Mommy the glare that meant “this is not what I came for”, and so Mommy took the dress off. However, Blossom remained worried as Mommy arranged with the dress maker details on where to find the summer dresses for a later purchase. 

Blossom wondered why Mommy was standing around holding her. This was most unusual, as Mommy picked Blossom up only when her legs were tired, or she might get stepped on in a crowd, or if Mommy didn’t want Blossom to be mean to a nearby dog (Blossom did not want dogs in her kingdom. It was against the rules. Blossom knows this because she made up the rules herself. It says flatly, NO DOGS! So Blossom is quite intent on making sure dogs know to leave town!).

However, this young girl did not pay attention to Blossom. Instead she asked Mommy for information: Mommy’s name, Blossom’s name, and their phone number. Then she gave Mommy a large piece of paper with the number 81 on it, and a safety pin. “Certainly Mommy wouldn’t pin that to me!” thought Blossom. ”It is nearly as big as I am!” No, Mommy just held the number while also holding Blossom. This took a while because the nice girl with the big round glasses kept dropping her things. First she dropped a large box of safety pins. Then she dropped a stack of papers with numbers on them. Then she dropped both the box of safety pins and the stack of papers. But finally she was able to get a firm grip on all of it, and Mommy finished telling her what to put on the paperwork.

 Mommy walked over to a shady spot in the grass. Blossom’s Mommy knew how she gets overheated easily. That is why she always has a shirt on even when it is hot out. The sun just burns her up. Of course, Blossom knows to never leave the house without being properly dressed. Her big sister, Princess Sienna, taught her that from a very early age. As a pup, Princess Sienna would dress up Blossom in one outfit after another, style her hair with ribbons, bows and barrettes, and then push her in a doll stroller to tour her world (or at least the living room of their house!). When Blossom was young, of course, she did not understand the importance of a Queen’s grooming, so she resisted. But now, as Queen of Fairhaven, she feels it is her duty to honor her subjects (the people of Fairhaven) with an appropriate, Queenly presence. So she always dresses properly before leaving the house. For example, when called upon to protect the fair residents of Fairhaven, she dresses appropriately in her Sherriff outfit.

With that thought, Blossom knew she just did not like that orange summer dress Mommy put on her when they visited with the lady at the table. The fabric was too stiff and the style too young for a Queen her age. “It is a good thing,”  thought Blossom, “that I let Mommy know right away I did not like that dress.”

 So there they stood, Mommy holding Blossom in a shady side of the Village Green. A nice man and woman stopped to talk to Mommy and rub Blossom’s ears. But they were the only ones to pay attention to her. “How odd”, thought Blossom, since there seemed to be a lot of people around. “Surely they have come to see me?” 

A man was calling numbers and naming names every few minutes. "Number 43, Bob and Alice" he shouted into the microphone. Then applause. Alice was a tall Great Dane, white with tiny black spots and seemed to have a pleasant smile on her face. Bob tried to get her to dance with him but she didn’t move very well.  Alice was young still. Blossom remembered how, when she was young, Princess Sienna would dance with her around the living room. Blossom preferred cuddling rather than dancing...

 Next was number 55, Cheri and CeCe. More applause and ooohhhs. CeCe was a cute, tiny Chihuahua mix with long black hair and pointy ears. Very lightweight, her owner was able to trick her into standing on her back legs with her front paws in the air held up as if praying hands. There was laughter and applause from the audience. Except for Blossom, who was not applauding because she thought it was very undignified behaviour. 

And there were many others. Paula with three large dogs all of whom had very long tails. Marcie and Cicero, a red bouncy dog who looked like a golden retriever that was shrunk in the dryer. And they kept coming: small cute dogs, big old dogs, all trained to do some small movement or just look cute. Blossom didn’t see the reason for it all, and began to wonder which of her guards had permitted all these dogs to visit Fairhaven, which was against her RULES. However, she decided that her subjects were enjoying the show, so she would agree to let the dogs stay until its end.

 Then the announcer said, “And the last entrant is Number 81, Mommy with Blossom”. Mommy carried Blossom over to the announcer and explained that Blossom is very old, with some dementia, and does not do tricks. It seemed fitting, didn’t it, to have a Queen of Fairhaven suffering dementia take part in the Memory Loss Walk-a-thon to raise funds for folks with dementia and Alzheimer’s? The announcer agreed, but did not announce this to the crowd. 

Mommy carried Blossom onto the concrete stage. She carefully placed Blossom on the ground, and Blossom walked with her most Queen-like step easily across the stage. Near the middle of the stage, Mommy stopped and turned Blossom to face the crowd. Several people let out oooooooohhhhhs and aaahhhhhhhhs, and one man said “Yorkies don’t need to do tricks, they are just cute as they are”. Mommy then walked Blossom across the stage and picked her up to carry her down the steps. The announcer asked that all dogs in the show parade around the edge of the village green. So Mommy carried Blossom slowly the entire way, with people clapping as they passed by.

 Next was the award for the dog with the waggiest tail. Blossom’s tail, at less than 2 inches in length, was hard for people to see. But it was awful cute when it wagged. Had she known there was a prize for that, she would have wagged her tail. After all, people always thought it was cute. But alas, she didn’t know there was a tail-wagging award and so did not show off her cute tail. Thus Paula and her three large dogs, all with extremely long tails, won the award.

 Then there was the biggest dog award. That went to Alice the great Dane. What? Blossom thought everyone knew she was the biggest. She had never seen or met a dog bigger than her own five pound stature. Yes, Alice had long skinny legs that gave her the appearance of being big, but surely the judges could see Blossom was the biggest of them all. Well, apparently Blossom did not stand up straight enough for the judges to see her tallness, as Alice won a prize – a free bath at the bathhouse!

 Finally, the last prize: the smallest dog. The announcer stated it was difficult to decide between two dogs, but the winner was....Blossom and Mommy! So Mommy carried Blossom up to the stage to receive her award. No trophy? Only a free bath at the bathhouse? Blossom found this to be inappropriate. Certainly a Queen should receive a trophy, even if it is made up just for her, as she must maintain her dignity. 

 But alas, that is what happens when Queens get old. The younger princes and princesses begin to get the attention, as they grow up and start to rule their own kingdoms. “I suppose”, thought Blossom with a sigh, “this is as it should be”.  Meanwhile, Mommy carried Blossom into her favorite bookstore, where her toes tapped on the wood floor and everyone gave her ear rubs. And everything was just the way it should be.

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