FACT or FICTION: Chapter 4
Was there a big bay window, Dallas' tower balcony?
Absolutely! Much of his day indoors was spent up there and he was noted among the village for it. He could see everything that took place in Gaines Park and daily would go off in some rant over the people and animals passing by his domain. I don't remember how he first got up there but my fictional account seems plausable.
Was the account of Dallas' first run of freedom accuarte?
No, it was all fiction. I don't know how he evolved from puppy on a leash to a free roamin' dog. As stated, I'm sure it was lazyness on leashing him which probably allowed him such freedom. It was remamrkable how these dogs never got seriously hurt crossing the road and they all could navigate around the village safely. A memorable segment of his escape involved my father kicking the door and damaging it during a moment of displeasure with me. That was a real incident but it didn't occur until I was a teenager. The door never did fuction correctly after that incident.
Did Dallas really tackle Big Lew running for a touchdown?
Yes. That happened when we were very young boys. At least I remember it. I thought that would be a nice finish to his first day of freedom. The time line worked.
Authors Notes:
Though it was never mentioned, Big Lew and Lew were my cousins. I didn't create any fictional friends in the book and tried to use their defining nick-names when possible. Both my cousins probably went by the name Lew so I chose Big Lew for the oldest.
Also of note was the back story on the immigrants living in the "quarter" and how their offspring prospered at one time and moved to bigger homes. The early 70's saw some big leaps for the American Dream among the quarter's next generation including my family, Steven(Abby) and Kyle & Shane (the Lewis').
