Hot pen - Dougal's Itch!

Thanks to Maria for this next hot pen - I just love finding out what each one turns into - it's never what I expect! ;)

 

Dougal had a itch that just had to be scratched...

And lo! He’d scratched it. But then he discovered it had run off to a new place – so he hunted it down and scratched it there too. He thought he’d got it then but no, it moved off again to a new and rather inaccessible spot. There was nothing for it but to lift up his leg, twist his back, stretch his other leg round that bit further and....

“Well DONE!” said his Yoga Teacher.  “NOW you are master of the art of Zen Yoga. This position that you have finally mastered is called ‘Scratching the untraceable itch.’” 

Dougal panted and gasped with the exertion of holding the pose while his Yoga Teacher hummed, tutted and moved round him taking photos from every angle, measuring with his Zen ruler and scribbling in his notebook.

It seemed to take years but finally the teacher had finished and Dougal was told he could relax his pose and return to the central Yogic pose of “waiting for a bone.” This pose required him to stand on all fours, with his neck extended forward and his head tilted to one side, his tail pointing skywards. This was a much more comfortable pose and he couldn’t wait to get to it. The only trouble was, he’d twisted himself round and round like a corkscrew and he wasn’t sure he could untwist himself again.

He experimentally lifted a paw but it slid off in another direction than he expected. He was balanced precariously now and he could see disaster looming. He could see it in the Yoga Master’s face. He had a resigned air, as if to say, “It’s a miracle you got into that pose - I can’t see how you’re going to get out of it again.”

Without more ado he topped to the floor in a tangle of limbs.  He looked up in despair – what would his teacher say now?

 “VERY good,” cried the Yoga Master, greatly impressed. “Now you have mastered 'pose of the splatted squirrel'. Just relax and hold still while I take some notes.”

Dougal groaned and closed his eyes. To think that this had all started with an itch!