Lost Dog
“Do you hear that?”
“What?”
“A phone,” Bob said. “A phone is ringing.”
“A phone?” Woodruff asked. “A phone from where?”
“A phone, a phone is ringing.”
“You just said that sentence double.”
“I just said that sentence double?”
“You just said that sentence double, right there.”
“Ooh!” Bob exclaimed. “It’s a baby dog, stuck in a log.”
“You mean a puppy?”
“Stuck in a log.”
“This is serious!”
“We have to help him.”
“Let’s save the puppy.”
“Let’s save the doggy.”
“We’ll save the puppy.”
Woodruff and Bob jogged over to the log and rolled the dog over on its hind legs. The little black and brown tail wagged back and forth in the air.
“I’m Woodruff.”
“I’m Bob.”
“And who are you?”
“You’re a wonderful pet.”
“And we’ll help you.”
Woodruff knelt down and scratched the dog’s backside while Bob stood back and scratched at his own head thoughtfully.
“What’s gonna work?”
Woodruff took hold of the log and presented the tail end of the dog to Bob.
“Teamwork!”
Bob gently grabbed the dog by the haunches and they pulled in opposite directions. The black and brown brindled dog slipped free from the log and the three of them fell to the ground. Bob held fast to the puppy, who licked his face vigorously.
“Well this is a friendly little guy,” Bob chuckled.
“Very licky,” Woodruff replied.
“Whoah!” Bob yelled and pointed in the air. “Look at that!”
“Look at what?” Woodruff said, as he turned around to see a giant oak tree.
“I just saw a Frisbee with a sail and blue wheels fly in from the sky! It looked like a tiny flying boat.”
“A flyboat?”
“No, a flying boat.”
“Is this like the time you swore you saw a UFO?”
“First of all, a Nerf football and a UFO look remarkably similar at dusk, and second, this is nothing like that.”
Woodruff shook his head and walked over to scratch the puppy behind the ears. After he was licked thoroughly by its little pink tongue, Woodruff wiped his hands on his pants.
“He’s got no tags, and no collar.”
“Can we keep him?”
“He probably has a family that misses him.”
“Woodruff! Look at that!”
Bob pointed back by the tree and Woodruff spun around to see a turtle, a guinea pig, and a duck walking out from behind the trunk.
“Are they wearing hats?”
“Uh huh, and capes too.”
“Good eye, Bob.”
“Now do you believe me?”
“Wait, are you saying that a guinea pig, a turtle, and a duck flew here on a Frisbee?”
“Uh, they’re wearing capes and the duck has a pilot’s helmet, who else would be flying a Frisbee with wheels.”
The caped critters made their way over to Woodruff, Bob, and the rescued puppy. They squeaked and quacked at the black and brown fuzzball, who cocked his head sideways and looked at the curious newcomers.
“You think they’re here to help.”
“To help the baby doggy, and save the day?”
“You mean the puppy.”
There was a loud bark from the other side of the grassy hill beside them. The puppy yelped back and a black dog with pointy ears came trotting over the hill.
“I think it’s his mommy,” Woodruff said.
The young dog leapt out of Bob’s arms and hurried to reunite with the black dog with pointy ears. They sniffed and licked each other before prancing back to Woodruff and Bob.
“We saved the puppy!”
“We saved the puppy.”
“We saved the puppy,” Bob grinned as he pet the pooches.
After a few licks of gratitude the dogs turned their attention to the caped critters at their feet. The puppy sniffed at the guinea pig as his mother sniffed at the turtle. All at once the puppy scooped up the guinea pig in his mouth and shook it side to side. His mother chomped down on the turtle’s shell and similarly shook it around. As the two dogs trotted away with their new friends in their jaws, the duck quickly waddled back behind the tree.
Woodruff stood up and brushed his hands together and Bob wiped at the dog hairs on his shorts, as they watched the dogs dance merrily over the hill.
“You know, they’re not too big.”
“And they’re not too tough.”
“Going from hero to chew toy has got to be rough.”
“Where do you think that duck went?”
“To the flyboat?”
A red Frisbee with a pinstriped sail and blue wheels flew up into the sky.
“To the flyboat.”
“Sorry I doubted you.”
“No worries, I kinda thought I was seeing things too.”
“What do you suppose powers that little ship?”
“And how did they learn to fly?”
“Well, it is a duck.”
“Good point.”
Woodruff and Bob strolled up the hill in the direction the dogs disappeared. A tiny blue cape floated between them on the breeze.
“You think we should save the guinea pig?” Woodruff asked.
“Save the guinea pig?”
“Save the guinea pig.”
“Nah, I’m sure they’re just playing with it.”
“You’re probably right.”
They stepped over a tiny red cape, lying in the grass and caught sight of the mom and her brindled baby in the distance.
“I just had a great idea for a band name,” Bob said.
“What’s that?” Woodruff asked.
“Lost Dog,” Bob replied. “That way you get free advertising when people put up lost dog fliers.”
“Genius!” Woodruff said. “Ooh, or Help Wanted.”
“Perfect!” Bob said. “Or We Buy Houses, Ca$h.”
“Or Free Debt Counseling.”
“Or Yard Sale.”
“Garage Sale would work too.”
“Totally, how is there not already a garage band name Garage Sale.”
“I don’t know!”
“These are million dollar ideas!”
“I know!”
“We should celebrate!”
“This calls for some celery!”
“What?” Bob said with a scrunched up expression.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Woodruff said.
The sound of dogs barking in the distance floated on the breeze as Woodruff and Bob turned and headed toward the pond. They walked in silence for several minutes as the barking slowly trailed off.
“Was that turtle wearing aqua socks?”
“I think he was.”
“Bizarre.”
“Totally.”