Mia and the puppy have enjoyed watching the hunky
neighbor wash his sports car. After he goes inside his
house, the puppy Bootsie decides to chew on Mia's
favorite
pair of shoes, and she does her best to rescue the
footwear:
Bootsie finally plopped down next to the lawn chair so
he could pant for several minutes. Running and being
chased
and harassing an innocent shoe was hard work for the
little
guy.
Not that she had much sympathy.
"Come on, Bootsie," Mia said, clapping her
hands. "Let's see if we can find something more
puppy–appropriate. Or maybe you need a drink of
water."
To her surprise, the puppy loped along beside her, the
shoe long–forgotten. Mia darted back to get it,
sighing with relief. She reached down—
Bootsie swooped in and snatched the shoe, nearly
biting
her fingers.
"Ow! Now I know how the Wicked Witch felt about Toto!
"
Mia stalked towards the back door. It didn't look
like
Bootsie was doing much damage—yet. At least puppy
teeth were small and not able to bite her shoe to death
without a lot of tries.
There was going to be a lot of puppy drool though.
To keep from gagging, she put a hand to her throat and
swallowed.
Mia raced inside the house. Didn't Bootsie have
something he played with? She wracked her brain trying to
remember all the instructions she'd been given before her
friends had left for their honeymoon.
Her eyes darted around. "Yes!" She picked up a ball
from a crate near the back door. It was kind of heavy,
more
like a softball, but at least it would give Bootsie the
leathery chewing experience he seemed to crave.
Outside, Mia tossed the ball into the air. "Here,
puppy, puppy, puppy. I've got something that's lots more
fun to play with."
Bootsie's ears perked up, and he tilted his head. In
the next instant, he started flopping her shoe back and
forth, as if wrestling a demon to the ground.
Mia bit back a groan. She rolled the ball across the
lawn, and this time Bootsie hesitated. Mia swore she could
see him doing a mental pros and cons list. Fortunately,
the
ball won his attention.
Unfortunately, he scurried over with the shoe still
dangling from his mouth.
"Let's do an even exchange." She picked up the
ball,
holding it out, and tried to tug the shoe loose with her
other hand, but his grip was too strong.
Her earlier giddiness over this new gig evaporated.
How
was she going to survive two whole weeks of this
shoe–devouring monster?
Mia gave the ball another toss, this time away from
the
puppy. The ball sailed high into the air, fueled by her
frustration. The dog raised his head, the shoe forgotten,
and watched with Mia as the ball flew over the fence,
picking up speed.
"Oh, no!"
Mia cringed, praying for a lucky bounce into the
neighbor's grass. The ball hit the driveway and then
practically leapt into the driver's side headlight. The
breaking plastic made a tinkling sound as it drifted to
the
asphalt, bits of red and yellow glittering in the sunlight.
Mia heaved a sigh, and then bent over and picked up
her
doggy co–conspirator.
"You better hope he thinks one of us is cute."
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