A New Friend

Gather around, little ones. Class is about to begin! Do any of you remember what I had said last class that I would talk about today?

"Something about good unity," said one pup.

Not quite. Any other guesses?

"You said you had a good opportunity!" said another pup.

Awesome, you got it! That's exactly what I had said. Today, I am going to start talking about the opportunity I had and what happened as a result. Make sure to wear your listening ears for this one.

A few days had gone by after the raccoon incident, and my stomach was rumbling. My last meal had been some leftover spaghetti that the raccoons had given me. However, I couldn't find any food anywhere.

One afternoon, I heard some rustling in a nearby bush. Of course, I had to go investigate. When I came out from behind the bush, I found the culprit of the noise. It was a rabbit.

I was never a fan of rabbits. They would hop up really close to the outside of my backyard fence, just out of reach from me. They would stare at me with their beady little eyes, knowing I could not catch them because I was imprisoned by the fence.

I thought this was my chance. I was starving, and I hated rabbits. I made up my mind. I was going to try to catch that rabbit and eat it.

I took off towards the rabbit, and oh my, was it fast. The rabbit bolted like a million miles an hour away from me as I began nipping at its heels. I chased the rabbit all throughout the neighborhood until it ran into a dead end. I had him cornered with nowhere to run.

As I took a few steps closer, the rabbit squealed, "Leave me alone, Mister."

First of all, I did not know rabbits could talk. Rabbits have never spoken to me before. Second, I started to feel bad about killing the rabbit.

I took a few more steps towards the rabbit, and he cowered to the ground.

"Please, Mister, I have a family," said the rabbit.

I bent down towards the rabbit as he closed his eyes thinking his fate was sealed. I opened my mouth, and I gave him a big lick with my tongue.

"I'm not going to eat you," I said.

I just couldn't do it. Yes, I had attempted to hunt with the coyotes and ate their scraps. But I was never able to kill. I couldn't kill another animal especially one with a family. The rabbit was very surprised by the lick.

"Thank you so much," said the rabbit.

"Be safe out there," I said.

The rabbit hopped away, and I was left with nothing but a grumbling stomach. I continued walking and thought I would go to one area of the neighborhood I had yet to go to.

I eventually came upon a funny-looking dog playing in its front yard. As I approached it, I called out to it saying hello. The dog stopped and looked up at me and said, "Hello, my name is Jack!"

Jack and I had a conversation. I explained that I was out looking for happiness and a new family. I told him all about my experiences and how I was currently searching for a bite to eat. He explained to me that he was a famous corgi. He had an Instagram called @jackthecorgi. I thought he was a little strange because he talked about how he had all these different outfits that he wore for his Instagram posts and all of the different places he had been. We got along pretty good, and he told me that his owner was a famous chef and that he was cooking a feast tonight for some of his close friends. Jack told me that I was more than welcome to join him later that evening for the feast. So, I returned to my bush in the meantime.

I lay behind the bush for the rest of the day until it was time for the feast. I went to Jack's house and met him right where he told me to. I was so excited.

"Let's sneak around back," said Jack.

"Are you sure your owner won't care that I am here?" I asked.

"No, not at all," said Jack.

We went through the back door and immediately I could smell all of the amazing foods. There was food for as far as the eye could see, and I began to salivate at the smell. Jack took me over to the main table. The guests had yet to arrive, so Jack and I hopped up on some of the table's chairs.

"Can we start to eat?" I asked Jack.

"Go for it," he said.

I dove right in and began chomping down on the food. I went for my favorite first, roasted chicken. It tasted so good, and I couldn't help but wag my tail. The cook started to approach the table, but I wasn't worried because Jack said he would not care. The cook got closer, and I started to become a little confused because he had a mean look on his face. All of a sudden, he picked me up by the back of my neck and tossed me outside the back doors. I let out a yelp in pain when I hit the ground, but I was okay for the most part.

Jack ran outside and told me he was very sorry. He did not think his owner would care and expressed how bad he had felt. I told him that it was okay, and I thanked him for the food that I did eat. I returned to my bush, and although I did have some food to eat, I was still hungry.

You guys will have to wait to hear what happens next.

"I don't like waiting," said one of the pups.

I promise it will be worth it. Now hurry on home! Your owners will start to wonder where you all are if you don't go back home soon. I will see you all next class!

Next Story: The Neighborhood Monster

Author's Note: For this story, I utilized two stories. The first original story I had used talked about a dog chasing a rabbit. The dog would both nip at and lick the rabbit, and I thought it would be interesting to include something similar in my story. In the original, the dog wasn't necessarily a friend or an enemy of the rabbit, so I wanted to include something similar. In my story, Howie chases the rabbit just like in the original and licks him as well. I add more details in my story as to why Howie began chasing the rabbit, which was because the rabbit was going to be a meal. I also used another original story about a rich man's dog who invited another dog over to the man's feast. The cook at the rich man's feast saw the stranger dog eating some of the dishes and threw him out a window. I kept the plot of that story mostly the same for my story. The man having the feast in my story was the cook himself, and I also gave more details about the owner's dog. In my story, Howie was thrown out the back doors instead of a window.

Story Source: "The Dog and the Hare" from Aesop's Books.

"The Dog and the Cook" from Sacred Texts.