~~The day dawned softly as sunlight slowly filtered through the trees, sparkling delicately till it reached the leaf laden forest floor. It added lovely shades of purple and pink to the gold of autumn splendor. The trees murmured their contentment by slowly rocking back and forth and peacefully whispering things only trees understand. The birds flitted amongst them, cheerfully welcoming the cool morning breeze and filling the air with their ever varying songs of joy

~~Such was the morning this forest was blessed with, and such was the morning a lazy dog was missing. But he didn't mind. The early bird may get the worm, but the early dog has only longer to wait for his breakfast. Unconcerned, he lay curled up tightly in a ball, under a widespread and low-hanging evergreen branch, comfortably nestled in a shallow hole he had expertly furnished for himself the evening before. His slumber, however, was interrupted by a strange scurrying sound next to his ear. He lazily tried to block it out by covering his ear with his paw, but the scurrying and shuffling refused to be ignored. Slightly annoyed, the dog opened one eye to see what all the fuss was about. He barely caught sight of the little offender disappearing under a pile of leaves.

~~Nothing entices a dog more than the sight of a rapidly retreating animal, and this dog was no exception. He leaped to his feet, instantly awake and keenly intent on the pile. A leaf rustled, and the dog dove in, vigorously digging through the golden brown pile of leaves, searching everywhere for the small creature who had dared arouse him from his precious sleep. At last he removed a large leaf and discovered a small mouse with her mouth full of bread. She darted for cover under another leaf, and the dog pounced again. Slowly warming to this new game, the dog chased the mouse from leaf to leaf, and bush to bush, until they had traveled some distance from the place where it had originally started. The mouse seemed to take full advantage of her size and frustrated the dog by continuously darting through thick vines and scurrying rapidly from one place to another, so that the dog was forced to keep turning in circles in an effort to keep up. Every time the dog tried to pounce on the rodent, his paws proved empty upon removing them. Briefly glancing upward, he suddenly recognized where they were headed. The trees had opened into a clearing, and his master’s chicken coop was only ten strides away. If the mouse made it through the chicken wire, she would be safe, and the dog would have to leave her alone.

~~With new determination he dove into a bush after her, but jumped back startled and whimpering when he met sharp thorns full in the face. One branch refused to let go, and he realized painfully, that one of the long thorns must have lodged itself into his nose. Humiliated, he held his head as still as he could, and looked as far as possible to his right. He saw the mouse making her way rapidly toward the coop. frantically the dog wrenched his face free and yelped as the thorns tore deep scratches in his nose as they released him. He rushed at the chicken coop as fast as his lanky legs would take him, and reached the fence just as the mouse slipped through it. The dog sighed, but barked furiously three times, as if to say, "and don't you ever come back!"

~~Of course the chickens woke up, and they squawked and flapped wildly in an effort to escape the dog's wrath. But the dog had no intention of hurting them. This was his master's coop, and his master's chickens. It was his job to protect them, not to hurt them. However, if they were slightly flustered, it was none of his concern, and he seemed to grin as he thought of the lesson he must have taught to that ornery mouse.

~~A strange smell filled his nostrils, but before he could examine it, a shrill whistle pierced the air, and the dog snapped to attention with his ears high and alert. A boy's voice called to him, and the dog's lips widened into a slobbery smile and he bounded in the direction of his master. Bursting through the underbrush, he spotted his beloved boy across the neatly mowed lawn, standing on the long white porch of his Victorian styled house. In his hands he held a coffee can, and the dog knew it held his kibble.

~~The boy laughed as he descended the two steps to the dew covered grass and watched the dog as he barked and sped across the front yard toward him. Bending down, the boy filled the dog's dish with food. The sound of kibble clanking on the inside of the metal bowl excited the dog, and his tail seemed ready to fly off its hinges! But at last he was eagerly gobbling down his breakfast while his master sat patting him, and spoke to him in very confiding tones. Of course the dog couldn't understand exactly what his master was saying, but he could tell by his voice that something was supposed to happen today. He didn't know if that was good or bad.

~~