The Disappearance of Duck, Part 2

Hell Hound is sitting on the back stoop staring into the darkness when I approach. I lean really close to her face. "Alright, Where's Duck?" Hell hound looks down at the ground, and fakes a sneeze.

"That duck better show up alive by morning or you're moving out," I warn her. She stares at me with droopy eyes, feigning amnesia no doubt. I look out into the yard. It's past dusk now and bugs are everywhere. I'll never find duck without light, so I decide to get up early the next morning to begin a search mission.

Hell Hound avoids me for the rest of the evening. At two a.m., she's attempting to jump on my bed. I hear, "Tap, Tap, Tap, PLOP!" She's trying to gain the momentum for the leap, but the size of her furry rear prevents her legs from take off. I roll over to catch her by surprise. "Where's Duck," I hiss. We're nose to nose in the dark. Startled, she mutters a quick growl and retreats to the corner to settle on the floor.

I rise early the next day, and grab the garden shovel from the shed. Hell Hound follows me, suspicious. I decide to act busy and spy on her. She doesn't disappoint me. She goes right to duck and moves him to a new location in the yard. I'm relieved because it looks like he's still intact.

Hiding behind the basement doors, I watch Hell Hound bury duck again. When she settles down next to her hostage to keep guard, I roll my bait in her direction. It's a chocolate chip cookie. Her nose lifts and she stands. I pounce on her when she approaches the cookie. I tie up Hell Hound on her leash and go to save duck. I find him full of mud and slightly battered, but otherwise unharmed. In the hole where Hell Hound buried her, there is an interesting assortment of lost objects: an old library card, a piece of junk mail, a chewed blue ball, a rusty key, one of my husband's dress socks, a soda can, a broken cell phone, a chewed leather wallet, a police badge, and remains of countless other stuffed animals.

I retreat to the house with duck, ready to put him in the wash before the princess wakes up. Hell hound is panting. She knows I dug up her stash. I unleash her and she runs directly to it, moving things to some other place. Some of those objects are really bizarre. Maybe she's planning an escape. I wonder, could I be that lucky?