1 An Odd Morning

 

  One warm summer morning, I woke up in my doggy bed and stretched with a big yawn.

  “Ahhh,” I sighed happily.

  Outside the window, I could hear birds singing. But that was about all I could hear.…

  Sniffing the air, I tilted my head. Something about today felt different. It felt, smelled, and sounded different. Usually my human family would be making lots of noise by now. But today the house was quiet.

   

  Too quiet.

  Sleepily I headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

  But when I poked my head into the kitchen, no one was there.

  My human parents, Darnell and Jennica, weren’t cooking up their delicious breakfast. And my human siblings, Imani and Wyatt, weren’t pouring my kibble into my doggy dish.

   

  I looked left, right, and even up and down. Where was everyone?

  “Good morning?” I woofed. “Um… is anyone else hungry for breakfast?”

  Every pup knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Without it, how could I go play with my farm friends?

   

  Should I start breakfast for them? I wondered, imagining myself as a chef. But that didn’t seem like a good idea.

  Suddenly Darnell and Jennica rushed past me in a whirl of backpacks and towels.

  “Whoa!” I barked in surprise, jumping out of the way. “There you are!”

  “Sorry, Bo,” Darnell said. “We’re in a bit of a rush, buddy. But don’t worry—I’ve got your breakfast and toys packed up right here.”

   

   

  He patted one of the backpacks. It was bone-shaped, and I wondered if it tasted just as yummy.

  I wagged my tail. Was this backpack for me?

  “Imani! Wyatt!” Jennica called up the stairs. “It’s time to go!”

  “Time to go where?” I asked.

  “We’re coming!” Imani and Wyatt shouted back.

  Too curious to wait for my human siblings to come down, I followed Darnell outside.

  I watched as he piled the backpacks in the back of the big, clunky, metal thing the Davises called Car.

   

  Everyone seemed to like Car a lot. I knew it took them to faraway places, but I wasn’t so sure that I trusted Car. It made loud noises and looked like it ran too fast. Faster than even me and my foal friend, Comet.

  Darnell climbed into Car’s front seat. He must’ve done something to make it mad, because suddenly the door swung closed, and Car roared to life with a loud VROOM.

  Oh, no—Darnell was trapped inside!