My name is Sophie. I like to run. Running is good. It makes your ears flap in the breeze.

I am the dog. You may know me. Mom writes about me. I whisper the stories to her she is not looking. I am a hound. I have superior mind control skills. I have big ears. When she asks if I was putting story ideas in her head I raise my ears. They call me Yoda. I am smart. I distract them with Yoda.

We hounds must have superior mind control to do our work. We find things. It is our job to find it and get our people to come see what we found. Sometimes they don’t think what I found is interesting. I don’t understand. I don’t understand those retrievers either. I say blek to retrievers. Want someone to get your tennis balls get yourself a retriever. I am a hound. I am special. I find things by my self. My cousin is retriever. Retrievers can be special too. I am a hound.

Mom and Dad think they taught me to wait in the car. They did not teach me. I used my superior hound intellect. I let them think they were training me so I could get the dog cookies. I like dog cookies. I like chicken. Do you have any chicken? Do you have a chicken leg for me?

I taught them to let me sit in the car when they tried to clean up the garage. BORING. Our before the fire our garage was an antique museum with camping gear. Whenever we drove in the garage they would say, “we should clean this up.” Every time. I tried show them they were being silly. 200 days a year you say you are going to do it and 4 days a year you do it. Silly people, don’t they know that saying it 200 times does not count? Gak. Acting like Dorothy clicking her heals to go home to Kansas.

That makes me think about Toto. Strange dog. Sits in a basket and then barks down

When they worked outside I let them think of opening the van door for me. Ah. My sofa in there just right for napping. I never jumped out without their permission. If I jumped out they might not let me get in. I sat in the car and looked obedient.

The day of the fire Mom told me to get in the car. I did. I am obedient. I leaned against the back seat a little confused. They were confused. I thought they were looking for their shoes so we could go for a hike. Then they brought stuff to the car and I thought, “JACKPOT!” we are going camping. They looked really worried. Maybe we are not going camping. Maybe Mom has work stuff. We went down the road and Mom and Dad were really worried. I got worried. Then I saw lots of police cars coming up our road. Dad almost hit one since it was on his side of the road. I was confused. After a long time of sitting in the car we got to go to the Marriott. I like the Marriott. They like me. They give me cookies.

Now we live in a house that is as big as a yard. I can run and play. I like to play. I liked to play at my house where we lived. I like my house but I cannot find it anymore. Mom says we are getting a new house.

Mom and Dad take me hiking. We like hiking. Mom has been sick a lot so we don’t go much. We went last week. The air was warm. The snow was cold. I had fun. I got wet. I got muddy. When we got to the car I was too tired to get in. Mom helped me. She was nice but she put her hand in my hinnie. I had to squiggle around so I could be decent.

When I got in the car Mom took my jacket off. She said it was wet. I said, “Guess you did not see that one coming.” Like DUH. Wet snow = wet clothes. I was  cold. I shivered. Mom looked for a blanket. They all died in the fire. She her coat around me. Can you believe it? She put my legs in the sleeves and buttoned the top button. How EMBARRASSING! Suppose some other dog had seen me?

I was cold. I thanked Mom. I was quiet on the way home. I was tired. I went three times as far as they did.

My name is Sophie. I like to run. Running is good. It makes your ears flap in the breeze. It is good for your ears to flap. It is good to be happy.