“Throw it Mommy!  Throw it!!”

The words came out in an excited burst despite my best effort to control myself.  She leaned over and scooped the green tennis ball up, then smiled at me.

“Ready Mylo?”

Ready?  Of course, I am ready.  I was born for this moment.  A jolt of energy surged through me.  My eyes shifted up to meet Mommy’s gaze and my head bobbed up and down like a toy bobble head.

“Gooooooo … get it!”

Her arm swung forward sending the fuzzy orb rocketing across the wide open space.  I took off like a mini cheetah, bounding across the yard, the feel of the beautiful green grass tickled between my toes.  My body extended fully with each leap forward, and the feel of my muscles at work was so fantastic that my tongue fell from my mouth and flapped in the wind almost matching the verve of my ears bouncing too and fro.

The tennis ball had come to a stop and was almost within reach.  I began to apply the breaks when a large rumbling came from down the street.  The distraction brought me to a rapid halt, stopping so quickly that I almost fell over.

“You okay Mylo?”

“All good Mommy!”

Another earth moving rumble shook the ground beneath my feet.  My head swiveled on my neck in the general direction of the tumultuous racket, but nothing seemed amiss. 

I put it aside and bent down to pick up the ball and return it to Mommy.  One more blast struck just as my lips touched the wonderful fuzziness.

My eyelids fluttered open.  Once the haze of sleep had worn off, my surroundings came into view.  Two green Queen Anne chairs suddenly emerged from the fogginess.  Behind the chairs I glanced out the windows and could make out the blue skies with the warm sun dancing on the tops of the houses across the street.  Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a rather large orange cat doing his best to slink unnoticed across the room, but when you are his size, it is not easy to travel without being seen.

“What are you doing Rapi?”

The cat stopped dead in his tracks and swung his head in my direction.  He held a white paw his lips and gently shushed me.  I met his gaze and nodded to let him know that I got his meaning.  I slithered off the sofa like a snake, then tip toed across the room.  He waited until we were face to face then shot me a grimace to let me know, that perhaps my presence was not welcomed.  Fortunate for me that I am a puppy and still don’t know how to take a hint. 

“What is it, Rapi?”

I lowered my voice to a whisper so that I didn’t disturb … whatever it was that I was not supposed to disturb.

“Listen,” the cat hissed under his breath.

I let my butt plop down on the ground and took Rapi’s advise.  I heard several sounds:  Mommy clacking away at the computer, the tune coming from the birds in the side yard and an ominous dark rumbling.  A yelp almost escaped my lips, but I managed to stifle it before Rapi slapped me upside my head with is paw. 

“What is that?”

The orange cat just looked at me and shrugged.

“That’s what I am trying to figure out, but to be honest, it is making me kind of nervous.”

I noticed that his focus was on the space underneath the sofa as he was making his confession.  I closed my mouth and shook my head at him with firm resolve.

“We need to find out what that is.”

“Before somebody gets hurt,” Rapi added.

Two abrupt booms echoed across the room followed by a low growl. 

Everything was okay right up until that moment.  That growl had me thinking that maybe Rapi was right about someone getting hurt.  I looked over my shoulder at the cat and was shocked by the two extra large saucer shaped green eyes that stared back at me.

“M …m … maybe we should just go upstairs and hide under the blankets!”

I felt my face scrunch up into a scowl.  Another low rumble cut through the air.  This time the cat did jump then dove underneath the sofa.  A quick glance in the direction the noise had come from revealed that nothing was out of place.  Nobody was lurking around either.  What was concerning was where the noise had come from.

“T … t… that came from Mommy’s office,” Rapi stuttered.

“I know,” I answered, my head bobbing up and down to add emphasis.

“C’mon Rapi. Let’s go.  We need to save Mommy!”

I turned, but the cat hadn’t moved.  Non one single solitary inch.  I lowered my eyebrows and gave him the death stare.  It wasn’t enough to convince him.

“I’ll tell you what.  You go first and I will have your back.  Sound good?”

The cat had broken out into a cold sweat and his eyes were pleading with me to not make him do this. 

“Fine,” I grumbled.

I stood tall and started towards the office door.  The dreadful noise was now a constant grinding.  I was about to push the door open when I spotted a stick standing in the corner.  I thought back to this morning’s walk and was thankful now that I had brought it in with me.  Mommy had complained then, but she will be glad I didn’t listen to her.  Eagerly, I snatched the stick up into my jaws and approached the door again.

I lifted my paw and placed it softly against the door.  A decision needed to be made.  Do I push the door open and spring into the room, or slowly open the door and try to sneak in without being caught?  I let each scenario play out in my head and had made a choice.  Again, I placed my paw on the door and was about to push when an urgent tug on my tail sent me spinning around.  The stick came crashing to the ground just missing the orange cat who managed to jump out of harms way at the last second. 

“Be careful,” Rapi grumbled.

I stumbled backward, still stunned by the unexpected turn of events.  My backside banged into the door, which swung open.  Mommy’s eyes darted towards us with a glare then returned to the computer screen. 

On the other side of her chair, lounging comfortable in her bed was a big brown dog, who let out two familiar sounding snorts, opened her eyes, gave us a groggy smile, and fell back asleep.  Rapi and I stared open mouthed at each other.

“I guess it was just Cindee snoring,” the portly cat said with a sheepish smile and a nod towards the sleeping dog.

“I guess,” I answered with a smile.

“Let’s go.  Best to let sleeping dogs lie!”

The two of us rose to our feet and strolled out of the room, leaving a trail of giggles behind us.