Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog (9 page)

Mutt, Stripes, and Poo-Poo began hopping up and down immediately. “It is her! It is her!” they all exclaimed at once.

“Shhh,” said Stick Dog.

The other dogs lowered their voices immediately, but they were still jumping and twisting like crazy.

“I'm really, really glad she's not a donkey,” whispered Poo-Poo.

“It could still be a costume,” said Stripes. “But I'm pretty sure it's not.”

“Okay, okay. Settle down,” said Stick Dog. “Now that we found her, we have to save her.”

Chapter 7
Someone Seeks a Girlfriend

Karen stared at them from under the heart-decorated boxer shorts. She inched out a little farther. Her eyes darted quickly left and right, and then she hopped from the basket. She was excited to see her friends and began trotting happily toward them.

Stick Dog raised his paws to signal her to stop.

But it was too late.

Obviously not seeing the glass door and never adjusting her speed, Karen bumped her head right into it. She fell down instantly but popped back up just as quickly. She rubbed her forehead with her right front paw. The look on her face showed her pain, but it indicated sadness and frustration even more. She now knew it wasn't going to be easy to get back to her friends.

Stick Dog pushed his shoulder into the doorframe as hard as he could a couple of times.

It didn't budge.

Instantly, Karen's face turned from sadness and frustration to panic. On the other side of the glass, Stripes, Mutt, and Poo-Poo were pacing and circling nervously.

Stick Dog gave the doorframe a final shove, but nothing happened. “It's locked,” he said, and panted. “We can't get her out this way.”

“Oh, yes we can,” said Poo-Poo. He took several steps away from the door, lowered his head battering-ram style, and said, “Stand back, everybody.”

Stripes and Mutt stepped quickly out of the way. Even Karen, who couldn't hear Poo-Poo but certainly recognized the familiar head-smashing-into-something stance, stepped back on her side of the glass door.

Stick Dog didn't move. “Stop, Poo-Poo,” he said, holding up a front paw, pads toward Poo-Poo. “We can't have you crashing your head through a glass door. That's dangerous.”

“What about the wall?” asked Poo-Poo sincerely.

Stick Dog smiled. “Yes. If we can't figure out another way,” he answered. “Then you can try breaking through the wall.”

Poo-Poo tapped his forehead three times against the patio, then lifted up his head and said, “I'll be ready.”

After looking over both her shoulders, Karen came closer and put her front paws up against the glass. Her eyes were pleading. She dropped back to all fours suddenly. And then she was gone.

“Where'd she go?” asked Stripes.

“She ran off,” said Stick Dog. A single second later he said, “Quick! Hide! She must have heard the human coming!”

Poo-Poo and Mutt scurried behind the grill and some flowerpots. Stripes ducked behind a big pot with a tomato plant growing in it. Stick Dog dove behind a chair. They could all still see through the glass door. And, sure enough, the big man with the beard came into the room. He began searching through the laundry basket.

“He's looking for Karen!” Mutt whispered.

“He's going to find her!” Stripes exclaimed.

“I'm ready, Stick Dog,” Poo-Poo declared, bumping his head against the grill two times. “Just give the word.”

“Stay where you are,” Stick Dog whispered. He was watching the human's movements closely and with great seriousness. “I'm pretty sure she's not in the basket again. He would have found her by now. She must be hiding somewhere else.”

“That's the strangest hat I've ever seen,” whispered Poo-Poo. He was staring at a fuzzy strip of material the man had placed on his head.

“It's hollow,” observed Mutt.

“Now what's he doing?” Stripes asked from behind the tomato plant. She had already checked the plant for something to eat, but there were no tomatoes. It was too early in the season. “What the heck are those things?”

The bearded man with the strange, fuzzy, hollow hat reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a wire. The wire plugged into a small box on one end, and from the other end ran a long wire with a small, white ball attached at the very tip. He took the small ball and pressed it into his left ear.

“What the—” Mutt exclaimed.

“What is that thing?” Poo-Poo asked.

“Maybe he's a robot. Or an alien,” Stripes suggested. “That must be his brain antenna receptor.”

Poo-Poo nodded. “That explains it. No normal creature would shove something into his ear like that.”

“Shh!” Stick Dog said. “He's a human. But I have no idea what he's doing.”

“Look! Look!” Stripes said urgently. “Is he dancing?”

The man had spread out his legs very wide and was now leaning forward, trying to touch the floor. He did this several times in a row. He then put his hands on his hips and rotated his abdomen in one direction for a few circles—and then switched directions.

Stick Dog, Stripes, Poo-Poo, and Mutt stared at the human's peculiar behavior. As they did, it got even stranger.

His head was rocking rhythmically back and forth while he grabbed his right foot and stretched his right leg backward. He then did the exact same thing to the left side.

“Ouch!” said Stripes, watching in amazement. “What kind of freak would hurt himself like that?!”

Next, the bearded man balled his hands into fists and began to swing his arms back and forth. Simultaneously, he lifted his legs in turn, his knees rising and falling.

The man suddenly stopped, dropped to his stomach, and pushed himself up and down from the floor with his arms. He did this ten times, still rocking his head in a rhythmic manner.