Several minutes passed while Gibson and Stretch brainstormed how to get back to the dog park. Swimming up the river wasn’t an option because the current was too strong. Calling for help wasn’t going to do them much good with all the loud traffic. The only other option was to walk back up along the river. And since the beach was small, they had no choice but to walk through the thick bush.
“You’ll go first though, right Gibs?” Stretch whispered to her. “Because, you know…you’re the ambassador.” He winked at her and tried to hide the subtle quiver of his lower lip.
Gibson gulped. She had never walked through a dark forest before.
“Stretch, I don’t think I …” she trailed off when she noticed Stretch’s wink soon becoming a narrowing of both eyes. “Never mind, I’ll go first”. Stretch’s eyes brightened and his tail began to wag vigorously.
“Okay Clover, are you ready to go home?” Gibson called back to the puppy.
“Oh, we’re going on our big dog adVENTURE!?” The fluffy puppy jumped up from where she had been resting. Gibson snickered at her clumsy antics. Clover’s legs were not coordinated and she tripped and stumbled, as she ran towards them. Now that the puppy was completely dried off, Gibson could see her jet-black muzzle and grey face. Her body was light grey with thin transparent tufts of black and gold fur splattered over her body. Gibson loved how rich the colors of puppy fur was.
“Where are we going to go first!? Who is going to lead? Then, maybe I can lead! Yeah! Can I help lead?!” The puppy sprung up into the air, her hair fluttering in the wind as she did. When she landed, she playfully grabbed Gibson’s ear and shook it gently with a low rumbling play growl.
“AHEM!” Stretch pushed his way between the two dogs, although he was still underneath Gibson’s stretched ear. He stomped his front foot firmly into the sand though it didn’t make much of a sound. Clover rolled on her back in an act of submission, with Gibson’s ear still held loosely in her mouth.
“Drop that ear!” Stretch commanded. Clover let the ear fall out of her mouth but stayed on her back and let her tail wag back and forth gently.
“Oh you are cute, aren’t you!” Stretch jumped up and ran around Clover playfully for a split second before stopping abruptly once again.
“Okay.” Stretch shook off as he grew serious. “I want to go home and these little legs aren’t going to get there themselves.” He stomped again.
“Deal!” Clover sprung up and tripped over her front legs again. Her chin hit the sand with a thud.
Shaking their heads at the clumsy puppy, Gibson and Stretch headed towards the bush.
“So, are you sure you don’t want to lead, Stretch?” Gibson looked forward cautiously as the dark forest awaited. “You were really good with Clover. I could never do that. You’d probably be a great leader through the forest too.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming!” Clover called out. Her clumsy feet galloped up behind Gibson and Stretch. She raced in front of them and ran straight into the forest. The sound of breaking branches and rustling leaves followed her.
Gibson and Stretch both ran towards the edge of the tree line to follow the puppy. Clover hadn’t made it far so they could see she had already gotten stuck in a small bush. Her fur was tangled in the branches.
“Clover,” Gibson tried not to laugh, “are you okay?” She dodged the stray branches as she walked over to inspect the puppy. Meanwhile, Stretch was behind Gibson, making no attempt to hide his laughter.
“I’m okay,” Clover sighed as her body sagged with defeat. Gibson reached forward with her teeth and gently grabbed onto Clover’s thick scruff. She pulled her out of the grips of the bush.
“That tree just got in my way,” Clover slouched down. Gibson and Stretch began slowly picking off the twigs that had nestled their way into her fur.
“Well, why don’t you say we all just stick together so that doesn’t happen again?” Gibson asked her. “How does that sound?” She hoped she wasn’t sounding too pushy.
“Can I be the leader?!” Clover perked up. One ear stood all the way up before it flopped down over her eye. She blew it out of the way and it stood half way up again.
“Why don’t you two take turns being the leader,” Stretch chimed in.
“Why don’t we ALL take turns being the leader?” Gibson gave him a stern look. Stretch was grinning nervously.
“Ok. We’ll all take turns. Gibs, why don’t you start?” Stretch’s nervous smile grew wider. “You can have the longest turn and then Clover, you can be the next leader.”
With a huff, Gibson marched forward, motioning for the others to follow. She didn’t have time to argue with Stretch. She wanted to get home. She didn’t want to be the leader through the dark bush but she told herself she could do it. After all, she did swim out into a raging river and rescue a puppy. At the thought of her accomplishment, she stood taller.
“Yeah,” she thought to herself, she could lead Stretch and Clover through the dark forest and back to the dog park. She could do this.
With each step the dogs took, the thick branches in the bush towered higher and higher over them. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the branches and their surroundings grew darker. Clover and Stretch stayed close behind Gibson and despite all their attempts to be brave, they all startled at the rustling of leaves and the sound of small twigs snapping off in the distance.
“Oh no,” Stretch trembled. “What if we see a beeearrr? I’ve never seen one but I don’t want to! I’ve heard they’re like, TWICE the size of me!”
“What?!” Gibson half yelled, half whispered. “There are BEARS here!?”
“What’s a bear?” Clover casually asked, oblivious to the fear in their voices. A small green frog hopped in front of her. She jumped when it sprung up and over her, before it carried on its way back towards the river.
“I don’t know if there are bears,” Stretch whispered, “but what if there are Gibs? What do we do then?”
“Stretch, don’t scare me.” Gibson said to him, annoyed. She could feel her long legs begin to tremble.
“But I’m scared Gibs!” Stretch ran underneath her.
“Clover will protect you.” Gibson said sarcastically as she stepped forward so Stretch couldn’t stand underneath her. “Right, Clover?”
Silence.
“Clover?” Gibson said again.
“Clover?” Stretch called out.
“CLOVER!?” They called out in unison.
“ROOOOOOARRRR!” Clover sprung out of the bush, jumping onto Gibson, tossing her backwards.
In a panic, Stretch took off running through the trees. His short and narrow body weaved through the tall tree trunks and he crawled under the fallen ones. When Gibson stopped tumbling, she looked up from where she was sprawled out on forest floor to see Stretch casually strolling back towards them.
“Clover! That was NOT funny!” Gibson jumped back up onto all four feet and dusted the loose dirt off her fur. She could see that some of it was embedded in her curls. So much for that bath, she thought to herself.
Clover was now tugging on Gibson’s ear again. “Is this what bears do? Is it? Is it?”
Unsure of what to do, Gibson just continued walking, her body leaning to the side that Clover was tugging on.
“Haha you’re funny Clover, but now please let go. It’s not nice to scare big dogs like that or to hang off their ears.” Gibson was trying to remain calm but was getting frustrated. Why wouldn’t puppies listen to her?
“How come?” Clover muttered with Gibson’s ear still in her mouth.
“HEY!” Stretch jumped in between them. Both Clover and Gibson startled. “ENOUGH of that!” He charged a few steps towards Clover who ran backwards and tripped over her legs before tumbling. She blew her ears out of her eyes again.
“We have to get home before dark so let’s GO!” Stretch casually marched behind Gibson and waited for her to start walking.