Bailey's Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

really expect me to stay out here in the garage all night long? By myself?
    It couldn’t be!
    I couldn’t stand the thought of the boy lying in bed without me, all alone. The idea was so sad it made me want to chew shoes.
    I began to whimper. Softly at first, and then louder. And louder. Surely someone in the family would hear me. They’d understand that I needed to be with my boy!
    A long time went by. No one came.
    My cries grew louder.
    After forever, the door to the house eased open a crack. “Bailey,” the boy whispered. “Shhh, Bailey, it’s okay.”
    I almost barked with relief, but I got the sense from Ethan that I shouldn’t. I kept quiet, but I nuzzled and licked his knees and legs frantically as he slipped through the door, carrying a blanket and a pillow. “Okay, doghouse, doghouse,” he told me in a low voice. And we were playing the right way now, because he crawled in, too. I crammed in after him. I didn’t even care that he didn’t have a biscuit.
    Ethan wiggled around until he had half the blanket underneath him and half over his legs. It was certainly snug in there; the boy’s feet stuck out of the door, and my back legs did, too. I didn’t care. It meant I was closer to my boy. With a sigh, I put my head on his chest. He stroked my ears.
    â€œGood dog, Bailey,” he murmured.
    So that strange and bewildering day had a nice ending after all. I closed my eyes, and the boy and I went to sleep together.
    A little while later, I was woken up by a quiet click coming from the door to the house. It was the sound of the latch opening. I opened my eyes and peered out of the doghouse to see Mom and Dad standing in the rectangle of light that led into the kitchen. I wagged my tail softly a few times to greet them, but I didn’t move my head. I didn’t want to wake up the boy.
    Finally, Dad came out. Gently, he tugged Ethan and the blanket out of the doghouse. Naturally, I came, too. Ethan stirred a little and then slumped back into sleep as his father picked him up.
    Mom gestured to me. “Shh, Bailey,” she whispered. Dad carried Ethan up to bed, and Mom and I followed. No one tried to stop me as I hopped right up on the bed with Ethan.
    I settled down with Ethan’s chest for a pillow. Without opening his eyes, he put a sleepy arm around me.

 
    6
    But the next day, as if nobody had learned anything, I was back out in the garage again ! What was the matter with these people?
    This time there was far less to do. I did manage to get the pad off the floor of the doghouse and shred it up pretty well. I knocked over the metal trash container, but I couldn’t get the lid off. Too bad; I could smell some scraps of last night’s macaroni and cheese in there.
    There was nothing on the floor of the garage that I could chew. I couldn’t reach the stuff that Dad had put on the shelves last night.
    This was no fun at all.
    Restlessly, I wandered over to the dog door and scratched at it. The flap moved and a waft of damp, delicious air from the backyard drifted in. It had rained in the night, and I loved the way the water clung to the air and dripped from the leaves of the trees, scattering down in showers when a breeze came by. Damp air carried so many more smells than dry. My nose picked up exhaust from cars, Mom’s roses, burnt toast from next door, wet earth, living leaves on the trees and dead ones scattered on the ground.
    I leaned against the dog door, my nose working hard to draw the smells in. I leaned farther. And then, suddenly, I was out in the yard! The boy hadn’t even pushed me!
    I tore around the backyard, barking with excitement. I was out! I was outside, surrounded by all of those marvelous smells!
    I squatted and peed into the grass. It was nicer to do it outside, anyway, even apart from the fuss that all the humans made about their floors and rugs. I liked to wipe my paws on the lawn after I went, so that the