001Chapter 123, Sycamore Avenue. Every time I saw a headlight, I jumped. The dog sitter's boyfriend would not be searching for me, but I was still scared. I stayed away from the headlights, the car doors, and the icy spots. I hopped fast to keep warm and licked the snow when I got thirsty. My heart began to beat faster as I got closer. The streets were so familiar. The meowing cats in the corner house. The rich cinnamon and nutmeg smells of the turban lady's house. The bada bada shing of the girl practicing her drums. It felt so good to be back on Sycamore Avenue. It almost felt like I had four legs again. When I got to number 17, the light was on. I scanned the driveway for the dog sitter's small white car and the dog
002sitter's boyfriend's big blue truck. They weren't there, but neither was the professor's station wagon. Chapter 124. Home. I hopped up the path to the porch. The wicker chairs had not been covered. The flyers on the doororknob had not been collected. The snow on the path had not been shuffled. No one was home. Chapter 125. The great dog park in the sky. I ran around the yard peeing on every bush. Then I curled up in my favorite spot under the porch wing and fell into a deep sleep. The next morning when I woke up, the driveway was still empty. The house still deserted, the porch covered with ice. I was stiff with cold, my mouth dry, my bones achy. I melted snow on my tongue and kept waiting. I didn't know what else to do. By
003midm morning, it was warmer and comforting smells filled the air. The wood burning stove next door, the cornbread baking across the street, the sunbaked bicycle grease smell of the porch. This was home. If I was going to the great dog park in the sky, I wanted to leave from here. Chapter 126. A left ear scratch. I heard a delivery truck pull into the driveway. A man with dreads and purple glasses jumped out. He wore a brown uniform and smelled like double mint gum. Dimbe. I love Dimmbeay, the UPS driver who left packages for the professor. I wagged my tail. Chance, where you been, girl? Dimbeay reached in his coat pocket for a biscuit. I swallowed it whole as Dimmbeay carried a large suitcase up the stairs and rolled it to the door. He reached in
004his pocket for another biscuit. "Cold out here for you?" Dimbeay said, scratching behind my left ear. I like a left ear scratch better than a right ear scratch. And Dimbeay remembered that. You okay here? He asked. But I wasn't paying attention to him right then because I had sniffed something. I stared at the suitcase. Even with all the new spell smells. Airplane exhaust. Garlic bread. To show you the photo there. Double mint gum. I caught the aroma of toasted almonds and manila folders. Professor J. Besser. The tag said. I crawled onto the suitcase and curled up, happier than I had been for a very long time. It was only after Dimbe left that I began thinking about what management had said about me. Nobody wants a dog with three legs. Well, thank you for joining
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