The Missing Bone

 

Midge woke up when her owner got out of bed and went to the kitchen. Midge stretched and looked around for her little chew bone. She looked under the bed, in her little bed that sat in the corner of the bedroom and found no bone. She leaped back onto the bed and pushed her nose around in the blankets and found no bone. She ran to the living room and was looking under the sofa and the chairs and again there was no bone.

"Hi Midge," said Snappy. "What are you looking for?"

"I had a doggie chew bone last night," said Midge. "I lost it."

"Maybe you ate it," laughed Snappy.

"No," said Midge. "I didn't eat it yet."

"Where did you see it last?" asked Snappy.

"I carried it to the bedroom last night," said Midge.

"Did you look in there?" asked Snappy.

"Yes," sighed Midge. "It isn't there."

"I don't lose my food," laughed Snappy.

"You have a small place to live in," said Midge. "Look at this big house. Lot of places in here to lose things. Our owner loses things all the time."

"But she is human," said Snappy. "They forget what they did with things."

"Am I turning into a human?" said Midge. "I didn't lose my bones before."

"Did our owner pick it up and take it to the kitchen?" asked Snappy.

"I don't know," said Midge. "Maybe. I will go look in my dish. When she picks up my bones she always puts them in my bowl. I will go see."

Midge ran to the kitchen and stood a minute watching her owner making coffee.

"Good morning, Midge," smiled her owner as she leaned over and patted her on the head.

Midge went to her bowl and stared at the empty bowl.

"I'll get you some breakfast," said her owner as she pulled a can of dog food from the shelf of the pantry and opened it.

Midge wagged her tail as she poured the food into the bowl. Midge went ahead and ate her food and drank some of the fresh water before going back to the living room.

"Did you find your bone?" asked Snappy.

"No," sighed Midge. "My bowl was empty."

"Maybe you ate it," said Snappy.

"I don't remember eating it," said Midge.

"Maybe you ate it in your sleep," said Snappy.

"I can't eat and sleep at the same time," said Midge.

"I heard humans walk in their sleep," said Snappy. "Maybe animals eat in their sleep."

"That's funny," said Midge. "How do they walk in their sleep."

"I don't know," said Snappy. "Do they know they are sleeping when they are walking around?"

"I don't know," said Midge tilting her head and lifting her eyebrows. "I don't walk in my sleep. I don't think I ate my bone in my sleep."

"What are you guys doing?' asked Booker-T as he entered the room.

"Hi Booker-T," said Midge.

"Midge lost her chew bone," said Snappy. "I think she ate it in her sleep."

"You eat in your sleep?" asked Booker-T.

"No," laughed Midge. "I don't think so."

"Where did you see the bone last?" asked Booker-T.

"I carried it to the bedroom when I went to bed," replied Midge.

"Maybe you ate it before you went to sleep," said Booker-T.

"No," said Midge. "I laid it on the floor next to my little bed and then curled up and went to sleep."

"Was it there when you woke up?" asked Booker-T.

"No," said Midge with a puzzled look. "Do you think I ate it in my sleep?"

"Maybe you did," said Booker-T. "I once fell asleep eating a little snack my owner gave me."

"But how can I start eating it after I fall asleep?" asked Midge.

"Did your owner pick it up off the floor when she got up this morning?" asked Booker-T.

"I looked in my bowl and it wasn't there," said Midge.

"Hey guys," said Jake as he entered the room. "Look what I found."

"What?" asked Midge as she turned around.

"I found a bone on the back porch," said Jake.

"My bone!" said Midge with a big smile. "You found my bone."

"Did you lose it?' asked Jake.

"I didn't know what happened to it," said Midge. "I was looking everywhere for it."

"Here it is," said Jake. "I found it."

"Thank you," smiled Midge.

"Maybe you carried it with you when you went outside to use the bathroom before bed," suggested Snappy.

"Maybe I did," said Midge.

"The missing bone is solved," laughed Booker-T.