Scary Leaves

Rigby in Autumn

It all started with a mean trick by Ma.  She took me outside in the backyard and, after I did a quick perimeter check, she tricked me into thinking that we were both going back inside the house when, in actuality, she wanted me inside the house so that she could rake leaves in peace (apparently letting me eat grass unsupervised until I vomit is not her idea of peace).

But I have my own not-so-secret weapons in my arsenal for just such trickery: a very good memory, a loud bark, and a high level of persistency.  First, I took a quick nap. Fully rested and recharged, I then went to the side door and started whining.  After a little bit, I switched over to my high-pitched bark.  Then, upping the ante, I escalated to my loud, drown-out-the-television, bark.  As expected, an exasperated Sister suddenly emerged from the living room saying “fine, I’ll take you outside.”

After Sister tracked down and put on her shoes (I had stolen one of them earlier in the morning so the pair were separated in different rooms), we went outside.

Upon exiting the side door, Sister turned left and went toward the backyard.  I, meanwhile, turned right and walked up the driveway toward the front of the house.  At the fence, I looked up the block toward the right.  Seeing nothing, I then turned left.  Nothing.  Finally, I scanned the area directly in front of me.  It was then that I started barking hysterically.  The house in front of me had three metal turkey decorations planted in the front yard looking all stiff and suspicious.

While I was giving the turkeys the what for, Ma came over and tried to assure me that they weren’t posing any threat and that I should leave them alone.  Begrudgingly, I gave the turkeys a few more warning barks, then turned and ran toward the backyard.

As soon as I reached the backyard, I found the giant pile of leaves Ma had raked up while I was still snoozing inside the house.  My eyes widened.

Now, I’m not one of those dogs who runs at top speed and dives into a pile of leaves.  No, I’m one of those dogs who moseys through a pile of leaves searching for the perfect stick to gnaw on.  Once I find that stick, I flop down in the middle of said pile to chew it and hamper any progress my humans hoped to make at cleaning up the yard.  Given the size of the pile, I figured that there would be a lot of sticks to choose from.  Today was going to be a great day.

So, I moseyed up to the pile but, when I was four feet away from it, I saw something.  There, in the middle of the pile, partially covered in leaves except for her head and shoulders, was Sister silently staring back at me.  Not expecting her, I jumped about ten feet into the air and landed in a quasi-play stance with my front end down on the ground and my back end up in the air.

Sister immediately burst out laughing.  Ma (who was in on the joke) did as well.  And me, I just started wagging my tail and sheepishly hurried over to Sister for an ear rub.