It was a regular Saturday in the Realm. Lady Mum and Dexter had taken their early morning walk. Once back at the house, Lady Mum took care of her weekly chores and was getting ready to go to the grocery store. As she headed out the door, she turned back to say to Dexter, "Be a good boy Dex, I'll be back in about an hour."
Dexter, sitting and leaning against the wall, turned sad eyes to her and softly said "okay."
One hour later, Lady Mum returns. She enters the house and is greeted by an enthusiastic Dexter. Lady Mum gets all of her bags on the kitchen counter and turns to pet Dexter. As she is leaning down, she notices the Ciabatta Roll bag on the floor.
She knows it was on the counter when she left and that there were six rolls in there. But upon closer inspection of this bag, she sees that there is only one roll left in the bag.
Turning to Dexter she asks, "What did you do Dexter?"
Dexter, seeing that Lady Mum noticed the bag on the floor, leaves the room with his head hanging low.
"Dexter, where are the rolls? I sincerely hope you did not eat all of them! You'll be sick."
Lady Mum begins to walk through the house, looking for rolls.
She finds one roll in a plant, covered with dirt and another roll in the dining room under the table. Laughing she says, "Okay Dexter. That's two. Where are the rest?"
Dexter follows Lady Mum as she walks through the house, not saying a word. No more rolls are found and Lady Mum assumes that Dexter ate them and hopes that he doesn't get sick.
Later that evening, as Lady Mum is getting ready for bed, she turns the blankets down and low and behold, she finds another roll. "Okay Dexter, that's three." Dexter silently sits on his own bed, not saying a word.
Sunday evening comes along and Lady Mum is washing dishes when she feels Dexter nudge her with his head. Looking down, she sees that he has brought her a roll and he gently drops it at her feet and sits.
Laughing, Lady Mum says "Oh my gosh Dexter. Another one! Thank you for bringing it to me. That makes four."
There is still one roll unaccounted for and Lady Mum thinks Dexter has more than likely eaten it. She feels a bit better knowing he possibly only ate one roll and not five.
Monday evening rolls around and Lady Mum is putting Dexter's blanket on the couch. She lifts the cushion to tuck the blanket in and finds the fifth roll.
Holding the roll high in the air and laughing, Lady Mum exclaims, "Well, there ya have it! The fifth roll! Case closed!"
Dexter, hearing Lady Mum laughing comes running into the room with his ball in his mouth ready to play. Once he sees the roll in her hand, he drops the ball, sits and hangs his head.
"Aw Dex. It's all right. You are not in trouble. I take half the blame for the case of the missing rolls. You've never taken food from the counter, but I've not left any out either, so we've both learned something. It's all good Dexter."
Dexter looks up to Lady Mum and says "They bounce funny."
"What bounces funny bud?"
Dexter nudges Lady Mum's hand with the roll in it and says "They bounce funny. They don't taste very good, so I just ran through the house throwing them around to see them bounce."
Lady Mum takes the roll into the kitchen and tosses it in the garbage, sits on the kitchen floor and gives Dexter a big hug. "Oh, I am sure they did bounce funny you silly guy!"
As she gives Dexter another hug, she whispers, "You are keeping it lively here, that is for sure."
"Does lively mean play? I've got my ball here! Come on Lady Mum! Quit hugging me, let's play! I've got my ball. It's right here!"
And so a rousing game of Toss and Chase the Ball commences as Lady Mum continues to chuckle about the Case of the Missing Ciabatta Rolls that took three days to solve.
Just another week in the Realm.
