“Dad, had a fun one in Pawsburg! Visited Bark Shak with Lilly, nearly had burger ruined by shrimp prank! Retaliated with a toy monkey delivery, folks couldn’t handle it! Enjoyed the antics but missing our backyard games. Oh, another fun order’s up at Kibble Cuisine, never a boring day in this pup’s life! The drama continues. – Willie”

Listen to the story here

Alright, buckle up! Here we go.

Ah, Pawsburg. The dream-town where the floor is always warm and every hour is happy hour. I bolted down to the Lower Silver Siberian Summit, a hush of twilight air rushing passed me when I saw Lilly getting cozy at the Bark Shak. The sight of her, scarfing down cheeseburgers, hot off what humans call a ‘barbecue’, was like coming home to a fresh roasted bone.

Now, watch closely as the plot thickens like gravy on a slow cooker. A husky siren blared, and all at once, Pawsburg was on high paws; alert and watchful. And who do you suppose the town’s prime suspect is in any mystery meat caper? Yours truly, or, as Bark Shak regulars call me – burger snatcher. I promise, those charges were unfounded; I never helped myself to a burger I didn’t pay for…in kibbles. But today, I needed some thrill, and did I mention humiliation?

Bake, my crinkled confidante decided it was prank time. He dropped a shrimp – yes, a shrimp, the horror! – onto my beloved cheeseburger. I’d known Bake for what feels like seven lifetimes, but this… this was betrayal.

Lilly barked laughter, causing heads, well… heads with ears, to turn our way. “Alright, Willie Wonka,” she smirked, taunting me with my full name like she was my hooman dad. “What’s your next incredible edible adventure?”

Oh, she was hysterical. I shot her a ‘Wait and You’ll See’ look, casually ordering an ice cream; vanilla, like a bulldog after my own heart would.

The Wagging Tail Bookstore in the distance was entering sleep mode, but happiness was a warm bookstore, or however that poem goes. I decided to add a little fun to my friend’s night and have my toy monkey deliver their orders. Monkey was a chatty fella with twinkling eyes, but he’d never experienced the hustle and bustle of Pawsburg.

Let me cut to the chase. As Lilly shrieked and Bake jumped at the sight of Monkey crawling towards them, I sat back smirking into my ice cream. “Never set a bulldog to chase his own tail!”. That was their lesson for the evening. I walked away, feeling a little proud, a heap victorious and a lot closer to doing the samba.

As the day wound down, I found myself missing my hooman dad and the quiet of our backyard; perhaps a tug-of-war game, and some cuddles hopefully with no vacuum cleaners buzzing in the background. But then, another order of fun was simmering at the Kibble Cuisine. I glanced back at Lilly and Bake, their tails wagging in sync as they looked at me, the invisible ‘game on’ floating between us.

After all, it’s never a dull day in the life of Willie, right here in Pawsburg! The pieces of my life may not always fit together perfectly, but like a tug-of-war game, it tugs and pulls to keep you on the edge.

So let that be my story, the spectacles of a wrinkly, English Bulldog named Willie. At the end of the day, all I can say is, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life as a dog, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible.”

The End.