In case you were wondering,

no, Bella is not dead.

She is sound asleep, even though, on a normal day at 8:43am, she would be running around the backyard like a wild comanche-dog, chasing flies and digging at my flowers.

Why is she so tired, might you ask. To answer: at approximately 7:57am this morning, just moments before he was to be leaving for work, Jared discovered that she was missing. Gone. Nowhere to be seen or found. The pad lock was found muddy on the ground and the gate was open just enough for a seventy pound Bella-dog to inch her way through. And we were thinking to ourselves: finally!!!! She's gone!

Well, not really. I panicked and said a prayer, and then not ten minutes after he rolled away in his truck, Jared drove up with Bella in the back, wet paws and all. Straight to the backyard she went, where she collapsed on the deck and is now, at this moment, probably dreaming of her adventurous night out on the town - chasing the neighborhood cats and park squirrels and who knows what else.

Then Jared left for work, looking dashing as ever, shaking his head that he tilts to one side (just like his dad), muttering words to himself, that I imagine sounded
something
like:

That

d a m n

dog.

And something

something

else.

The End.