Finding His Way Home

There was a dog named Buddy. He was very awesome, and he just loved to play. Buddy lived with the Marks family and their two children, Hudson and James. He loved to jump on the couch (which he often got in trouble for), and steal socks (which he also got in trouble for). But he also loved to sleep. And when he slept, he looked so innocent.

But one day, after the mailman came, the mailman accidentally left the gate open. Buddy ran out and ran away. He ran up into the Santa Monica mountains and he met a mountain lion! And they played and tussled. It was a surprisingly friendly mountain lion. Buddy made friends with the mountain lion and went to meet the mountain lion’s family. It was just a short walk up the hill to the den. After they got to the den, he met the lion’s mom and dad. He liked the family very much. They were very nice. But he didn’t stay because he had to find his way home.

So he started down the hill. From the top of the hill, he could see his house, the Caruso project, and the ocean. He was thinking, should I get a snack at McConnell’s or just try to find my way home? He nicely walked down the hill and the mountain lion followed him.

Back at home, the Marks family was panicking and screaming “Where’s Buddy?” They called the pound and said, “we lost our dog.” The worker at the pound asked what Buddy looked like. Hudson said “He is a harrier hound with white, black, and copper colors. Buddy is wearing a black collar.” The pound worker said he will send someone out to try and find Buddy. So the guy tried to find Buddy and he succeeded finding Buddy in the Temescal parking lot! He put Buddy in the truck and drove him to the pound. Little did the worker know, the mountain lion followed the truck the whole time. Once they were at the pound, the mountain lion jumped in a bush. When the worker went inside, the mountain lion jumped out and ran to the back door of the pound and snuck inside. He walked along the ceiling rafters and saw Buddy’s cage.

Meanwhile, the worker called the Marks family and said, “we got your dog, come and get him.” Just then, the mountain lion jumped down from the ceiling rafters and opened Buddy’s cage with his claws while the worker was on the phone. They snuck out. When the family arrived, Buddy was no longer there because he had escaped with the mountain lion. The Marks family cried and cried and cried. Hudson said, “you lied, you don’t have our dog, the cage is empty.” They went home very sad. At home, they cried over Buddy’s crate.

Later, before dinner, the family was playing outside when a mountain lion ran into the yard and they screamed, “AHHHHHH.” Buddy ran in behind the mountain lion. And they screamed “BUDDY!” Then Buddy ran over to the mountain lion, nudged against him lovingly. The mountain lion said, “See you tomorrow Buddy.” Then the mom said, “we are having a turkey dinner tonight, let’s go inside and have dinner.” Buddy howled for his dinner bowl and the family happily ate together.

Then the next day, when they were playing outside in the yard, they heard something walking outside the fence and they heard it jump into the bushes and the leaves rustling from the animal. The mountain lion jumped into the yard. Buddy said, “Hi mountain lion.” He said, “Hey Buddy.” They played for a while and the mountain lion went home. The Marks family had a new wild friend.