We are into chapter 6 of our story told by Yoda.

One evening, our human Mummy and Daddy went out and forgot to shut us into our special room in the back of the house. As soon as we heard the car drive out of the gate, my doggie Mummy, Eloise, and I started to play around the house. Daddy does not like us to get on the bed, but he wasn't here now, so we jumped up and down on it as if it were a trampoline. I fell off the bed twice, but luckily there's a rug on the floor beside it, which I collapsed on to each time. We had to be careful not to ruffle the duvet and pillows too much so that no one would know what we'd been doing.

Rectangular box

Next we went into the den, where the humans usually sit and stare at this rectangular box they have on the wall.

They have three big red sofas with lovely soft cushions on top, and we like to lie down on the biggest one with our human Mummy. She lets us do this when Daddy is not around. This is the only piece of furniture which she'll allow us on. Daddy does not approve! Of course, neither of them was here so we had fun chasing each other on and off them until we got bored and tired. We both like sleeping in this room as there is always a cool breeze that comes through the wooden louvre windows.

I don't know how long we slept for, but we were suddenly awoken by all the other dogs who live on our street. There are about eight who live very close by, and when one starts barking, the entire pack joins in. They are all allowed outside when their Mummies and Daddies are not around, but we have to stay inside. We were stolen by a horrid man once, so it's safer this way.

Of course, we get very excited when we hear them making such a noise, and we try our best to bark even louder than them. There is one window, in the living room, from which we can see some of the dogs, and we always scramble over to make sure that they are not coming through the gate. All dogs like to protect their territory from intruders.

Eventually, the other doggies moved away from our gate and soon all of us had stopped barking. Dogs do not understand what time is, so we were not aware that perhaps Mummy and Daddy would be coming home soon. We sat there wondering what other games we could play. Then an idea came to me.

Little white balls

One of our favourite things to play on is this large pink-and-gold beanbag that is in the living room. We like to tear holes in it and watch the little white balls run out on to the floor. On this particular night, we managed to rip quite a big hole, and suddenly there were thousands of white balls everywhere. The entire floor was covered with them. We were having so much fun sliding all over the place that we did not hear the car drive in. I heard voices and realised that human Mummy and Daddy were home. Oh no! We knew they would not be very happy. Doggie Mummy and I looked at each other, and then at the front door, which began to open. The humans stepped into the hallway, and gasped! They have never forgotten to lock us in the back again!

Emmadaltonbrown@gmail.com

Yoda (left) and Eloise on the beanbag.