BACK DOGFOOD 8' Detective and the case of the missing dog food The door bell rang. DING DONG. Seven-year-old Michaela, the world's greatest detective, answered the door. "Oh, it's you." Michaela grumbled and tried to close the door. Tommy, the naughty neighbor boy, stopped the door with his foot. "Wait a minute. I haven't even told you why I'm here!" He said. "Let me guess," replied Michaela, "you want to throw another water balloon at me." "No." "Mud pie." "No." "Rotten egg." "No!" Tommy insisted, "This is serious. We're talking detective stuff here." Michaela stopped trying to close the door. "No tricks?" Tommy crossed his heart. "No tricks. Serious business." Michaela stepped back and crossed her arms. She was still not convinced. "I'm listening," she said. Tommy thought a moment, stepped forward then said, "The dog food disappears." Michaela replied, "I knew it! Why are you REALLY here?" She tried to push Tommy back out the door. Tommy held his ground. "No! I'm serious!" he said, "The dog food really disappears. Every night. I fill the bowl every night and next morning, the bowl is empty." Michaela smiled, "Okay, I've got it. I solved the case. Your dog ate the dog food. Goodbye." She tried again to push Tommy back. But again Tommy held his ground. "You don't get it. The dogs bowl is in the garage. But the dog sleeps in the house... all night." "No doggie door?" Michaela asked. "No." "And this is no joke?" Michaela asked. "No joke! I swear! You've got to solve this case, Michaela, you've got to!" Tommy said seriously. Michaela thought for a moment. Then said. "Alright. I'll solve this mystery. But if I do, YOU have to promise me no more water balloons, no squirt guns, no mud pies, no rotten eggs, no nothing." Then she offered her hand. "Deal," said Tommy as he shook Michaela's hand. Late that night while everyone else was asleep, Michaela got up, got dressed, and climbed up on a ladder to stand on the roof of her own garage, where she could see anyone who came and went from Tommy's garage. Michaela's grandfather bought her a night vision scope, which she used to see in the darkness. Within a few minutes, Michaela noticed some movement on the ground near the corner of Tommy's garage. She focused the night scope, but couldn't believe her eyes. A dog food nugget seemed to be moving along the ground as if it was alive. "Dog food nuggets don't just move by themselves!" She said to herself. She refocused the night scope. But this time, not one, but a whole row of dog food nuggets seemed to be slithering on the ground like a snake down the driveway toward the street. "I have to investigate." Said Michaela to herself, as she climbed down the ladder. Then she tip-toed toward the slithering dog food nuggets and when she was close enough to touch them, she shined her pocket flashlight at them. Nothing. She pulled the magnifying glass from her backpack and looked under the moving dog food nuggets. "Aha! Ants!" She said to herself. Sure enough, each dog food nugget was being carried on the backs of fifteen or twenty tiny ants! Michaela backed away to follow the ants to their colony. Near the street the ants dropped the nuggets in a pile next to their ant mound and returned to the garage for more. But when Michaela looked back at the ant mound, the nuggets were gone! "Where did they go?!" She asked herself. So, Michaela, the world's greatest detective, concluded, "The ants stole the nuggets from Tommy, but it looks like somebody stole the nuggets from the ants." She search the area using the night scope. Nothing in the grass. Nothing in the nearby bushes. Nothing in the street. Wait. Maybe the storm drain. She stepped into the street and focused the night scope on the storm drain. By now, the ants had left another pile of nuggets next to their ant mound. And a mouse came out of the storm drain to carry the nuggets into the storm sewer. Michaela was only seven years old so her body was small enough to fit into the storm drain. So, when the mouse took a load of nuggets down the drain, Michaela followed. It was completely dark down there, so she used her night scope. She could see the mouse, but the mouse couldn't see her. In the sewer at the bottom of the ladder she could see a pile of nuggets. But when the mouse climbed back up out of the sewer to get more nuggets, Michaela wisely chose to watch the nuggets. Sure enough, a rat carried several of the nuggets away through the sewer toward the other side of the street. Michaela followed. The rat climbed out of the drain on the other side of the street, so Michaela climbed out too. But the rat was gone. But being the world's greatest detective, Michaela knew that the rat would probably go back down into the sewer to get more nuggets. So, she held very still and waited. Sure enough, Michaela saw the rat climb out of a hole in the dirt near a tree. So, while the rat was gone, she focused her night scope into the rat hole. Just then, a chipmunk came down the trunk of the tree and climbed into the hole. Michaela watched as the chipmunk stole the dog food nuggets from the rat hole and climbed back up the tree. Halfway up the tree, the chipmunk disappeared. Michaela climbed up the tree and found a hole. She was just about to focus her night scope into the hole when the chipmunk ran out of the hole and climbed quickly down the tree trunk to steal some more dog food. As soon as the chipmunk disappeared into the rat hole, Michaela focused her night scope into the hole in the tree trunk. "The nuggets are gone!" Michaela said to herself. "How could they be gone so soon? There must be one more animal stealing the dog food!" So, Michaela found a strong branch on the tree to climb on and she backed away from the hole and focused her night scope inside and she waited. When the chipmunk returned with another load of stolen dog food nuggets packed in its cheeks, she watched carefully. Sure enough, as soon as the chipmunk dropped his load of nuggets into the hole and turned around, a tiny furry hand reached around the tree and into the hole and scooped up the nuggets. "Whatever is stealing the nuggets this time is on the other side of the tree." Michaela said to herself as she climbed down the tree. She went back across the street and climbed up on her own garage where she could see the backside of the tree. She focused the night scope on the tree, but she didn't see any animals. So, she waited. During the next trip up the tree, the chipmunk had his cheeks packed with dog food nuggets. But as soon as he had deposited his load into the hole and left, a raccoon, who was sitting on the branch above, climbed down, reached around the tree and into the hole and grabbed some nuggets and put them into his mouth. The next day Tommy rang Michaela's door bell. But Michaela was still in her pajamas when she opened her door. "How come you're not dressed?" asked Tommy. "Because I stayed up late last night solving your case." Michaela replied. "You solved the case?!" Tommy shouted. "Yes." Michaela replied. "Well, what happened to the dog food?!" Asked Tommy. "You going to keep your promise?" Asked Michaela. "Yes. Of course!" Replied Tommy. "Alright, here's what happened," Michaela explained, "Thousands of ants came into your garage through a crack beside the door. They carried the dog food out of the garage one nugget at a time. But a mouse stole the nuggets from the ants, then a rat stole the nuggets from the mouse, then a chipmunk stoled the nuggets from the rat, then a raccoon stole the nuggets from the chipmunk." "Who stole the nuggets from the raccoon?" Asked Tommy. "Nobody. The raccoon ate the dog food on the spot. So, you see, a lot of animals stole your dog food, but only the raccoon got to eat." And so, Michaela, the world's greatest detective solved yet another difficult case. And because Tommy kept his promise, they all lived happily ever after. ©2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties. Do not sell this story or rewrite it. You may reproduce and distribute this story freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org/kid email: bob@bobsnook.org BACK |