The Puppy Wrangler
A bit of whimsical flash fiction for your enjoyment
Eight-year-old Simon wiped his snotty nose as he peered around a tree.
“Teddy!” He called, voice hoarse from hours of shouting and crying. He blinked, determined not to cry again. It hadn’t helped anything, and he needed to keep his eyes clear to find his puppy.
Simon kept walking, searching hollow trees and thick bushes. Small drifts of snow lay in the shadows, and he trudged tiredly, exhausted from hours of pushing through brush and fallen branches. He sniffled as he checked another Teddy-less tree. There were so many places he could be hiding!
Suddenly, a lasso looped out of the air and snagged Simon’s wrist. He yelled and tried to yank away, but he was jerked to a standstill.
“Well, what do we have here?” A voice drawled. “A little ‘un, out here alone in the wilderness!”
Simon stared at the speaker. He had expected a grownup, but instead, a strange creature stood before him. It looked like a rabbit, but it was huge, almost as big as a pony. Big antlers spread from its fuzzy head, poking around a wide-brimmed cowboy hat. The giant rabbit tipped its hat back and twirled a fuzzy mustache on its upper lip.
“What’s the matter, son? Never seen a jackalope before?”
Simon shook his head. “No, sir. I’ve heard of jackalopes, but I never thought I’d meet one!”
The jackalope laughed. “We’re very rare, but you’re in Wyoming, the heart of jackalope country! I’m Sheriff Randy, and I patrol this forest. What’s your name, and what brings you out here?”
“My name is Simon, and I’m looking for my puppy. His name’s Teddy.” Simon sniffed. “I came looking for him and got lost, but I’m not leaving until I find him.”
“Well, you’re in luck!” Sheriff Randy drawled. “Because lost puppies are my specialty.”
“Really?” Simon wiped his nose again.
“Really. Climb on my back, I’ll help you find Teddy.”
The jackalope squatted down, and Simon clambered onto his back, gripping his antlers tight. Sheriff Randy stood up and began loping through the forest. His big rabbit haunches propelled them past brush and trees, and Simon held tight as the wind whistled by his ears. As they ran, the jackalope shouted over his shoulder to Simon.
“So, what does this Teddy look like? Is he a little puppy, or a big puppy?”
“He’s a little puppy,” Simon explained, “we got him two weeks ago for my birthday. My parents say he’s a…he’s a…well, I don’t remember the name, but we call him a sausage dog.”
The jackalope laughed. “A dachshund! Yes, those are very cute. Don’t worry, you’ll have your sausage dog back in no time!”
Simon smiled. “Thank you for helping me. Is this what you do?”
“Yep!” The jackalope raced up a steep hillside, spraying mud behind them. “I patrol these woods, looking for lost puppies.”
Sheriff Randy crested a ridge and gestured to the scene before them.
“And when I find them, I bring them here. Welcome to my herd.”
Simon gasped and stared. A wide valley stretched below them, and in a large meadow at its base, hundreds of puppies frolicked and played. They rolled and tumbled through the long grasses, swimming and jumping in little creeks that ran down the hills and through the meadow.
“Wow!” Simon exclaimed. “Are all of these lost puppies?”
“I’m afraid they are,” the jackalope said. “Puppies face many dangers that take them away from their homes. Cars and trucks, big dogs and little cats, even just the wonders of nature. When I find them, I bring them here to keep them safe.”
“I hope Teddy wants to leave here and come back home,” Simon said sadly.
“Don’t worry!” The jackalope replied. “Now that you’ve come all this way, I’m sure he’d love to go home with you. But we have to catch him first!”
Sheriff Randy bounded down the hillside to the meadow, then began strolling among the hundreds of puppies. They bounced and wriggled, happy to see him, but he squinted his eyes in a true cowboy squint, looking for one specific beast among the herd. Suddenly, he pointed.
“Lookie thar,” the jackalope whispered. “The elusive Sausage Dog!”
Sure enough, there was Teddy, slowly snuffling his way through some brush. The jackalope loosened his lasso and began to twirl it overhead.
“Time to catch your puppy! Yeehaw!”
At the sound of the Sheriff’s voice, the puppy took off running, sprinting away as fast as his little sausage legs could take him. But the jackalope was off with a bound. In only a few steps, he drew near the puppy. He loosed his lasso, and the long lariat looped around the little dog’s long tummy in one swoop. With a quick tug, he brought the puppy to a halt.
Simon clambered off the jackalope’s back and hugged Teddy, who was now wriggling and barking with happiness, trying to lick every part of Simon at once. The jackalope gently slid the lasso loose from Teddy’s tummy and laughed.
“Looks like he’s happy to see you, son!”
“But why did he leave our house in the first place?” Simon asked, and then laughed as he got a puppy nip on the nose.
“Oh, he said he started exploring, and the next thing he knew, he was lost. This is why you need to keep your puppies on a leash,” the jackalope shook an admonishing paw at Simon. “Half the time, they don’t even know the trouble they’re getting into!”
“Can I take him home now?”
The jackalope cocked his head to listen to the puppy’s whining barks for a moment, then laughed.
“Of course! He was happy here, but he knew you would come for him, and he can’t wait to be back with his family. Come on, I’ll take y’all home. I’m sure your parents have missed you both.”
Simon grabbed Teddy and carried him over to the jackalope, then climbed onto Sheriff Randy’s back. And with the jackalope as their guide, the boy and the puppy journeyed back through the woods, heading home once more.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little adventure. It was a fun tale to write, even if it was a bit different from my normal genres. Stay tuned for upcoming works, and if you haven’t already, be sure to check out some of my other short stories on Kindle!