Foofy was a good boy. Master had told him to get away, so he had obeyed and gone away.

When the big, evil water snake came out of the lake, Master had seemed very, horribly scared. This had left Foofy torn. Should a good boy obey and leave his master, or should a good boy stay and help his master? His doggy brain did the best that he could to rationalize his choice.

Just like how Foofy was a good dog for her, she was a good master to him. Even when she did not catch many fish for herself, Master always shared fish with him.

Foofy liked fish. Cooked or raw, fish were tasty.

They were so tasty that the passing thought of fish had distracted him from his train of thought. It was time to think back to Master.

She was such a good, selfless master. Foofy knew her to be giving commands out of the kindness of her heart. Master had a big heart, always there for him even when his old master was not.

“Get away! Get away! Foofy, get away!” Master screamed at him.

Being the good boy that he was, Foofy always listened to Master. Normally, he would like to feel proud about how he had even responded on the very first one of her commands. This had not been the case, though, when the big, evil water snake had started its attack on his master.

“Get away!” Master had said once.

At that first command, Foofy had turned to run away, yet a whiny doubt in his mind prevented him from following through. With the big ball in his mouth that he had been told to fetch, Foofy had vocalized this whine in his uncertainty.

When he fetched a thing, he was supposed to bring that thing back. Indeed, he had the big ball in his mouth. Now, he ought to return it to Master regardless if a giant, evil water snake stood in his way or not. Foofy simply must bring the big ball back to Master.

“Get away!” Master had cried again. This time, she ran back toward him with a wild look in her eyes.

Master always tried to run at him and scare him whenever she wanted him to get away. She was scary, especially when she kicked up sand. Additionally, she had the big, evil water snake behind her.

Even before she had given him a single command, Foofy’s instincts had screamed at him to flee. The big, evil water snake would destroy them all. Yet, against both his better judgement and Master’s orders, Foofy had refused to flee.

Clearly, Master needed his help. It was Foofy’s job to defend his master from anything and everything including big, evil water snakes. He may even need to give an attack of his own if necessary.

“Foofy, get away!” Master had yelled at him for the third time.

Oh no, and this time, Master had used his name. She must really mean it. Thinking about it some more with all of his brain power, maybe this command did make sense.

Master had told him to fetch the big ball. Presently, he could not reliably bring it back to her with the water snake getting in the way. Therefore, Master must want Foofy to leave for now and bring the big ball to her later.

All of this registered in Foofy’s mind within a moment’s notice. He now understood how to be a good boy!

While he really did not want to leave Master, abandoning her in the same way that he had left Old Master, Foofy knew that he would do better this time. He trusted himself not to let Master down. This time, there would be no accidental separation.

This would only be a bye for now, not a goodbye forever. They would later reunite, and Foofy would make sure of that. He made this silent vow to Master.

With the big ball in his jaws, Foofy obeyed and ran away at last. He ran far, far away.

Foofy ran downhill, through the trees until he became tired. This was saying something, considering how Foofy followed Master on all of her morning runs around the island. To be fair, he liked to stop and sniff all of the smells in a new area. Right now, Foofy just needed a short break, exactly like that.

Also, his jaws ached slightly what with how big the ball felt in his mouth. It was heavy too. Foofy set it down and took a break to sniff.

Ooh! He found a good scent right here! Immediately beneath his nose, there was a relatively fresh trail of deer scents in which he took some deep snuffles and snorts.

A deer was this animal that he had helped Master hunt one time. With his support, she had killed it, which had given them so much tasty meat. They had also kept its pelt in which its scent had lingered on its hair for a long while. Every night, they would sleep with the deer pelt as their trophy.

Foofy very much liked the scent of deer. The aroma made him recall all of these happy memories. Without even thinking about it, he had followed the trail for a good, long while.

No! Bad Foofy! That was what Master would say to him if he ever strayed too far away from her. Especially when he was supposed to be listening to her commands, she was never very happy with him taking to his own devices.

Right now, he was still on a mission for her. Foofy needed to fetch that ball.

How far exactly had he wandered away? What direction had he even come from? As Foofy began to look around, his pulse elevated with his panic. He became more and more afraid that he had lost himself in the woods.

Never mind if he had gotten lost! Foofy could find his way back.

The big ball had been left at the spot where he had started his break. That ball was the last thing that he had remaining of his master. Foofy was supposed to fetch it for her still! Now, even if he could manage to find his way back to Master, he would be a bad dog for failing to bring the big ball to her.

In his heart of hearts, Foofy knew that he was a good dog though. It would not be fitting for him to return to Master only to receive scoldings. Therefore, Foofy had to prove that he was a good boy, worthy of praise. He needed to get the big ball back.

Sadly, the big ball did not have much of a scent, so he could not merely sniff it out. Things that did have a scent though: the deer and himself.

Foofy had been following the deer’s trail to get here, so now he only needed to trace it back. Rather than following the trail of the scent where it grew fresher and stronger, Foofy turned around to follow the older scent back the other way. His own scent littered this path, so he also knew that he was going the right way.

Even so, constant doubts flooded Foofy’s mind as he sniffed and hurried along. Had he really gone this far away from the big ball when he had gotten a whiff of those deer tracks? It seemed like he had already gone too far backwards. Without a doubt, he should have found the big ball by now.

Maybe, he had wandered a fair distance away from the big ball before he had even picked up on the deer’s trail. If that had happened, then Foofy would have to search the whole, entire area, but he had no idea how to go about that without getting even more lost.

All that Foofy knew: he had to find the big ball for his master. She had never let him down before, so Foofy would not let her down now. He would not disappear and fail her like what had happened to him with his old master.

With renewed determination, Foofy kept backtracking his steps for a while more. His uncertainties returned, nevertheless.

Before he could decide on a new course of action, a round thing gleamed with the dull light that was available on this dark night.

There! Right in front of him lay the big ball. Foofy had found it! He bounded to it with all joy, practically pouncing on it as he picked it up in his mouth.

Ah, it felt good to have the slick, heavy ball back in his mouth once again. Its spherical shape, perfectly fitting between his jaws, reassured him that he was indeed a good boy.

Once upon a time, Foofy had owned his very own ball. Unlike this one, his ball had been covered with a mysterious green fur that had been great fun to tear off and eat. Foofy had missed having a ball, like the last one that he had at his old master’s house.

Sad thoughts did not last long in the Dobie’s mind. Instead, this big ball reminded Foofy of Master, and thinking of Master made him happy but of course. He still needed to fetch it back to her, so he set out on a trot elsewhere into the forest.