She woke up early and flounced down the stairs to the kitchen where a snack and some cool refreshment awaited. She then reclined in her favorite chair waiting for her family to blearily discover this fine new day.

Bobby was next to descend the stairs. Rubbing his eyes and trying to stretch and yawn all at the same time. His small arms were awkwardly arched when she happily greeted this lovable little guy. He smiled and found that sweet spot behind her ear saying ‘mornin’ Fluffy where’s my Mama? I’m hungry. And you, bad puppy, you’d better get down out'ta Mama’s favorite chair, before she comes down here.’

Bobby peered into the frig but saw nothing ready to eat. He could see the chocolate cake glistening way out of reach on the top of the frig.

‘MAMA, MAMA! It’s time to get up.’ as he turned toward the door, there, standing like a plucked vulture was his big sister Joyce and with her UGLY face on.

Shut up Bobby! Mama needs her sleep. She and I were up nearly all night with baby Doe’s colic. Have you taken fluffy out yet? And you, little brother, stop eyeing that cake. Daddy will be home from work in a half hour and there is so much to do. Now get crackin'. Hear me. And BE quiet Doe and Mama need their sleep.

Fluffy tried to remain invisible amongst all the shouting, Sister hadn’t even noticed her on Mama’s chair. She did her best at a silent descent and just as her paws struck the floor Joyce growled intently , ‘BOBBY! Did you hear me? Come out of the den and take the dog out side this very minute’. She had been successful and she congratulated her self as she stood at the back door in perfectly happy, wiggling innocence. The sun streamed through the branches and leaves of the big oak in the back yard. She chased at diamond dew drops and enjoyed her prowess as a fearless hunter racing then cutting a new direction effortlessly and without a moments notice. Suddenly she turned and Bobby was gone. All alone with the whole back yard to her self. She heard the sound of strange voices in the alley. She ran to the back fence and much to her delight there came a pack of strangers and she barked her best, ‘hello!’...Then.. ‘Who might you be and what brings you this way?’ They seemed a quiet and reserved bunch with more sniffing and trail marking than conversation. So she addressed the big Bassett who seemed the leader. ‘Sir, may I ask, who are you? Do you live close? He looked at her with his best aloof sneer but his soft eyes betrayed a sadness all too well.

‘Hello girly girl. I’m Dumpster and these are my pals. Scat there with one eye, Dirty is him with all them flies for company and....

The sound of a trucks squealing brakes stopped him short. Scat, Dirty and the whole gang took off just as fast as they could run. Only Dumpster stayed behind in fact, behind the big trash cans where he had gone to talk to fluffy the men with nets passed him to the excited cadence of Fluffy's incessant barking.

‘Hush, girly girl. Just let them go on and give me some place to hide.’

Bobby heard all the uproar and came to see what upset fluffy. He saw the big sad eyed Bassett cowering behind the trash cans and tried to comfort Fluffy.

It’s alright girl he’s just lost, maybe we should bring him in, huh.

With that, Dumpster saw his escape and gave Bobby his most pathetic hang dog look.

‘Oh poor fella’ get in here right now. I’ll put you some food and water and you’ll feel better real soon.’

Bobby closed and locked the gate behind him and Dumpster’s heart near stopped. ‘Trapped, oh no I’m trapped!

Fluffy did her best to comfort him. ‘Dumpster, you’re not trapped, this isn’t a jail. This is my family and ....’

Dumpster ravished the food and drank deeply of the cool clean water while muttering how his freedom was being denied.

'Freedom, Girly girl, that’s what it’s all about, FREEDOM. See that fence? That’s not freedom.’

'That’s my back fence, poor thing don’t you have a back fence?’

‘Not ME little one NOT me. I’m a free spirit. I live where I want and eat what I can. No hand outs with leashes for me.’

Fluffy continued, ‘..and...and that’s my own back fence. You poor thing, you don’t have a lovely back fence of your own?'

Gruffly and with much thought, as he shook from one end to the other he sadly uttered an almost inaudible no, then with mustered pride he announced:

‘NO, girly girl, I have no fences, none at all. No not me for you see, I’m free, I’m free!’

‘Free, free to what, may I ask?'

At that the noises of Daddy coming home changed everything.

‘Quick, quick follow me. Daddy’s home. He’s home. Now quick follow me.' She followed a path, running so fast she couldn’t bark, to a place behind a large azalea bush. There it was, a opening under the house. He followed with his nose nearly touching the ground, under the house through a maze of webs, to a dugout under the wall only big enough for fluffy to fit through.

She was upon him before he made it to the front walk shouting, ‘Daddy, Daddy your home’ until the man acknowledged her with a, ‘Why hello dear fluffy dog and how are you today?’ Her downy fur moved in happy greetings as her very name implied. He stopped to ruffle that mop of fluff then straightened and continued to the house with Fluffy dancing in his steps.

From his hole Dumpster watched and dug and watched and dug, soon his freedom would be restored. Fluffy and her Daddy disappeared into the house above him and he stooped to peer out to the street when he spotted the jail van approaching ominously. He retreated into the relative safety of that dark webby under the house world. Slowly, ever so slowly the van passed. He heard the voices of all his chums yelling a warning for all freedom fighters to hear.

‘They’ve all been caught. The enemy has captured and imprisoned my whole crowd of thieves. It’s, just me alone now.’

The van stopped and backed up to an awful pinging sound. Dumpster retreated deeper into the webs. Then he heard the kind voice of Bobby calling him from the bush opening.

‘Here boy! HERE fella, come on boy.’

His voice was reassuring and kind. So Dumpster retraced his steps to the streaming sunlight of the back yard. There stood the one they called Daddy. He had a kindly smile and had a friendly warmth. Bobby made a sweet, enticing, kissing sound So Dumpster took the milk bone Bobby was offering but refused to move too far away from the safety of a quick retreat back into web world.

‘Son that’s a full blooded Bassett. Somebody’s lost that dog but judging by his many layers of dirt and stains it’s been quite a while ago. We can put an ad on the local radio trading post and find his owner pretty quick, I’d say. If you can coax him near the hose somewhere under there you might find a beautiful dog.’

Bobby kneeled in front of him and stroked his ears and patted his head lovingly.

‘Boy c’mon let’s play in the hose.’

With no more than that and a pat on his britches he had gained the confidence of Dumpster. Dumpster followed Bobby to the spigot and the long coiled hose on a reel.

At that point Fluffy encouragingly appeared. How could a brave dog, such as he, cower at the prospect of a good hand washing. He stood stoic as Bobby covered him in bubbles and bubbles and even more bubbles. His shivers and shakes set the world around him into a million tiny rainbow bursts. His torture was short lived and benign. Bobby’s final rinse was given with a joyful noise of,

‘Ok boy, your all clean, just stay out from under the house till you’re dry.’

With this Bobby swung closed the door behind the azalea bush.

‘OH NO, OH NO ! My freedom is gone. Gone for good now!’

Fluffy had sat quietly admiring Dumpster’s bravery and was appalled at this out burst.

‘What’s wrong with you Dumpster? You got no sense at all. You sure are a handsome show dog now but you sure are actin' the fool. If you have a lick of sense you just won’t start with me, now. Do you hear me?’

‘Bobby!’ a voice from inside exclaimed. 'Bobby are those dogs into it? Don’t get in the middle of it..... You need my help?’

‘No Joyce, they’re not fightin’ just barkin’ a lot.’

As Daddy settled into his recliner he adjusted the radio to its best reception and kicked back to enjoy the Trading Post Show. The telephone was there on the maple table next to him. A pencil and tablet were placed for easy access until sleep would overtake him. Today was different though because he needed to list that stray Bassett and had the redial button keyed. After ten or twelve tries with no success his tired won. Well maybe tomorrow.....

On a tree lined street a few miles away, young David sat drowning his cornflakes and sneaking extra sugar, as he talked with his Mom and Dad.

His father addressed him directly saying, ‘David I found another of your wanted posters on the window of the hardware store. Son It’s been too long. That poor pup is sure a goner by now. A pet dog doesn’t fair well on his own you know. People can be right ugly when it comes to stray dogs. You’re gonna have to come to grips with this sooner or later boy. We all loved that sad eyed pup but someone may have stolen him and carried him off to another state to sell him. Sure we had lots of folks callin’ and reportin’ him, first one place then another but not a one panned out. The wanted posters have run their course by now, boy. You just gotta’ know we have done all we could. Now’s the time to leave it go.'

‘Pa, woeful eyed George ain’t dead! He’s just lost somewheres. I know he is. Oh listen the Tradin’ Post is goin’ off. I be late to class. Better go. Love ya.'

As Daddy snored the rest of the morning away Fluffy and Dumpster slowly got to know each other. Fluffy was curious and asked, ‘When did you come to be so possessed with this Freedom thing, Dumpster?’

‘Well when I was just a pup a couple of men came into my back yard and snatched me up and the next thing I knew I was in a cage with many other young fellows and girls and we were bouncing off to a hospital. There was a chum there in that wagon that kinda’ took me under his paw and said he was gonna make a break to freedom the first chance he had and I was welcome to run with him. He told me that this place was a laboratory where we would be experimented on and then killed. So I threw in with him and we broke free as we were being off loaded. He saved my life taught me a whole lot about freedom. Poor old Twenty Bucks, he loved them fried chicken bones out back of the Golden Bird. I think it finally done him in. Well if you don’t have any more questions, I need my nap. Hey, this bein’ clean could grow on a fella, ya know?’

‘Being all spiffy, you do cut a sharp swath, Dumpster.’

Dumpster kinda raised one eye and said, ‘My name wasn’t always Dumpster, ya know. Once they called me George... Woeful Eyed George....'

Fluffy watched George sleep and with his whines and twitches she knew he was dreaming. She wondered what awful things he was seeing. But then she heard Bobby and Joyce coming home from school and struggled to loose the crawl space door. She was able to free it at the last moment and tore through and out the front passage. She hardly noticed it was a bit bigger as she greeted her dear family as they neared the door.

‘Hey girl!’, Joyce cooed, then Bobby tasseled her locks saying, ‘How’s my Fluffy, Eh is that big Bassett still here?’ Before she turned the door handle Joyce admonished, ‘Hush, dad will still be sleeping now.' They entered the house like three quiet mice. Bobby whispered, ‘come on Fluff let’s go look for the big boy. Do ya think he’s still clean?’

The back yard was empty and Bobby’s clucking and whistling did not bring George. Fluffy headed right for the Azalea and the web world. Sure enough there he was intently scratching at the hole.

‘Freedom girly girl! Freedom c’mon we can make a clean break for it. Help me this ground is like concrete.’

‘George, that is concrete, that is the foundation of our house. Now c’mon back to the yard with me right now.’

He drooped even more than usual as he turned to follow Fluffy. She proudly led him through the maze and in to the grassy back yard. Straining for his last shred of pride he muttered, ‘Not George my dear, its Dumpster. Dumpster’s what my chums call me.’

‘Ok. Ok! Dumpster it is for now, then.’

Bobby looked quite pleased.

‘Well, well here he is. Good dog Fluff. You found him. And you boy, you’re almost clean. I need to put a stick in that hasp or you’ll be bloodying up your paws not to speak of all the dingy cobwebs you’ll catch under there. Now sit down here and let me get to know ya.’

Bobby’s mom with baby Doe in her arms came and sat down next to Bobby and Bassett. Hello Big fella what brings you here to our back yard. You are a fine looking hound with a pedigree to prove it I bet. Where is your family? They must be missing you. You do have such a soft coat and all those freckles and spots do you well. As she picked up Fluffy’s ball she taunted him with, ‘Can you fetch? Go on. Go get the ball boy!’ Fluffy was after it before it left her hand and George offered no interference. ‘Well I guess you’re a front porch dog and just got too much dignity to chase a red rubber ball.’

Bobby turned to his Mama as he remembered the ‘Trading Post Show’. ‘Did dad hear anything from his radio announcement?’

‘No Bobby, He tried to get on but fell off to sleep with the phone in his hand. Poor man works so hard at the accounting office doing the check clearing. By the time he gets home and has a bite, he’s off to never, never land.  That Radio is like a sleeping potion to him. Well it will soon be getting evening and your Father will be ready for his breakfast and our supper so I better get. See you later, my dear boy.’

Bobby found a large nail to fix the hasp and as the two dogs lounged in the cool grass, he again secured the door behind the azaleas.

Miles away, Woeful Eyed George’s friend, David cleared the last two steps of the school bus with one leap and hit the pavement running. The hardware store was only a block away and Mr. Schlatter may have heard something about George. The wanted poster was still in the window and the picture of George was shining for all to see.

‘Mr. Schlatter did anybody say anything about my pup, today?’

‘No David not a word, but you can leave the poster up if it makes you feel better.’

'Thank you sir. Maybe tomorrow you’ll have better news. See ya then.’

He is one good boy that David Lockner is. His Daddy should be proud. When he was five or six he loaded his pockets with some penny balloons we had so I called his Pa and he marched him right back here and with tears in his eyes David handed me every one he’d taken. Then he said he was sorry and he would never steal again. From what I hear he hasn’t. Hope that young man finds his pooch, for the both of them.’

Bobby soon followed his Mama into the kitchen where the taunting smell of food filled every cranny. Joyce was snapping beans at the table and Bobby pulled up a chair.

‘Want some help, sis?’

‘No thank you. This is what mama told me to do so here I am. All my friends are hangin’ at the forth street grill ‘cept THIS little Cinderella.’

She rolled her eyes and sighed painfully.

‘Oh to be free! To dress and flirt and giggle like every body else. Here I am seventeen and still under house arrest. So many rules and so little wiggle room. Rules Rules Rules I’m sick of rules.’

Her father stood silently and bleary eyed behind her. He fought the murk of semi-consciousness. He reached out lovingly and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. She shrieked as if hit by an electric shock.

‘Oh it’s you Daddy, you scared me to death. I didn’t know you were behind me. Supper/ breakfast will be ready within a half hour. Hungry?’

‘Not hungry yet, Sis. Just had my struggle toward wakefulness shattered by your scream. Sorry ‘Cinderella’. Those beans and your family are a whole lot better company than the empty headed contras that infest that forth street grill.’

‘Contras, Papa?’

He sat down at the table and took a deep breath which meant an explanation was coming. Joyce and Bobby both looked at him quizzically. He reached out to pick up a handful of beans and began breaking and adding to the growing amount of the snapped and ready.

‘Hey Bobby you’re gettin real good at keepin up with this bean job. But now children, a contra is a rebel whose only cause is rebellion. They counter every premise or any established order without a proper or even a potential substitute to offer as an alternative. Just like that poor stray out there his freedom serves no one including himself. Oh, that reminds me, how is that pooch, Bobby?’ I’ll need to ask your Mother to call the station tomorrow, that host just puts me to sleep.’

Fluffy and George had followed Bobby in and were quietly enjoying the pile of dirty clothes on the floor in the utility room. Fluffy raised one eye brow and cocked her head at George. He didn’t notice her. He lay pensively with his chin laid flat between his paws.

He was thinking to himself, Davy and that old back yard are pleasant and sad at the same time. I wonder if they still live in the same place and if my run and house are still there. They weren’t ever mean, only the men who had named Twenty Bucks were mean. They had screamed, ‘There goes twenty bucks’ when we made our break, I don’t think they ever saw me. Hmmm, home and family or freedom, my my.

At the table, Joyce narrowed her eyes and looked directly at her father. ‘You’re free daddy. And mama is free. It’s just kids that get leaned on. Everybody tells me what to do and when to do it. I feel like a non person. Am I nothing but an appendage?’

He paused for a moment and a warm smile crossed his face. ‘FREE you think your Mama or I am free? Free to what my dear? We are free to do what is right and live up to our commitments or we could each decide to serve our own selfish interests and lose the house, each other, the family and serve no purpose what so ever. Even my job, if I did not follow the order set down by the bank. Girl, an order based on love, honor and mutual respect is more precious than gold and in order to have that we must all have rules. We are not free because we hold to a higher order, we do not own our selves, in this sense, because our All Mighty owns us. During the period of your growing up it is my job to lovingly demonstrate and therefore teach you how wonderful that kind of love is. Unless you learn to follow directions you will not be able to give them when you are called on to be the one giving directions and laying down rules. What makes us a whole person is not freedom but our ability to make binding voluntary commitments. If we never learn that we can never be a contributing factor to our tribe.'

After the supper/breakfast was finished Joyce and Mama were washing up; Bobby was busying himself with broom duty; the baby napped serenely in the basinet and all seemed peaceful, Then Daddy announced, ‘Bobby Get the dogs in the car and we’ll head over to Schlatter’s. I heard on the radio they are giving free rabies vaccines and we have two ready candidates. I can ask them over there if they’ve had anyone lookin’ for this big, sad eyed, Bassett.’

‘Well girly girl c’mon let’s get in the car. Looks like maybe ol’ Woeful Eyed George might have a back fence of his own pretty soon.’

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