Jared would have chuckled if sheepdogs chuckled as he settled in front of the doghouse for a nap.
Rather, he pretended to nap. For the first time since changing into a big English sheepdog, he found the fringe of fur that fell forward over his eyes to be rather more useful than inconvenient. He stayed perfectly still, unreasonably excited at the prospect of finally catching his nemesis.
Sciurus carolinensis, or the common gray squirrel, being the name of his nemesis. Of course, those were rather big words for Jared's diminishing vocabulary to accommodate. He just knew the feelings that the sight of the squirrel roaming through his yard prompted in him.
The squirrel acted on expected routine. The dog would bark inanely but enjoyed only limited mobility in the yard thanks to the collar attached to the lead. The squirrel had memorized the precise limits and knew all the "safe" spots.
But Jared figured he was too smart for a squirrel. He utilized some bait — a cluster of acorns fallen from the large oak. He dropped the cluster in the middle of the circle of dirt in front of the doghouse, and then he adopted his sleeping pose.
"Finally. Get squirrel." He thought, but that made him feel happy, which made his rear end start to shimmy. He forced himself not to anticipate success. His plan required absolute motionlessness on his part.
The squirrel didn't for an instant miss the bonanza of acorns on the ground near the dog. The rodent wanted the acorns, but it knew to avoid the dog. Although usually all bark, the dog might yet have some bite. Testing, scampering close, retreating, the squirrel's actions brought no reaction from the dog. Could the dog be sleeping?
Nervously, approaching a little closer, the squirrel's bushy tale rose and drooped over the rodent. The tail twitched, and the rodent crept forward, closer to the acorns. The dog didn't move.
Jared watched his nemesis through fur-shrouded eyes. He could see, but the fringe of fur kept his eyes hidden from the nervous, observant rodent.
The lush scent of ripe acorns coaxed the squirrel. It made a dash for the prize. In that same instant, Jared made his move. He lunged forward and closed his jaws around a shocked squirrel.
"Gotcha!" Jared gloated in his dog-dominated brain.
As by definition they are prone to do, his nemesis foiled his grand scheme. The squirrel twisted and tried to free itself from the dog's mouth. In the process, most of its body hanging limply below the clamped jaws, the rodent managed to get its tiny paws fastened on a shiny, gleaming disc of metal hanging from the dog's collar.
At that second, the squirrel's desire — to rescue itself from a most unwelcome situation — proved stronger than Jared's incoherent desire, which was little more than to "get" his nemesis without a plan for what would follow if he achieved success.
The amulet acted.
The sheepdog's mouth dropped open, and Jared the squirrel fell free and raced through the grass to the nearest tree, letting his wondrous paws climb until he reached the upper branches.
"Wait," the teenager halted the climb on a wide, horizontal branch laden with clusters of acorns. "This isn't right."
With a quick survey, he found himself looking down at one baffled sheepdog straining against the lead at the base of the tree as it stood on its hind legs against the trunk and barked furiously.
"No," Jared screamed. He felt his bushy tail flicking over his back as he produced the strange, chattery "kuk, kuk, kuk" calls to warn the entire neighborhood about the unexpected treachery of the dog.
"Me dog, not squirrel," Jared's thoughts got jumbled in his shock as panic started to build. "No. Not dog. Boy."
He crept along the wide tree branch, his tiny clawed paws grasping instinctively and securely at the bark.
"Me not want be squirrel," Jared kept chattering, only fueling the sheepdog's barking. "Mommie!"
In his panic, he ran circles around the wide, thick branches of the oak, defying gravity and performing perfectly well as a squirrel. In fact, he seemed better at being a squirrel than he had at playing the part of a dog.
He calmed himself. The branch high in the tree gave him an excellent view, which also offered a peek into his brother's room. Jared looked through the window and saw Kevin and his friend, Charlie, inside the house. He scurried along the branch and made the leap to the narrow ledge outside the window.
"Kev!" He got on his hind legs and used his front paws to tap on the glass. "Help!"