Fido, in desperation, started trotting around the house looking for an escape. While Freddy thought he could jump out of a window, he found that none of the main living spaces had any. The dining room had no windows, nor did the living room. Fido briefly made his way upstairs and found there were no windows in Sofya’s bedroom or the bathroom either. It was so bizarre that a house like this seemed to have no windows. It was as if Sofya’s father purposely removed them in order to to keep him locked inside. The only other place left to look was Sofya's father's bedroom and Fido wasn’t going to risk attempting to go in there.
“Don’t want to find out what’s behind the door anymore” Freddy thought to himself, as Fido made his way back downstairs. “Though it could provide some clues as to where the wizard is going, I’m not going to chance it. It might be too dangerous.”
When he got downstairs, Fido let out a big howl and started to tear up. Freddy was so worried for Michael and, admittedly, for Sofya as well. The two of them were in some sort of danger and he felt powerless to save them. He was trapped inside a house that seemed to have no other escape then the front door. Feeling dejected, Fido made his way into the kitchen before he discovered something.
“The side door” Freddy thought to himself. "Why didn't I think of this before?"
Fido trotted over the door and hopped up onto it. He attempted to turn the door knob, but discovered that it was also locked. Feeling dejected once more, Fido got back down on the floor before he spotted:
“A dog door” Freddy thought to himself.
Fido barked happily, as he attempted to wiggle his way into it. He found that it was a little too small for his big, German Shepherd frame. After a number of pushes and wiggles, Fido discovered that he was stuck.
“Oh no” Freddy thought to himself. "This isn't good."
Fido attempted to wriggle himself back inside, but found that he couldn’t do this either. He was worried that Sofya’s father, whenever he got back, would discover him half way in and half way out of his house. He didn’t want to be spotted like this. So, with all of his might, Fido pushed forward with his back legs and found that he was able to quickly pop out of the dog door and onto the side of the house.
“Freedom!” Freddy tried to say, which came out as a loud, happy bark.
After taking a brief victory lap, Fido discovered another problem.
“I don’t remember this area being fenced in before” Freddy thought to himself. “That must be new.”
Spotting a large wooden fence, Fido tried to push at it with his snout and then claw at with his paws. None of this seemed to work. Then, he tried to dig his way under the fence, but found that it was dug in too deep into the ground.
“It would take forever to try to tunnel out of here” Freddy thought, as Fido stopped digging.
Thinking for a moment, Freddy had another idea.
“I wonder.”
Taking a few paces back, Fido began to lunge for the fence as he hopped over it, but slipped and tripped over on the other side. Landing with a thud, Fido briefly groaned before he got himself back up onto his feet. Fido began to bark happily, as he realized that he was freed from Sofya’s house.
“Made it!” Freddy thought to himself.
After another brief celebration, Fido had another problem.
“Now that I made it out of there” Freddy thought “how do I find Michael and Sofya?”
Freddy spent a few minutes quietly going through some ideas. Fido tried sniffing the air, but could not get a sense of them. Then he tried to see what other senses he could tap into and found that those didn’t help him either. Finally, seeming to feel a sense of hopelessness once more, Fido laid down on the grass to mope about his predicament, until Freddy had one more idea.
“I wonder.”
Fido closed his eyes and began to go into a deep meditation. Feeling a sense of power wash over him, he paused for a moment before he opened his eyes again.
“I think that old house Michael took me to maybe where the wizard is hiding” Freddy thought to himself. “I have a feeling it’s his other base.”
Fido slowly got up and then began to run through the neighborhood. He was going as fast as he could, hoping that he wasn’t too late to rescue Michael and Sofya. He tuned out the overwhelming sights, smells and sounds of the town he lived in to focus on a single mission, bringing them back home safely.
Unfortunately for Fido, his journey was interrupted when he passed by…..