Jack pressed his nose to the ground and began to sniff. He sniffed a trail around the lockers, picking up on every pawpad and every shoe that had stepped on the ground in the last week. All the while, internally, Jack was screaming. He tried to stop sniffing, but all he succeeded in doing was making his eyes twitch.
"What's he doing?" The black-lab woman (principal?) asked, standing a few feet behind Jack.
"He's looking for the right scent." Ann said. "I gave him a sample of what we're looking for, now he's just got to find it." Jack's nose began to twitch faster. He started to move back and forth in shorter intervals, moving back in forth in front of the same six lockers. His butt wagged faster, now he focused on three specific lockers.
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱...𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? One scent suddenly slammed into Jack's nostrils, hooking him from the inside and dragging him to the center locker. Jack pulled himself up on his hind legs and sniffed even faster, butt wagging a mile a minute. "Rrrrufff! Ruff ruff ruff!" Jack barked and pawed at the locker.
"I think Jackie has found something." Ann said, "Do you have the keys to this locker?"
"Yes but..." The principal sighed. "This locker belonged to a student who was expelled last week for dealing drugs." She rubbed her folded over ear. "We know his partner is still dealing drugs here, can the human find them?"
"He's not the human." Ann said. The principal and Jack both looked over at her. Ann's ears stood up and her tail had stopped wagging. She looked annoyed. "His name is Jackie. And you should have told us about knowing this locker bank had had drugs in it. Because now, we're going to struggle finding the correct locker."
The Labrador woman apologized quickly. Jack meanwhile kept staring at Ann. A part of him was just happy to hear his name mentioned. Internally though, Jack was baffled. 𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦? 𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺.
"Now come on," Ann said, giving Jack's leash a gentle pull, "Let's see what else we can find."
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Jack sniffed many, many lockers. His butt wagged the entire time and the cold air blowing over his hindquarters served as a constant reminder of his predicament. Jack was only able to make his body do what he wanted it to briefly, like move his eyes or take a step backwards. As Jack sniffed, his mind struggled with why this was happening.
𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩? Jack forced his eyes up towards God. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥! 𝘐'𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯! Unfortunately, Jack never caught that scent again. Eventually Jack and Ann left the building, the principal apologizing for calling them out.
The sun felt amazing and strange on Jack's bare butt. He and Ann walked down the front stairs, Jack marveling on how close his face now was to the ground. Jack's nose kept twitching, trying to pick up on every scent in the air. Once they were off the stairs, Ann stopped and knelt down beside Jack. He sat, bare butt on the concrete.
𝘖𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴. Jack was, in his own mind at least, an important man who had important things to do. So whenever Jack's time was wasted on a false alarm, it meant that Annie payed the price. Jack would twist her ears, or smack her on the back of the head. All the while she kept wagging her tail. Now Jack was wagging his butt, but his eyes focused on Ann's raised hand. 𝘖𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴!
Ann reached out and put her hand behind Jack's hand. She then began to scratch behind his ear. Jack panted and leaned into her touch. Her fur felt so warm against his bare skin. Ann smiled gently and began to rub his lower back with her other hand.
"You did a good job boy." Ann whispered. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bone shaped cookie. She held it in front of Jack's nose.
𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵? 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘭𝘭- Jack gobbled the treat right out of Ann's paw. It tasted like bacon. Ann laughed and rubbed his head.
"Come on boy, let's go see who needs us." Ann stood and gently tugged Jack's leash, the two heading back to Ann's car.