Shady the Detective and the Case of the Monster Under the Bed

Looking out the kitchen window of my Boulder Colorado farmhouse, I chuckle watching my Labrador retriever, Shady, race across the lawn and under the pasture fence.  What a character and if I didn’t know better I’d say she is living a secret life.  Maybe she is Shady the Detective who solves clues for all the animals living around us.

Shady the Detective is feeling exuberant!  Happily she speeds off through the meadow.  She stops to drink the cool water at the edge of Boulder Creek when suddenly the Mallard Family, who had been lazily swimming on the creek, takes flight in a burst of feathers. 

“Hurry!” quacks Father Mallard. 

“Be careful or you’ll be gobbled up!” quacks Mother Mallard.

Startled by the noise, Shady springs up the bank and over the field. 

“Too bad those folks are so spooked,” thought Shady. Refreshed from her drink Shady took off running full speed through the meadow.

Suddenly, Dodie the Quarter Horse was running and calling his family to follow him, “Hurry, run this way!”

“What’s gotten into them,” wondered Shady. She stopped to watch the entire herd of horses run to the pasture’s edge where they turned and snorted in Shady’s direction.

“Hello everyone! Say, why were you so spooked?” inquired Shady.

“We thought it was that terrible monster again!” exclaimed Dee the beautiful horse. 

“Yes, Shady and when my parents say RUN they MEAN IT!  I run so hard I think my heart will explode.  It’s kinda cool having a monster in our pasture. My dad won’t let me stick around to get a good look so I have to gallop and look over my shoulder,“ said Red the smallest of the spring foals.

“I bet it’s hard to stand up and run when Dodie gives the signal,” said Shady.

“Horses don’t lie down to sleep.  We lock our knees and fall asleep standing up,” said Dee.

“The adult horses all form a protective circle around the foals while they sleep.  But we wake when the monster emerges from under our feet,” said Dodie.

“Where is this,“ asks Shady who is collecting clues for the case.

“We sleep in the same place every night, on the small slope at the base of the cottonwood tree,” said Dodie

Shady suddenly became very curious about the cottonwood tree. Everyone says goodbye and Shady trots off to the Cottonwood Tree.  Sniffing around the base of the old tree, Shady is greeted by her friend Owl.  “It seems our local detective has found herself a new case right here at the bottom of my tree” said Owl.