Tico Gets Lost : Book 3
Sally and Tico lived near the big park in Nashville in one of the townhomes that the company owned where Sally worked. It was a nice area with lots of coffee shops, restaurants and grocery stores nearby.
Some mornings, when the weather is nice out, Sally walks Tico in the park before she goes to work. The park has a big pond loaded with quacking ducks, flower gardens and historic architecture. It’s a very beautiful park and Sally likes to pretend they are in Paris.
She has never been to Paris… but at least she can pretend.
One morning, on the way back home from the park, a squirrel darted right past Tico.
It seemed to be taunting him, “Hey dog, you can’t catch me!”
Tico thought, we’ll see about that!
And with one smart maneuver and the quick tilt of his head, he pulled out of his collar and was gone!
He took off chasing the squirrel at full speed.
Sally ran after them, but she was not nearly as fast as Tico in pursuit of a squirrel.
They turned a corner, and she lost sight of them.
This caused Sally enormous grief and anxiety in her heart. What on earth was she going to do? She had to get home and get ready for work.
She searched and searched… up one street and down the other. But no Tico.
She finally gave up and walked home grief-stricken.
But to Sally’s surprise, as she turned the corner to her townhome, there Tico was! Just sitting there waiting patiently by their front door.
When he saw Sally, he ran to her wagging his tail. "I’ve been waiting for you, mama! What took you so long?!” he seemed to say.
Sally grabbed Tico and hugged him tightly.
“Tico, that was a bad boy!” she scolded. “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you!”
After work that night, Sally realized Tico needed more mental stimulation than what she was providing for him simply by going on walks. He needed to hunt and track squirrels!
So, she took his toy squirrel (his FAVORITE TOY) and sprinkled the tiniest bit of rosemary essential oil on it (since dogs have a very heightened sense of smell) and Sally invented a new game… Go Get the Squirrel!
Sally would tell Tico to sit and stay, she would hold the squirrel up to him so he could get a good whiff and take in the smell then she would leave the room and go hide the squirrel someone in the house.
Next, Sally would hold up her hand to make him wait thus building the sense of anticipation, then she would shout, “Go! Get the squirrel!”
To this, Tico burst into action, sniffing and running all over the house tracking the squirrel’s scent. Inevitably, he always found it and he would prance over to Sally, squirrel in mouth, to display his conquest to her.
“You are the best boy ever!” Sally praised him and threw her arms around him.
Tico smiled.
Sally laid awake in bed that night, pondering all that had happened that day in her heart… How scary it had been that Tico had nearly been lost!
Then, a thought occurred to her. What if nothing is ever really lost? Sally was thinking about her parents now.
What if those we think we’ve lost aren’t really lost at all? What if they are only waiting for us when we get home?
That’s a lovely idea, thought Sally. And she rolled over, patted Tico on the head and fell into a peaceful sleep.
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