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The Adventures of Celtic: The Long Journey Home
By Todd Hveem AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2015 Todd Hveem
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4969-6908-8
CHAPTER 1
When all of the dogs were outside of the dog pound, I felt this great sense of accomplishment. In fact, for a long time, I just looked around and smiled.
There was a basset hound running in one direction, a poodle running in the other and two German Shepherds chasing each other like Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in that cartoon Tyler and I always watch.
"Wow," I thought to myself. "I can't believe how happy these dogs are to be free."
I took a deep breath and smiled. I just knew I should receive some type of "Dog of the Year" award for what I had just pulled off.
Then it hit me. Tyler was not there. My Grandpa was not there. Dad and "The Mama" were at home. And Colton was probably out with his friends.
I, Celtic, had just let 100 dogs out of the pound. But not one of us knew how to get home.
"Hey, little one," barked a big Irish setter named Leprechaun. "Thanks for letting us out. But do you know where I live? Which way do I need to go to get back to my house?"
"Yea, Jose," said a Chihuahua named Taco. "I need to find my casa, man. I am late for a big fiesta. Take me to my crib, Jose."
All of the sudden I started to sweat. What had I done? I got all of the dogs out. But now they had nowhere to go.
"Just sit tight, guys," I told the group, which was getting mighty restless. "I will think of something."
I had nothing. All I wanted to do was run. But if I ran, everybody would run after me. And, sooner or later, they would realize I was just as lost as they were.
"C'mon, man," said Bruiser, a big bulldog who had a serious sinus infection. "Surely, you have a plan. Don't tell me you got us out and now are going to leave us high and dry."
"No, way," I said. "I will get us to a safe place and then we are all going to have to follow our nose."
Just then, I looked into the pack and saw another dog that looked just like me. Then, I turned around and there was another dog that looked just like the other dog.
I knew my family was different than me. They were, well, humans. But I never thought much about my dog family. In fact, I didn't even realize I might have a dog family.
CHAPTER 2
I immediately went over to the first dog and started sniffing his entire body.
"Say," he said. "What are you doing?"
I didn't pay any attention. This dog looked almost identical to me. And I wanted to figure out why.
"Hey, dude," the dog said again. "What are you doing?"
I finally gave in.
"I am trying to figure out why you look so much like me," I said. "And that other dog, over there. She looks like both of us."
The almost-identical looking Welsh Terrier turned his head and nodded to the other puppy. She came running over to both of us.
"This," said the dog I was sniffing, "is my sister. We live together."
I couldn't believe it.
"How did you both get caught by the Dog Catcher at once?" I asked.
"Our Mom let us outside and we thought it would be fun to sneak out of the back yard," the young girl said with a shy giggle.
"Yea," the brother added. "We were playing chase around the entire neighborhood when we ran into the Dog Catcher."
I started to remember when the Dog Catcher almost caught the Hidden Lake Hounds when we went to see Grandma. It was very scary.
But these two didn't seem scared at all. They seemed like they had known each other all their lives.
"When we were just eight-weeks old, our family adopted both of us," the boy dog said. "We have never been apart. We fight sometimes, but we always do everything together."
I had to admit, it would be nice to have a dog playmate instead of three fleabags to chase around the house.
"We have a big back yard," the girl dog said. "We also have a swimming pool. We take turns diving off the diving board."
Now, I was really getting jealous.
"But do you have a 9-year-old boy to play with?" I asked.
They both hung their head.
"No," they both said at once. "That is why we are always together."
I knew Tyler was a special guy. But this made me realize it even more.
"What are your names?" I asked.
"I am Shaq," the boy dog blurted out.
"And I am Kobe," said his twin sister. "Our parents are big Lakers' fans."
Wow, I thought. We don't like the Lakers in my house. But I sure like these two.
"My family likes the Celtics," I said. "That is why they named me Celtic."
They both laughed. They knew who I was right from the start.
"You are our brother," Kobe said. "Our parents were named Boston and L.A. You, obviously, took after Boston."
"But how did you know I was your brother?" I asked.
"Everybody knows you, Celtic," Shaq said. "You are famous. When we saw how much you looked like us, we figured it had to be you."
For the first time in my life, I couldn't speak. I couldn't even bark. I just whimpered and cried. I was so happy. I loved Shaq and Kobe. I wanted to be with them.
"Hey, three amigos," Taco said from the middle of a huge pack of dogs. "I think I hear the owner of the pound, man. You need to stop the love-fest and lead us out of here."
I had forgotten all about our mission. I quickly assembled the troops, and then broke them into smaller groups of three. I would lead the big, old boy dogs, Shaq would take the smaller boys and Kobe, of course, would lead the girls.
"Come on," I said once everybody was in place. "We are going to lead you to the Interstate, which is about one mile from here."
"Ok, essay," I heard Taco bark from Shaq's group. "But can we go to What a Taco first?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Adventures of Celtic: The Long Journey Home by Todd Hveem. Copyright © 2015 Todd Hveem. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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