It's a beautiful Autumn day. The sky is clear, and the trees are vibrant with red, yellow, and brown colors. Other than a slight Fall breeze it is warm and comfortable outside. Your owner decided that today was the perfect day to go to the dog park.
You wag your tail excitedly as you see the entrance to the park. You happily head towards the park with a bit of a bounce in your step, right alongside your owner who has you on a leash. When you enter the park you get overwhelmingly happy seeing all the dogs with their people here, many of them being your best friends. Your owner gently commands you to sit, which you do, as you are a good dog, and then she removes the leash from your collar. You have been vigorously trained to have good manners, ever since you were a pup, and your owner trusts that you will be on your best behavior while playing with the other dogs at the park.
She says, "Okay," signaling that you can go play, and you bound off to where you see your friends, your tongue carelessly waving out of the side of your mouth. However, halfway while running, something catches your attention, and it causes you to stop and look. By a big oak tree in the center of the park, a crowd of dogs had formed, apparently looking at something peculiar. Curious, you make your way through the crowd, pushing some dogs to the side so you can get a better look. You see a black and white Aussiedoodle standing on her hind legs and holding up a sign. Next to her is an elderly Black Lab. The sign had a combination of human letters, and you assumed that they must mean something, but you don't know the human language outside of "Sit", "Stay", and "Good Dog". Judging by the confused looks of the other dogs, you think they probably don't know what the sign says either. At this point your friends have come to join the commotion.
"I tell you, my canine brothers and sisters, the end is nigh!" The Aussiedoodle yipped. "This park is doomed! Doomed to destruction by the hidden enemy! The enemy who wishes to take over and obliterate our peaceful lives!" She puts down the sign and starts to pace back and forth while the black lab holds on to the sign for her. But before she can speak any more, she is interrupted.
"What are you yipping about over here?" Lucy, the dog who had introduced you to the park, breaks her way through the crowd and stands confidently in front of the Aussiedoodle. "Doomed? That is just silly talk! There is no enemy trying to take over the park. This park has been as friendly and welcoming as ever."
"Lucy, have you not noticed that there has been an absence of several dogs? Surely you have noticed that Dusty hasn't been seen in the park since last week."
"Dusty? I don't recall a dog called Dusty ever going here."
"Yes, you do, you must know him- Dusty, the rough collie, you always talked to him. I know that you know who he is."
Come to think of it, you realize that you haven't seen Dusty in a while either. There's no reason he would suddenly not come to the park without letting the other dogs know.
Lucy still plays dumb. "No, you must of seen me talking to another rough collie. I don't know this Dusty you speak of. Why are you trying to accuse me as a liar, Willow?"
The mini aussiedoodle, who you now know as Willow, sighs in frustration. "I never accused you of lying, Lucy. Dusty hasn't been the only disappearance. Haven't you noticed that Reba isn't here as well? The husky who always played with the puppies. She's gone too. Been gone for a few days now. And what about Miles? The border collie who loved to play tug o war. We haven't seen him in a month!"
Lucy narrowed her eyes. "You are over analyzing this. Just because a few dogs haven't been showing up does not mean it's the end of the world. Their owners probably moved away, taking their dogs with them."
"But on walks, I have been by their houses, and I have seen their owners in the yard, sitting on the porches, or in the windows, and yet I do not see their dogs out in the yard, or peeking out the window with their people. I have barked in order to see if they are inside their home where I do not see, but I get no bark in response. Their owners are here, but they are not. It seems that they have disappeared completely from town."
The black lab begins to speak, for the first time today. "Not only that, but I have seen pictures of said dogs, in various places around town. Hanged on the poles, on trees and walls too. Human letters scribbled on all of them. Why would pictures of only the disappeared dogs start to pop up all around town? It seems very fishy. It can't be a coincidence and I refuse to believe it is anything other than an underground mafia here at work."
You and the other dogs start to look at each other nervously. It makes the most sense. Dogs have been disappearing left and right, and there must be a reason. But why would there be a mafia in the first place? What purpose would they have in chasing out specific dogs out of town? But more importantly, who can you trust now? The enemy is hiding among the park, and your best friends, they could be one of them.
The crowd begins to talk amongst themselves, and the chatter grows louder and louder. Lucy looks around and barks to get the crowd's attention. "You can't be foolish enough to believe all of this! We are better than this. Willow, Ruby, we do not believe anything you say. I suggest you stop letting this nonsense spew from your mouth so that you may not make a fool of yourself."
Ruby instantly responds, showing her teeth, "There is enough to show that something strange is happening, there is an enemy among us. I don't know their purpose, but I think you would know that, wouldn't you Lucy?" The crowd gasps at the accusation.
Lucy growls back. "What do you say? I am not part of this so-called mafia you and Willow have fabricated, now I think you should shut those lips of yours before I rip them off your mouth!" Snarls the tiny dachshund to the giant labrador. It's quite laughable. Ruby lunges towards Lucy, her yellow fangs cutting through the air like knives. Lucy is startled by the sudden attack, and doesn't have enough time to dodge. She is pinned to the ground, however, Ruby knowing her strength, decides not to bite her, that would be too easy of a win. She could snap her body in half.
The other dogs get excited from the action, and some dogs even join in, snapping at Lucy's tail as she stumbles away, yipping in terror. It's fortunate that your owners are so engrossed in conversation with each other that they haven't even noticed that there is a dog holding a sign while a big group of dogs is chasing a dachshund out of the park.
As the dogs reach the end of the park, Lucy continues to run, straight into the woods that border the side of the park. The woods are big, and nobody has ever ventured far enough through them to see what waits on the other side. As Lucy enters the woods, she turns back, barking, "Your days are numbered, my fellow canines. You must submit to us, or you will be ridden of. We have already proven successful in narrowing down your numbers. We won't stop now. Make no mistake, this is the beginning of a new era!" She runs deep into the woods, never to return again.
Willow finally catches up with the rest of the crowd. Ruby looks at her, panting. "Well, that proves it. There is a mafia. What do we do now?"
Willow stands back and looks at the group of dogs that stood before her. 20 dogs left. And several of them were part of the mafia. Who knows how many, or what they intend to do. But they had to be stopped, and soon.
"We must find and chase off the mafia. 20 minds is better than one, so as a group will we help sniff out the mafia together and get rid of them as soon as possible. There is no time to waste. Starting now, we will start the search for the mafia. Unless, of course, the mafia chooses to surrender now. If you surrender, leave the park, now."
Nobody leaves.
"Alrighty then, that settles it. Mafia, you have been warned. We will find who you are, and we will banish you."
"I hope..." Ruby mutters under her breath.
Day One has begun.
