POP! The bubble disappeared in front of him. Another bubble passed by Rubix and he began to take off running towards it. Opening wide and immediately snapping his jaw shut again he felt for the satisfaction that is the dismay of the bubble. The bubble whizzed around his snout and up into the air. Taking a leap into the air after it he attempted once more to catch the bubble with his mighty puppy jaw. Alas, he made no contact once more. Standing on his hind legs, Rubix watched the bubble soaring overhead and awaited its descent. The bubble continued to taunt Rubix for a few bounces in the wind before being swept off toward the biggest hill in all the back yard. The bubble began to fall over the peak of the hill and with it followed Rubix in leaps and bounds. The puppy and the bubble picked up speed as they headed for the bottom of the hill. With the largest leap the puppy could muster he leaped into the air, jaw open wide headed straight for the bubble. It disappeared under his open snout as he clenched down with his jaw, the faint pop sound hit his ears and the normally soapy taste was coming next. Much to his surprise the soap taste was replaced with the taste of that delicious meat the humans have for breakfast. Enjoying the taste Rubix closed his eyes and began to savor the flavor.

With his eyes closed, Rubix’s other senses were heightened, he felt the breeze on his hair and the saliva dripping from his jowls. Then a new sensation, a pet, right behind the ears. It was a familiar pet that excited Rubix and caused him to open his eyes to find himself laying on the couch, getting an ear massage from his papa StripheGotti. Rubix cocked his head to the side, deep in thought, attempting to process what had happened. It must have been one of those sleep time videos, but it's like really being there. Spotting a leash in papa Striphe’s hand Rubix immediately snapped out of his thought process and would have to worry about that at another time. Perhaps when the humans all sit down and interact with funny noises.

Papa Striphe held the leash higher and enticed Rubix causing all kinds of excitement. Rubix began barking and running around in circles. He ran to the front door and sat. Then ran back to the couch and back again. He sat once more at the door and wagged his tail furiously until he was firmly tethered with the leash.

The door swung open and the warm light poured into the den, this was it, the walk. Rubix ran down the front steps and lifted his leg to pee on his first thing, whatever it was, does not matter. It was a rock in case you were wondering. Every smell in the air was so much stronger than what came in through the window and there were so many more smells in the air. Stopping at every protrusion from the ground Rubix marked a little territory as quick as he could and he was on to the next thing, when something caught his attention. There were people, different people, ones he had not met before. They were right there, on the other side of the road. Rubix launched himself towards them, eager to meet them and found himself strung up by neck. He returned to the ground and watched as the people continued on their way. For some reason they were not out here to meet Rubix. No matter, there was a flower on the way and Rubix knew it was his duty to give it a sniff. He made his way over to it, pulling papa Striphe along until he got right up on it to give it the proper nose-first greeting. Inhaling vigorously he identified the smell, it was wonderful, he continued to sniff each part of it until the leash felt taught again at his neck pulling him onto the next thing. He ungraciously accepted his new direction and made his way to his human’s side once more. Rubix continued to walk, nose pointed in the air, attempting to discover every scent.

Suddenly a familiar sound filled Rubix’s floppy ears, it was the sound of one of those loud metal machines that make lots of gross smells when they pass by. Rubix’s human Striphe turned to see what his puppy had heard. Recognizing the car, Striphe pulled the puppy in close and awaited the arrival of the car. The loud metal contraption began to slow down and arrived right in front of them. Rubix recognized the pilot of the machine as one of his good human buddies BunBun. Striphe began to communicate to his fellow human with their funny human sounds and he jumped into the car and called Rubix to follow.

This was like the best walk ever! Rubix was going for a fast ride, his tail wagged furiously as he leaped into the open vehicle’s door. His front paws made it to the seat and he began twitching his lower limbs, hoping they would reach something to push off of. Eventually Rubix was assisted by his human friend BunBun and the solid metal doors swung shut. The machine grew louder in volume and the small back seat Rubix was in began to move about. Sliding from side to side Rubix attempted to get his footing. Rubix noticed that things were whizzing by on the other side of the glass and that the room had begun forcing him against the leather of the seat. A few turns later Rubix was holding his own against the forces of the vehicle, anticipating what he could he was standing at the window and trying to make sense of any of the funny noises the two humans were communicating with in the front seat.

Pawing at the window, Rubix began to whimper until Striphe reached back and rolled it down for him. Rubix valiantly braved the forces of wind while balancing in the moving room. Finally reaching the opening Rubix stuck his snout through to the outside. A gust of smells filled his nose, smells like flowers, and dirt, and fireplace smoke, maybe even some food. Definitely some food, Rubix began to salivate, his jowls flopping in the wind and spraying drool down the side of the vehicle. Rubix was in heaven, he was going to have sleep time video about this during his afternoon nap.

Before he knew it, the ride was over. The smells of his neighborhood quickly transitioned into the overwhelming smells of trees, bushes and flowers. The large metal box came to a stop and the humans exited the front seat. Rubix sat waiting for the door to be opened for him, his tail wagged in anticipation. BAM. A loud thud came from the trunk behind the seat. Rubix began barking at the loud noise until the door was open and he had an escape. Running in fear, Rubix made his way outside of the vehicle until he was able to collect his nerves and courageously resume barking, this time from the outside of the vehicle. The humans clicked the lock open on the trunk and began lifting a third human from inside. This human was different from the others Rubix had met, this one had his arms tied together and was wearing a very stylish burlap sack over his head. Knowing the source of the thrashing sounds from inside the trunk, Rubix was finally able to calm himself down and resume his excitement for the walk. He had never been to the woods before, there was probably so much out there to pee on, things he’s never peed on before!

The walk resumed, this time off the leash. The humans were slowly making their way down the trail, BunBun was guiding the other with the sack on his head which was nice because he probably could not see very well. Striphe was walking behind them holding some sort of giant stick with a metal point thingy. Rubix decided to help and blaze the trail ahead. Running over the small saplings like a giant dog bounding over actual trees, Rubix began to dart around the woods running circles around the group. A hopping dark green object caught his eye and Rubix made his way over to investigate. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a frog. Rubix pushed it gently with his snout to get it to hop and move but the frog refused. Nudging it over and over again the frog finally hopped once. Getting frustrated with the frog, Rubix looked around for something else to play with. An entire woods full of woodland creatures and all he could find was a stupid frog. A whistling sound from Striphe called Rubix back towards the group of humans. Before reaching the group Rubix spotted a formidable opponent, one of the forests elusive squirrels. Moving as fast as he could, Rubix chased after the squirrel for a total of 2 seconds before the squirrel ran up the tree and began mocking the dog from the branch above. Rubix turned to the side, lifted his leg and began to empty most of his tank on the tree in hopes that the squirrel would eventually have to make his way through it. Annoyed at the majority of woodland creatures, Rubix began to chase after his tail. Round and round he went until he collapsed on the ground, his tail falling an inch in front of his snout.

BANG

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the woods grabbing Rubix’s attention. He stood up and attempted to run but he was so dizzy that all of his momentum resulted in 4 awkward steps to the right followed by another full collapse. Powering through this ailment, Rubix stood up and began to move forward this time, he was also moving to the left, but at least it was progress. He paused at a tree and leaned on it for just a moment before taking off at full speed. Arriving at the source of the gunshot, Rubix found his two favorite humans. They appeared to be fine, still standing but the gentleman with the bag on his head was laying down. He was not moving and there was some sort of liquid starting to pool around him. Rubix added to the liquid by lifting his leg and peeing on the gentleman. Stopping only because the tank was empty, Rubix looked curiously as BunBun began to dig up dirt with the big stick and metal point thingy. Cocking his head to the side to wonder why anyone would dig without their paws, Rubix began to show him how it was done. He ran over to the “hole” and firmly planted his rear legs in a wide stance and began to go-to-town on the dirt. Like a machine he dug as furiously as possible, throwing chunks of dirt at super speed. BunBun took a step back watching the dog and the wave of dirt behind him. BunBun then began laughing uncontrollably to the point where he needed to use the large digging stick thing to hold himself up. The uncontrollable laughing from the human caused Rubix to stop. He surveyed the area to find the source of the hilarity. Turning around he spotted Striphe, standing behind him, covered  in dirt wearing a face that looked most unamused. Rubix’s excitement for digging vanished from his face and was instantly replaced with a look of remorse. The tail and head dropped simultaneously and Rubix avoided eye contact at all costs. The tension was soon broken by the cackle of BunBun as he fell to the ground laughing at the sight that had befallen Striphe.

Distracted by the laughing, Striphe dropped his facial expression as a chuckle escaped his lips. Following the chuckle was a string of laughter between the two humans causing Rubix to look up. Striphe had laughed a decent amount of the dirt off of himself and the removal of his overcoat shook the majority of the rest from his person. As the two calmed themselves down, Rubix made his way to Striphe’s side and received a gentle pat on the head. He motioned for Rubix to stay and for BunBun to continue to dig. Rubix dropped to the ground and watched the two take turns digging. Obviously neither were paying attention because they refused to use their paws.

The sun began to set in the forest and beams of light were shinning through the trees. Rubix inched himself towards one of the beams of light nearest him. It was warm but it had no taste nor smell. The puppy, very interested began to investigate the beams of light further. The humans didn’t need his supervision anyways, time was best spent sniffing these beams of light obviously. Eventually the puppy wandered into a giant beam of light, it came from a hole in the canopy of trees above him. It was warm, the puppy layed down and shut his eyes.

A rustling of the leaves nearby caused Rubix’s ears to stand at attention. There was something out there, it wasn’t a beam of light either. His eyelids sprung open and he scanned the area from his prone position. A crackle of leaves once more gave him the location. He tilted his head a tiny bit to spot a small fox. This was it! The moment Rubix was hoping for. An animal that doesn’t traditionally mock him from the trees, much better than crows and squirrels and much more manageable than the mailman and his loud metal machine. Rubix assumed the pounce position as quietly as possible and waited. Waiting and watching, watching and waiting the dog spied as the fox tiptoed through the forest, still unaware of the dangers that lurked a few feet away. Rubix made his move, he hurled himself forward towards the fox and immediately the chase began. Whizzing between trees the fox was losing ground as the puppies massive strides covered more ground. The fox made a hard turn left and the uncoordinated puppy attempted to turn just as fast. The woods began spinning uncontrollably as Rubix tumbled around on the ground finally landing on his feet and taking off again in a straight line towards the fox. The fox’s attempts to lose the puppy from this point forward were starting to fail as he lost his lead more and more. Making another quick turn the fox spotted a desperate hope in a fallen tree a couple hundred feet away. Rubix took the turn wide but maintained momentum as he changed course for the fox once more. He bolted towards the fox who was closing in on the log, he opened his jaws and prayed this would end more like the bacon bubble and less like the squirrel. The fox was now in reach, the puppy made a great push with his hind legs, focusing only on the fox until everything suddenly went dark.

His eyes opened slowly at first and then all at once, it was dark. He was alone... He was stuck. He thrashed about violently but his neck was strung up against a branch on the log. He fought and fought until his collar snapped. Checking his surroundings he spotted no humans and worse than that… No Fox. He began sprinting through the woods, scared and alone, he barked and barked but heard no reply. He checked for some familiar scents but found none. He ran fast and hard until the trees thinned around him and he made his way out of the forest. Unsure of where he was he continued to run until he spotted a human walking down the street. He began to bark as he moved towards her so that he could get her attention. The human stopped and turned around. To her surprise she found a puppy arriving at her feet. He lifted his nose high in the air as if to show off his collar and tags because for some reason this magical phenomenon has gotten him home a few times before. This time however, his neck was feeling light. He shook his head but it was clear by the absence of that sweet jingle sound that he had lost his tags. The puppy began to whimper and he laid down at her feet and began to shiver.

She walked along the edge of the park, her hands shoved in her pockets in an attempt to keep them warm. Winter had finally shown up, and it was an absolute bitch. She was currently pondering if she should head back to her bar, and get a drink or twelve, or if she should just head home and curl up in front of the fireplace and read when suddenly a noise piqued her interest. She turned her head, wondering where it had come from, when out of nowhere a small dog came out of the trees. He laid down at her feet, making some of the saddest sounds she had ever heard. “Oh, dear.” she said, as she crouched down, holding her hand in front of the dog’s nose. It tentatively sniffed it a few times before nudging it with his head. She took that as a sign that she wasn’t about to get mauled to death, and started to scratch behind his ears. “You lost little one?” she asked him, as her hand moved down to see if the poor thing had any tags to indicate where he had come from.

The puppy lifted his head to the sky and it was clear by the lines in his fur that he did indeed have a collar on normally but some scratches on his neck suggest it was cut off. She dropped to her knees to inspect the puppy closer but he took it upon himself to climb up into her lap and burrow his face into the warm area in her jacket. She stood up, holding Rubix tight and wrapped him in the loose part of her coat. His shivers stopped almost immediately and she felt a bond with the lost puppy dog. She searched the area for anyone that may have lost the poor fellow but being that she was already on a time crunch she viewed her watch to check the time. “Shit… I’m going to have to bring you with me little guy.”

Turning on her heel she made her way to the old junk yard where the deal was supposed to go down. She found her contact waiting on her like usual, she was always so late and it was always such a pain to get her motivated to do anything on time. Her contact was posted up behind a rusted, broken ass sedan, holding a briefcase in hand. She stepped up to the vehicle and set the puppy down on the trunk of the car, “Don’t ask, just show me the shit” she quickly interjected before the gentleman was able to voice his concern.

The puppy sat quietly on the trunk, excited to be sitting tall enough to view the action, his tail wagged gently brushing a small area clear of dirt. The gentleman gave a nod and set the briefcase on the car opposite the dog and showed her the contents. She pulled a knife from her pocket and sampled a small piece of the cocaine from the brick on top. She nodded to the gentleman and pulled a large bulging envelope of money from her jacket. As the cash transaction was happening, neither of them noticed the puppy slinking his way towards the briefcase full of drugs. He dropped his nose into the briefcase and sniffed a large volume into his snout. He then dug a little deeper and with his jaw, picked up a very solid brick from the bottom and began crunching on it. As she turned to hear the crunching noise her face turned to terror to see the puppy covered in cocaine but it was soon replaced by a look of curiosity as she bent down and picked up a solid white piece that had fallen from the bag.

Quicking understanding that the bottom layer of drugs were mostly drywall pieces she reached for her gun and looked to find her dealer running away with the envelope in hand. She fired a single shot into the night and the man instantly fell to the ground. Full of energy, the cocaine inspired puppy leaped from the trunk of the car and made his way over to the gentleman to inspect. She closed up the briefcase and made her way over to the puppy, lifting the envelope from the man’s jacket, she decided she would also recover the man’s jacket to use as a source of warmth for the puppy… when he calmed down that is.

She bent down to pet the puppy and whispered to him, “Boy am I glad you were here, you saved me a lot of money tonight. I promise I will help you find your home.” The two exited the junkyard at a quick pace as the puppy began to run circles around her. This energy that he had was short lived because he quickly grew tired and continued to sniff the briefcase she was holding. She finally decided to pick him up and carry him for awhile, at least until they were out of the industrial part of town. After about a mile of traveling the puppy began to start sniffing furiously. His tail had started to whip her repeatedly until she realized that he was onto something. She quickly set him down to see what he could find.

Rubix, having been placed gently on the ground stretched for a moment and continued to hunt the familiar smell. He placed his nose to the ground like a bloodhound in tracking mode. After all the amazing adventures the puppy incurred on his walk he was ready to finally lay on his favorite spot on the couch and take a long puppy nap, but first he’d have to find the human he was tracking. The smell was a combination of cigar, whiskey, and meatballs and the trace of it zigzagged down the sidewalk. Jennie and Rubix walked a few blocks and cut through a few yards until coming upon a park bench where this human must have been laying on for quite some time because the odor combination was all over it. After a few moments of sniffing, Rubix finally had a heading that took him west through the business district of Chicago.

The busy streets and plethora of smells in the business district clouded Rubix’s sense of smell. The duo arrived outside of a flower shop where Rubix completely lost all sense of direction. Suddenly the bartender across the street ran outside and called Rubix by name, his ears perked up as he took off towards the sound of his own name, one of the few human words he understood in fact. Jennie’s screamed as she saw the large vehicle barreling down the road towards Rubix who stopped in the street when he heard the scream. The vehicle came to a screeching halt directly where the puppy had stopped, leaving the bartender and Jennie both mortified. The driver of the vehicle opened the driver's side door and stepped out just as half the town had gathered around the vehicle. All at once they crouched to look underneath and found dear Rubix curled up in a ball with his tail between his legs and his paws over his eyes. A few moments went by and the puppy checked his surroundings and crawled out from underneath the car. The puppy seemed to almost immediately forget what had happened as he was excited by all the faces that had come over to see him and make sure he was okay. He did a lap around the car attempting to find anyone familiar until finally settling for the bartender he barely knew. Jennie began communicating with the bartender for a few moments as only humans manage to do until she bent down to tell Rubix the good news. She spoke a bunch of word things that meant nothing to Rubix except for the mention of a place called South Side. Rubix barked a few times to confirm familiarity with these words and the fantastic partnership continued on at a quick pace to get the puppy home.

It was not even 5 minutes before the puppy came across his own scent on a fire hydrant. He quickly renewed the territory marker and began running as quick as he could for more of his breadcrumb trail home. Jennie, was out of breath and was barely able to keep up with Rubix but she knew that he was on the right trail this time. The familiar scents of the neighborhood caused Rubix’s tail to wag uncontrollably as he finally came to a stop on the sidewalk in front of a very large and luxurious manor that he had called home for, well… as long as he can remember. Jennie walked with Rubix up the front steps and to the door. She helped with the doorbell as it was never something Rubix understood. A moment went by and StripheGotti answered the door, a stack of flyers in one hand and Rubix’s collar in the other. As he caught sight of Rubix he loosened his grasp on the flyers as they showered the foyer in white paper pictures of Rubix. He opened his arms wide and bent down as the puppy launched himself towards Striphe who scooped him up. The rest of the Unione Siciliana family started to gather and witness the sight that had come upon them as Rubix finally made it home. After a few moments and cheers from the family, Striphe set the dog down and began thanking Jennie as Rubix made his way over to his favorite couch cushion and curled up into a ball. He was ready for some reminiscent sleep time videos.

As he lay there in his favorite spot on the couch the only thought coursing through Rubix’s brain was that it was Like the Best Walk Ever!