♫ooh that smell♫
♫can't you smell that smell♫
♫ooh that smell♫
♫can't you smell that smell ♫
♫the smell of death surrounds you♫

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  The turkey has come and gone.  Mmm...turkey.  How very sad.  I have cheered myself up by destroying duck #2.  I feel pretty good about that.  Stretchy duck is still going long and strong, week 3.   Hooray for sturdy toys. 

I am still taking entries in the title and cast contests for the novel. 

I have some new ones:

Title (entry from Miss Matches): The Crazy Life of a Whigle

Cast (entry from Morgan Anna Maria): Lyle (that's me!)--Brad Pitt; Dexter--Clint Eastwood or George Clooney (sorry, buddy, you get all the old guys); Basil--Jim Carey; Seva--Angelina Jolie (if she'll go blonde) or Julie Andrews; Miss Matches--Charlize Theron; Princess Morgan--Julia Roberts

Chapter 27   

    Morgan’s mind was working furiously as she wriggled in the iron-clad grip of the monster.  Beside her, Miss Matches was desperately trying to free her arms to get to her notebook and pen.  Both of them were pinned from shoulders to tail, and Morgan couldn’t free herself despite her best efforts.  In a desperate last attempt to save their lives, she tried to reason with the creature.
    “Excuse me, mister…sorry, I don’t know you r name,” she shouted, trying to make her voice as sweet as possible but loud enough so the monster could hear her over the sounds of crashing buildings and car horns. The creature shook his head violently and clawed at his face with his free paw.  She could see Seva’s shoe lodged near his eye. He gave no response to her calls.  She tried again, louder this time.  “Please!  Sir!  HEY YOU!!!”  She thought she saw the monster flash her a sidelong glance as he strode ever closer to the lake.  So he could hear her, then.  Perhaps he just didn’t care.  She stared hard at his face.  He did look somehow doglike, even a bit familiar.  Could it be this creature really was once a dog, ravaged by some unknown force to create the monster that now held her captive?  She decided to test her theory.  If the creature had ever been a dog, she would find out.
    “SIT!!!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.  Immediately the creature stopped in its tracks and sat in the middle of the street.  It looked around, bewildered, before looking down at Morgan.  “Good boy!” she said, breathless with excitement at her discovery.   Her mind reeled.  He was a dog!  And what was it he had said?  It was so garbled…but could it have been…no, it wasn’t possible.  She stared hard at him again: the strong jaw, the noble brow. Could it be that this creature was…Lyle’s brother?
    Her brief control over the monster was disrupted when the monster looked up and saw a crowd gathering near the Millennium Fountain.  He licked his lips and his stomach growled.  He stood up again, but he was walking more slowly now, his head lowered.  He was hunting.             

Chapter 28

    “Mayor Impy!  Mayor Impy!  What’s going on?”
    “Mayor Impy!  What are the police doing?”
    “How many people have been eaten?”
    Impy was bombarded with questions from reporters as she struggled through the crowd to the podium.  She had always believed that keeping the public informed was a key component of her job as mayor.  Unfortunately, at the moment she had very little information to offer.  What she did have was sketchy and unsubstantiated.  But people were worried, and at least she could reassure them.   
    “Your attention, please,” she said as she finally reached the podium.  “I have a statement, and then Chief of Police Dexter and I will answer what questions we can.  Earlier today, a dogcatcher and his assistant were reported missing and presumed dead in Palatine.  Evidence gathered at that crime scene suggests that the perpetrator has traveled by foot here to Chicago, where we suspect that he, or it, is responsible for injuring a  number of citizens and damaging several buildings.”
    There was a roar from the press.  “It?  It?  What do you mean?” they shouted.
    “Please allow me to continue,” Mayor Impy spoke over the din.  “The identity of the perpetrator is as yet unknown.  Evidence suggests a large animal may be responsible and we are contacting local zoos to determine if any animals are unaccounted for.  I want to personally reassure the citizens of Chicago.  We are doing everything in our power to ensure the safety of the city and determine the nature if this disturbance.  Chief, do you have anything to add?”
    Dexter reluctantly stepped up to the podium.  He wanted to be out in the field with his officers, not making television appearances.  He respected the mayor’s desire to speak to the public, but he wished he could be investigating the case, not discussing it with a bunch of overzealous reporters.  All of his officers were dispatched to the south side and as yet, none had reported anything of consequence.  A couple of rookies had radioed in with a possible lead, but nothing had been confirmed.  He cleared his throat and spoke.  “The police department is investigating every lead.  Please remain calm and refrain from speculation.  We’ll take your questions now.”
    He sighed inwardly as the barrage of questions began.

Chapter 29

    “There!  Up ahead!” shouted Skye.  “Smell it?”
    “The nose knows,” replied Basil.  “If you say it’s there, Dee-tective Skye, then there it is.  What is it?”
    “I don’t know yet.  It smells a little like a dog, but also a little like a toxic wastes dump.  It’s moving toward the lake.”
    “Spent a lot of time around toxic waste dumps, have you, Skye?”
    “Oh, just put your nose to the ground for a moment and smell for yourself,” she replied.
    Basil rolled his eyes, but lowered his nose to the ground.  Skye was right.  He smelled it.  He could smell the danger, the fear, and something else, something doglike but not quite right.  “BAAAWOOOOOOO!!!” he bayed and took off at a dead run, Skye close on his heels.