I sat panting in the far corner of what humans called a dugout. It was so hot and I was glad to escape the heat by being inside this shelter. I lay on my back and let the cool rock underneath me drain the heat from my body. I lifted my head and watched my boy called "Nathan" throw a ball to Dad. I wanted to join in but the older girl in charge apparently wouldn't let me. I couldn't understand why but I obeyed. Tiny droplets of slobber fell from my mouth as my tongue lolled out of my brown muzzle. They hit my paw one by one as the time lapsed by. I jerked my head up once again to sniff the hard, metal thing that my girl was sitting on. I could smell the scents of several young human pups. I lay back again and my head thudded against the ground. Thoughts swirled in my head as I lay there, panting, wondering what my friend was doing right now. Dakota was my the other dog who lived in my house and we were very good friends even though he was a great deal older than me. He had been here longer than me and yet he still welcomed me as if I had been here all along. I couldn't help being jealous of his freedom. He was allowed to stay at home and run around in the limitless land while I was stuck in this shelter in the boiling sun. My ears pricked up as I heard the sounds of many cars passing by. I also heard a motorcycle. They only had two black things instead of four. They looked so compelling that I couldn't help but stare at them. A fly flashed by my head and I followed it with my eyes as far as I could then gave up again. I then directed my gaze towards my boy. Dad was yowling at him and the boy seemed to do what ever Dad said. Back and forth the ball went and they never got tired. Occasionally, they would come in for some liquid in a small bottle. Why they didn't just drink from a bowl confused me. I got up and jerked my head around to see a man walking past. I wanted to greet him but the girl wouldn't let me. She yowled my name "Lucy" and I sat obediently at her feet. I scooted my backside closer to the opening when she wasn't watching but still staying inside the shelter. I gave up on the man and laid back down when he got into a car and pulled out a hard, metal stick and brought it back over to his boy. I looked up at my girl and she smiled at me and turned back to her box that opened up so that she could place her paws on these weird squares and seem entertained by doing so. I heard Dad yowl something to my boy and I understood the words, "Let's go". Which meant that it was time to leave where ever we were. But when I saw that they weren't going anywhere I assumed that I was wrong. A black beetle skated by and I got up to play with it. My girl yowled at me but I didn't care for I was so bored I just wanted to do something. As the beetle ran out of my reach I sat at the entrance so that if he came back I could be there. A car pulled up and another Dad with his boy got out with a bag and a hard, metal stick and walked out of my sight. I guess my boy was n't the only one who liked to play this odd game. My boy's Dad spoke with the other boy's Dad than they both went back to their own ways. I flopped my head down again and went back to my thoughts. The occasional thumping of the ball and yowling of the Dad broke me free from my thoughts and I would look up at them an then lay back down. Finally I sensed that it was time to go and waited patiently for Dad and my boy to come and get me from the shelter. At last I would be reunited with Dakota.