Go home, Diogee

Part 1

"Go home, Diogee." Milo told his dog at the harvest festival. Diogee barked, and left for home.

"Your dog is so loyal, Milo." Zack said. "Always checking up on you. Making sure you're okay."

"Yep!" Milo agreed. "That's Diogee for you. He's the best dog a kid could ever ask for." Zack grew concerned.

"But, aren't you worried that one day Diogee will lose his way, and get lost?" Milo laughed.

"Diogee won't get lost." He assured his friend. "He's done this since the beginning. He knows where home is like the back of his paw."

"If you say so. I just worry about him sometimes."

"Well that's sweet, but, don't be. Diogee will be fine."

"Uh, guys," Melissa pointed out. "We should worry about that runaway giant pumpkin that Milo pushed down the hill."

"Right." Milo agreed.

Diogee walked and walked. He then smelled something with his nose, and sniffed the air. He knew the smell quite well. Mrs. Murphy was had just poured him some kibble. Eager to get home, the dog ran the rest of the way

000000, barking all the way. He ignored the neighbors' complaints.

Suddenly, a squirrel scurried past him. Diogee stopped in his tracks. He looked at the squirrel. He wanted to get home to eat some of that delicious kibble, but he also wanted that squirrel. Oh, what's a dog supposed to do? He tried very hard to fight the urge.

He lost the battle. He ran after the squirrel, resuming his loud barking. The squirrel looked behind, and noticed the dog. This made him run faster. Diogee picked up speed. The chase was on!

The squirrel ran up a tree. Diogee, unable to climb, put his paws on the tree, and barked and barked. The squirrel taunted him. Nah, nah; you can't get me! He went into his hole. Stupid dog!

Tired of barking, Diogee gave up, and went off again, heading back towards home.

"Hey!" A voice shouted. Diogee stopped, and looked around. He then froze as he saw the dog van. He then saw the dogcatcher with the dog net was heading his way! "Hey; you're the dog people's been complaining about!" Remembering his last visit to the pound, Diogee knew he didn't want to go. He dodged when the man swiped his net at him. He then ran off. The man went to his car, started the engine, and zoomed after him.

Diogee's paws were sore, but he knew he had to keep going. The man kept getting out of his van, trying to catch him, but every time Diogee wouldn't let him. The man kept getting upset, got in his van again, and zoomed after him again. This went on forever (according to Diogee).

They ran near the river. Diogee tried to stay out of it, but the dogcatcher made it almost impossible. He tried his best anyways. The man noticed his collar.

"Aw, man!" He cried out. "I keep on chasing dogs so much that I keep forgetting looking for the collars." He shrugged. "Oh well; must finish what I started; that's what my mom says!" When the van was close enough, he again swiped with the net. Diogee, once again dodged. "Shoot; why can't I get you?!"

The dog smiled to himself. He liked seeing this dogcatcher try and fail each time.

Suddenly, the rocky embankment he was on gave out. The dog yelped as he fell into the river. The dogcatcher gasped. He brought out his phone.

Diogee tried to dogpaddle, but the current was too strong for him. He barked for help, but no one came.

Minutes later, he was washed ashore. He stood up, and shook off the water in his fur, and looked around.

Where was he? The dog didn't know, and that's what frightened him. He began to walk, hoping that he could find a familiar path.

Suddenly, he heard a scared little whimper. He looked around for the noise. He then saw it! A wolf pup was shivering, and a hungry lynx was snarling in front of it.

Diogee knew what he had to do. He couldn't let that lynx kill that poor defenseless pup. He grew serious, and jumped into the crossfire, growling at the lynx. The lynx growled back. The two then lunged at one another. The fight had begun!

There was another bark. The wolf pup looked up, and got excited. It was its mother! The young wolf ran to his mother's side. The mother cuddled her pup.

"Are you hurt?" The mother asked her baby.

"I'm fine, Mommy." The puppy replied.

"Good. Now, let's go! Hurry, while the lynx's distracted." She took off. She stopped when the pup wasn't following her. She looked back. "Little Wanderer?"

"We can't just leave, Mommy." Little Wanderer replied. He looked at the fight. "We have to help." The adult wolf sighed.

"No we don't." She told him. "We have to go back to the pack."

"But, Mommy. He saved me. If it weren't for him, I'd be a goner. It won't be right if we just leave him." The mom was serious now.

"Now look, Little Wanderer, we are wolves. We don't…"

"Please, Mama, please!"

"No, we…." But, she couldn't say no to her young. She sighed. "Oh, very well!" The puppy got excited. "This is what I get for giving birth."

Diogee sailed hard onto the ground after the lynx slashed him. Little Wanderer gasped as the dog tried to get up, but couldn't.

"Mama!" The pup cried.

"I'm on it, dear." Her mother responded, attacking the lynx. Little Wanderer cheered. He looked at the fallen Diogee.

"It's okay. My mama is taking care of it. You just rest, and take it easy." Diogee just watched the fight, not believing his eyes.

The lynx sailed into a tree, and fell hard. The creature tried to get up, but was too weak to, and fell unconscious. Little Wanderer cheered again. The wolf strolled towards the dog and her son.

"Okay, Little Wanderer." She said. "We better go now."

"Mama!" Little Wanderer whined. The wolf groaned, and looked at Diogee.

"Thank you for saving my son's life." She looked at her son again. "Okay Little Wanderer, now let's…"

"But Mama, he's hurt. Couldn't we take him to our pack until he's healed?"

"No, Little Wanderer, we can't…"

"It'll be the right thing to do." Little Wanderer then noticed the lynx about to get back up, and gasped once more. "Mama; the lynx's getting back up!" The mama wolf sighed again, got Diogee on her back with help from her son. She took Little Wanderer in her mouth. She tackled the lynx to the ground again before taking off.

Joseph Hanna, a park ranger at Jefferson County National Park got into his car. He was called by the dogcatcher about Diogee, and was going to search for him. He was about to start his engine when another ranger approached him. Joseph rolled down his window.

"Hi, Joe." The ranger greeted. "Going to check out the grounds?"

"I got a call George." Joseph told him. "About a domesticated dog who may or may not have washed up here by the creek."

"Oh my!" George said. "Poor thing. A national park is no place for a pet. He'll get attacked by lynxes and wild wolves we have here." Joe nodded.

"Which is why I'm going after him before it's too late."

"Well, that's good. Hope you find him. The owner must really be worried sick about him. I would if my dog got lost here. This park is a big place."

"I hope I find the dog too. Okay, talk to you later, George!"

"Bye!" Joe rolled up his window. He started his engine, and was about to go when George tapped on his window. Irritated, Joe rolled down the widow again. "What do you want, George? My engine's running."

"Can I go with you? I'm just really worried about him. I'm done with my shift and got nothing better to do until dinner in two hours. And you know what they say. Two heads are better then one."

"You're right, they do say that." He unlocked the passenger door. "Hop in!" George went in, buckled his seat belt, and closed the door. "I'm going to call my wife and tell her what's going on, telling her I might be late for dinner."

"Okay. Whatever, George." And with that, they drove off as George called on his phone.

"Thank you for doing this." Diogee thanked the wolves. He was still on the mama's back, and they were headed towards the wolf pack. "I really appreciate this."

"No problem!" Little Wanderer responded. "My dad always taught me to do the right thing."

"Your father is a wonderful wolf."

"Yeah, yeah he was."

"Was?" Little Wanderer frowned.

"He's dead now, with the rest of my brothers and sisters. It's just me, my mom, and the rest of the pack."

"Oh, gee, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks." He then changed the subject. "By the way, I'm Litt…"

"Little Wanderer? I know. I heard your mom call you that a few times."

"Oh, well I won't be Little Wanderer forever. When I'm fully grown and prove myself worthy, my name will be changed, and I'll go by that name for the rest of my life. It's our wolf pack tradition. Do you know Mama's name."

"No, I do not. It never came up."

"My mother's name is Feisty. What's yours?"

"Diogee." Little Wanderer was confused.

"Diogee? That's a strange name."

"Not as strange as Feisty and Little Wanderer. Let me guess. Your name is Little Wanderer is because you're little and you wonder off a lot, and your mom is Feisty because she's feisty."

"Correct; wow, you're good at this!"

"Thanks." Little Wanderer was confused.

"So, why is your name Diogee?"

"Why do you think my name is Diogee? Think long and hard." Little Wanderer thought about it, but didn't come up with anything. "I give up. Tell me." Diogee explained.

"That's cool!" Little Wanderer complimented when Diogee was done.

"Yeah." Diogee agreed. "Yeah, it is."

"Your owner sure is smart. You must miss him."

"Yeah, I do." He then frowned. "Which I why I'm starting to think if this is a good idea, taking me in and all. I mean it's nice, but I don't want my family to worry."

"Don't worry about it. Sure they'll worry, but they don't want to see you all injured, do they?"

"Well, no, but, they can take me to the ve…"

"Plus, you don't know where to look, and you won't get very far in your condition. It's better to stay with us."

"I suppose but…"

"Please?"

"Little Wanderer!" Feisty told him, sternly. "It's his choice." Diogee sighed.

"Okay." Little Wanderer cheered. Feisty looked unhappy about all of this.

"Alright; you won't regret this. I promise!"

"I hope not." Little Wanderer changed the subject.

"So, what happened? How did you end up here?"

"Well, you see…"

"We're here." Feisty interrupted. Diogee looked, and saw more wolfs in a vast campground. "Diogee, this is our campground."

"Feisty." A big black wolf said, coming their way. A huge scar was on her left eye.

"Uh-oh!" Little Wanderer observed. "Here comes the head honcho, Valerie, Big V, or Val for short. She doesn't take kindly to strangers. You never want her on her bad side. But don't worry, I'll convince her to take you in for a good cause."

"Why does she have a scar over her eye?" Diogee asked. Before his question could be answered, Valerie continued.

"Why did you bring this dog here? He's not welcome."

"I'm sorry." Feisty apologized. "This is Diogee. He got attacked and badly hurt."

"He saved my life." Little Wanderer put in. "So you see we have to keep him until he's all better. It's the right thing to do."

"Little Wanderer!" Feisty scolded. She looked back at the alpha. "Sorry about him."

"Please, let him stay!" Little Wanderer begged. "Just until he gets better!"

"Little Wanderer!" Feisty scolded again. She looked at Valerie again. "Sorry about him again. I don't know what's wrong with him."

"I suppose he can stay if it's temporary." Little Wanderer cheered.

"You hear that, Diogee?"

"I did." Diogee said. "Don't forget, we are your closet cousins so we too, have excellent hearing."

"But on one condition." Valerie continued. "He must behave, and not get in the pack's way."

"Oh, he will."

"I must hear it from the dog!" She snapped at Little Wanderer who got frightened, and hid behind his mom. Valerie looked at Diogee. "So, what's it going to be dog?"

"You can count on me, Val. I won't let you down!"

"Good. Now, I suppose you want to get acquainted with the other wolves."

"Sure. That'll be nice I guess." She called to the other wolves. They all came, and sat on their haunches. "This is Diogee…"

Diogee met every one of them. There were Sharp Teeth, Danger, Sniffer, Slaughter, Slasher, Rebel, Hunter, Valiant, Tracker, Sly, and Faith.

"Hello." Diogee greeted. Everyone greeted him back.

"Okay, everyone." Valerie said to the pack. "It's time for our hunt." She looked at Diogee. "You stay here, and recover. We'll go get you food."

"And I'll stay with you." Little Wanderer put in. "Since I'm too young to hunt."

"But, you will when the time comes."

"Yes, Mama." Feisty licked her pup. She and the rest of the pack were off!

"So," Little Wonderer said when it was just them. "Tell me about yourself."

"Okay." So, Diogee told Little Wanderer his life story, and how Milo adopted him.

"Boy, what an adventure we had today, huh, guys?" Milo asked his friends as they were walking to Milo's house from the harvest festival. "I never knew that a giant pumpkin could do all that damage."

"We're lucky that the guy in charge didn't sue as." Milo laughed.

"Yeah, no kidding! It's like this is a cartoon, people don't charge us or arrest us, or my parents or something, due to our actions. It's like logic almost doesn't exist."

"Well, they kind of do."

"Yeah, I guess they kind of do in a way. You're right"

"I'm just glad that it's all over with, just like any other day with you, no offense." Zack put in.

"No offence taken, Zack, my man! It could've been a lot worse, but I'm glad it wasn't, only a few injuries, nothing major. Now I can't wait to just sit and relax with my good friend, Diogee." The teens all said their goodbyes as they reached Milo's house, and went their separate ways. Milo went inside his house.

"I'm home, fam!" He greeted as he shut the door behind him. His mom came to greet her son.

"How was the harvest festival?" She wanted to know

"It was a disaster as usual, but nothing my friends and I couldn't handle."

"That's nice."

"Now as you excuse me, I'm going to chill and have some fun with Diogee." Mrs. Murphy frowned. Milo was worried.

"What's wrong, Mom?" She looked at her son.

"To be honest, I haven't seen him since he left to check up on you."

"Hmmm, that's weird." He then shrugged. "I'm sure it's nothing, and he's here somewhere."

"I hope you're right. I hope he didn't get himself lost."

"Diogee's not lost, Mom. He knows Jefferson County like the back of his paw."

"Whatever you say, son. He's your dog." Milo left to look for Diogee.

Milo searched the entire house, but didn't find Diogee. He looked at his Mom as he was back downstairs. His sister was listening to some music on her device with her earplugs in her ears.

"Mom, I can't find Diogee anywhere. I looked, and looked. Now I'm worried that he did get himself lost on the way home."

"We'll help you look." Mrs. Murphy assured her son. She looked at Sara, Milo did too. Sara saw this, and took out her earplugs.

"What?" She questioned.

"I can't believe Diogee got himself lost." Milo told his friends later when they went out looking for him. "I mean, he comes and checks up and me every day. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but still, it's really worrisome. He must be so lost and scared right now. I'm the one who's supposed to have the rotten luck, not him. It's not Friday the 13th."

"We'll find him, Milo." Melissa told him. "Your mom called the police, they said that he might be lost in Jefferson County National Park, and we'll going to make flyers. It'll turn out right in the end." Milo smiled with a new boost of confidence.

"You're right. Now, let's go make us those flyers!"

The adult wolves came back with some meat. Feisty and another wolf, Sly, dropped some before Diogee and Little Wanderer. They looked up. Little Wanderer was excited.

"Boy, am I starving!" He stated, chowing down. "Diogee's been telling me his life story, Mom. It's amazing!"

"Oh, really?" His mom asked, glancing at Diogee.

"Uh-huh!" Diogee laughed.

"Well, I wouldn't call it 'amazing', but, whatever the pup thinks. Then it's 'amazing' I guess."

"I brought you food." She continued. "Figured while you're here, you should eat."

"Thanks, I'm starving too!" Diogee chowed down as well. "Now, this meat is amazing! Where did you get it from?" Sly whispered it in Diogee's ear.

Once Diogee heard it, he was sick, and spat it out.

"Ugh; that's disgusting! Don't you have kibble or something not from something that was once alive out here?"

"Look," Feisty said to the dog. "We don't have the same pampered life you dogs have back home. Out here, it's about survival. So, if you don't like the food here, and think it's too disgusting, then it's too bad. If you're going to be with us, you got to eat like us. Understand?" Diogee nodded, afraid.

"Sorry, I won't complain again."

"Good." Diogee resumed on eating.

"Listen, dog." Feisty warned him that night. Little Wanderer was sleeping, curled up next to Diogee. Diogee looked up at Feisty. Her tone told him that she meant business, and for that, he was afraid of what she was about to say.

"Yes, Feisty?" He questioned out loud. "What is it?"

"I don't like house pets like you. I agreed to let you stay because of my son. If it was up to me, I have left you there to die out there. But, if you ever make a wrong move on my son, I will make sure to have you booted out of here ASAP, no matter your condition, capisce?" Diogee gulped, but nodded in agreement.

"Capisce. I will never hurt your son, Feisty. You can trust a loyal dog like me."

"Good. You better not." She then left.

A week passed, and Diogee got much better. During his recovery, he had fun with Little Wanderer, and the entire wolf pack. Feisty kept giving him dirty looks, which made Diogee uneasy.

"I see you are better." Valerie said to Diogee one day when he was all better.

"Oh, much!" He agreed.

"Then you can go home to your family." Although it's only been a week, it seemed like forever. Diogee almost forgotten about the Murphys. Little Wanderer frowned. He did want Diogee to be happy and go back to his family, but at the same time, didn't want to lose his new friend. Diogee was like part of the pack now. He would miss him, and he couldn't bare the thought.

"I guess so. They would be so happy to see me."

"That's good. We'll go help you look."

"I appreciate that very much. But, I don't think people will take it so kindly seeing wolves with a pet dog."

"Don't worry about that. We just want to know that you're safe, and back with the warm embrace of your family." Diogee smiled. Feisty looked at his son.

"I suppose you want to come with us, Little Wanderer." She said. "Since you and Diogee are friends."

"Oh, yes, Mama." The little wolf pup told his mom. "Yes, I do."

As Little Wanderer was searching the park with Diogee, and his pack, he saw something as they came to a ranger house. On the window of the house, he saw a taped up flyer with Diogee on it. There were words written on it. Though, he couldn't read it, he knew that it was a 'Missing Pet' flyer for Diogee. Diogee had told him posters like these might be up in order for people to find him.

He looked all around. His pack, his mom, and Diogee were too busy, not paying attention. He looked back at the flyer, and thought about this.

When he reached his decision, he took the flyer in his mouth, and ripped it and the tape to shreds. He was about to search for more, when his mother called him.

"Coming, Mama!" He bounded off. He knew that he did a bad thing, but he didn't care. He just didn't want Diogee to have to leave him forever.