One warm June morning Paddy was roaming around DCI John Barnaby's backyard as always when neverending cold English rains wouldn't force him to unwillingly clench under the shelter. He was just about to darken the lower part of his favorite apple tree's bark with his nitrogen-rich liquid waste when he noticed a particularly suspicious flower wreath hidden behind the dense wall of western redcedars.

As he finished the most urgent part of his morning routine, Paddy started galloping towards the redcedars and then nimbly crawled between them to observe the vibrant pile of gerbera, daisies and wormwood leaves. During the examination of floral circle, his claws accidentally plunged into the dry soil alongside the mysterious ornament, and very heavy and unpleasant odor from underneath assaulted poor Paddy's snout. But brave puppy's curiosity prevented him from giving up from exploring the ominous flavor's source.

After five minutes and about a hundred strikes on the ground, the smell's source finally showed its decomposing fur. It had strikingly similar patterns as Paddy's, but these motionless creature's white whiskers were intertwined with much darker tones that resembled John's clothes when he was covering it with a mud, and absorbed all the light that got into contact with him as well as little Betty's shock after her first encounter with death.

Closer observation finally gave the meaning of the word "Sykes", the one he was constantly compared with, and Paddy suddenly felt the close relation to the aromatic remains in front of his face. Heavy smell of rotting flesh suddenly became much more bearable to Paddy, because he realized that he will say goodbye to Barnaby family with similar signals after his soul depart in the distant unexplored dimension.

As a perfectly stable dog, Paddy has never had affection for enriching his diet with evolutionary too closely related species, but he suddenly felt the urge to preserve Sykes' aesthetic value from further downfall in the eyes and noses of the most living organisms. Of course, these don't include invertebrates that already tasted his deluxe meat and tight skin. Paddy's jaw first relieved Sykes' mouldering body from its crunchy ears that produced snapping sound while they melted in younger pup's mouth.

Paddy then proceeded to taste the limbs of Barnabys' former companion in the manner of a lover that showers his chosen one's arms with thousands of kisses from peripheral parts to their base. Except this time Paddy had to display the sharper edge of his healthy teeth in his act of compassion. After spending some time trying to accommodate to unique flavor of Sykes' glands, Paddy finally saw the reason why sacrificing his digestive system's health was worthy - the late dog's bare pelvis.

Young pup has never experienced such a rush of emotions as in sight of that elegant, softly curved skeletal sculpture that kept together so many vital organs that led Sykes through his beautiful yet short life. Tender movements of Paddy's paws first greeted majestic pelvis with few warm, almost tickling rubs, and then slowly set it free from the other parts of the skeleton. Once the pelvis was singled out of the other bones, Paddy dedicatedly polished it with his tongue, revealing the heavenly white shine under the dried remains of flesh, blood and soil.

When Sykes' pelvis became perfectly clean, Paddy tenderly put his right cheek on its bony surface and sighed deeply. Now he knew that he won't be alone until his own pelvis reveal the meaning of true love to another dog. Then he found the perfect shelter for his lifetime companion under the privet hedge and spent the most joyful nights of his life resting his head upon the natural wonder that previously kept Sykes' rectum resting upon itself.