The Adventures of Zelda: Pug and Peach

Chapter 4: The Toy Thief

Peach and I warm up under the blankets on the couch. Lucy takes turns petting us and giving kisses. After a few minutes, I slip out of the blanket and find a ball. I bring it to Lucy, and she throws it across the room. I grab the ball and bring it to Lucy. When she tries to grab the ball from me, I turn away and jump onto the floor. She chases me around the coffee table. When she finally catches me, I give up the ball. She throws the ball across the room again. I run to it, but Peach joins the fun. Peach slides into the ball and grabs it with her mouth. She runs back to Lucy. 

After several rounds of ball with Peach and Lucy, I take a break on the couch. Lucy joins me on the couch, but Peach does not. Peach brings the ball over to a dog bed on the floor. She places the ball in the dog bed, turns around, and finds one of my owls. She takes the owl over to the dog bed. Next, she finds a blue Nylabone, and after a few minutes, all the toys in the living room are gathered in the bed. She returns to the bed, picks up one of the blue Nylabones, and plops down, surrounded by all the toys she collected. It is a strange sight. 

“Mom,” Lucy shouts. “Look what Peach did.” 

Hannah walks into the room. 

“Peach has all the toys,” Lucy says. 

“I see that. Did you do that?” Hannah asks with a smile.

“No! Peach did that!” 

“Huh. I guess she really likes toys.” Hannah turns and walks back to the kitchen. 

As I watch Peach chew on a Nylabone, the desire to chew burns inside. I see a second blue Nylabone sitting beside Peach. I jump down and go for the bone. 

Rarrrf!

Peach barks and lunges at me, but I use my stealth pug powers to grab the Nylabone and get away. I guess she doesn’t feel like sharing today. 

I return to my spot on the couch and start chewing. The bone feels so good on my back teeth—the only teeth I have left besides the two front snaggleteeth. As I chew, I watch Peach chew her bone. Curiosity overtakes me. I get up and approach her slowly. When I am within one pug step, she stops chewing and looks at me. I take a half-pug-step forward. She starts growling. 

That’s not cool!

I step back. After a minute, she starts chewing again. I take a step forward.

Grrrrr. 

I return to the couch. She won’t look at me, so I don’t know why she is upset. Maybe she doesn’t want me ruining all of her hard toy-collecting work. 

Yeah, that has to be it.

A few hours later, the toy collection is scattered throughout the house again, and Peach is acting like her normal, playful self. I am ready for another play session, so I find the squeakiest toy—the owl. I bring it to Peach, squeaking it as much as my pug mouth can. She takes the bait and charges for the owl in my mouth. I do a quick 180 and run the other way. The chase is on! 

Peach is quick, but I can corner better than she can. I use that to my advantage by making quick turns and using my body to shield me from her attacks. But she catches on to my game, reverses course, and tackles me. She grabs the other side of the owl, and we play tug of war. I am losing my grip; I let it go. I don’t want to lose any more teeth!

She runs the opposite direction and lies on the floor. I follow her. Peach doesn’t even bother moving when I approach.

Grrrrrr. 

Not again! 

I back away and find a squeaky duck across the room. I am busy testing its squeaker when I feel Peach approaching. She swoops in and grabs hold of the duck. She shakes it, and I let loose. She runs away with the duck and finds a spot on the floor to chew it. When I approach, the growl returns. 

She looks at me and tells me she doesn’t want to play anymore. I back off. Bummed, I get some water and head upstairs to see what Ben is doing. 

The next day I awake with Peach cuddled next to me. Today is a new day, and I am sure we will be back to normal. We all have bad days here and there, even pugs!

After our morning romp in the backyard and the mid-morning nap, I am ready to start my day. I go on a blue-Nylabone hunt. I find one pretty quickly, but I know a bigger one exists in the house somewhere. I find it upstairs under Lucy’s bed. I have no idea how the bone got there, but I grab it and take it downstairs. I start chewing. The feeling on my teeth entrances me. I am in the bone zone. I barely notice Peach approaching me. I figure she wants to lie next to me, so I don’t pay attention. 

It happens in an instant. Her big head darts to the bone, and she secures it in her mouth. She lies down in the opposite direction with her butt and her crooked tail by my head. She starts chewing. 

I am stunned. She stole my bone while I was in the bone zone! No pug would ever do that to another pug. But she surely isn’t a pug. 

I stomp over and stand next to her. She ignores me. I reach for the bone. 

GRRRRRR.

What? There is no way she is getting away with this. 

I try again, but she growls. I know I am quick enough to grab the bone and go, but maybe I don’t want to do that. I can’t read Peach. She isn’t making sense, and I don’t want her to be mad at me. Plus her mouth is bigger than mine. 

I need a plan. 

After a few hours of careful thought and spying, plus a few naps, I still have no idea how to solve this problem. My only plan is to improvise, and that doesn’t sound like a good plan. 

The dark has come for the day, but the family is awake and gathered in the living room. Peach and I are hanging out on the couch with Hannah and Nate. I think having the family around will work to my advantage, so I grab a blue Nylabone and start chewing.

Soon enough, I feel Peach approaching. She is going to steal the Nylabone again. I can sense it. 

Should I let her? 

Peach lunges for the bone, but across the room is another blue Nylabone, so I let her take my bone. If Peach sees we both can have bones or toys, maybe she won’t want to steal mine all the time. I trot to the other one, grab it, and lie next to her. We both chew happily for a few minutes, which allows me to believe I have solved the mystery. 

After a peaceful stretch of double chewing, Peach looks over at me. Her eyes have a hunger in them. She tells me to give her the bone.

Uh oh.

She casually scoots toward me. When she is within reach, she grabs my Nylabone, leaving hers behind. She starts chewing. I get up and grab the one she left behind on the floor. She is so busy chewing that she doesn’t notice. I take it and sit on the couch. 

While I chew on my bone, I realize something. Peach is a toy thief. I need to adapt, otherwise I will never get another toy. But since we both are chewing on bones, I know I am clever enough to survive with a toy thief.