~~My name is Prince Frecklebum, Greyhound Detective. I wasn't always a detective. I was a racer once, before I retired. My track name was Occam's Razor of Lightspeed Doom. You can call me Prince. Most of the humans around these parts do.

The dainty, well mannered, sweet, cute, cuddly little gal next to me is Lady. She's just about the best partner a Greyhound Detective could have. Her only fault is she's a little stubborn. And hogs up all Mom's attention. And makes awful smells when she sleeps.

"Prince, that's not true. Mom just appreciates that I don't slobber all over her when we cuddle. I won't even dignify that last bit with a reply."

See? Stubborn. You can trust me on the smelly part.

"PRINCE!"

Anyway, today was a pretty normal day, except we had to help Mom find something she called her bright spots. I guess she lost 'em or something. It all started after we recovered the missing goods this morning...

***
"OH FIDDLESTICKS"

Mom must have been really happy to share a whole plate of bacon and eggs, cuz she sure made some big sounds! Unfortunately, Lady wasn't anywhere around to have any and I didn't want them to go to waste since Mom worked so hard to make them for me.

"Prince, I was there, you bumped me out of the way and scarfed them all up yourself. And I'm pretty sure that stuff was for Mom and she just dropped them."

Like I said, you were nowhere near me! Plus, OF COURSE, Mom made them for me. Why else would she have put them on the floor, right next to my bowl?

"She dropped them on the other side of the kitchen."

Like I said, right next to my bowl! I only had to go to the other side of the room! Not far at all! Anyway, you'd have thought Mom would be so happy that I made the floor all clean again, but the big sounds went on for quite awhile. Eventually, though, she stopped making big sounds and went upstairs.

When she came back downstairs, she had on different clothes. She went back into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of dark, smelly water. She really loves that stuff. I know this because the next thing she did was pour it all over herself. She sure was happy about that! Big sounds. Trust me. She used a bunch of dad-hurt-himself words and stomped up the stairs. Then she came back down with different clothes on. I should really show her how to make decisions better. She could probably use some help since she can't even decide what clothes to wear and keeps changing them.

She went out to the garage and got in the wheely thing. She wanted us to come with her, too. I know because she didn't close the gate all the way. Then she changed her mind (mental note: Mom decision training soon) and decided she didn't want us to come along, gave us treats in the kitchen and went back out again after closing the gate all the way. Which stunk, because I really could have used a good wheely-thing ride. Especially since I saw the windows were getting too clean again.

Lady and I watched her try to start the wheely thing. But it just made growly noises and wouldn't go anywhere. I could see Mom was mad because she was hitting the wheely thing alot. And she was hurting it, 'cuz it made noises every time she did. Seeing that she needed cheering up, I showed her my new trick! I jumped over the gate, and put my paws up on her door. Incidentally, this is when I noticed there was a really handsome, smart looking, Greyhound Detective looking back at me from a little window on the door. I don't know who was more surprised, Mom or the good looking window feller. Anyway, I could tell my trick made her happy! She made the biggest noises I ever heard!

So, we went back in the house, Mom picked up the talky thing and a little while later a big guy came over and helped Mom get the wheely thing to stop making whiny-growly noises and take her somewhere. She closed the door this time so I couldn't do my new trick again. Oh Well, Dad will be home soon, so I'll just show him.

A little while later, Mom came back with big bags of stuff humans eat. She started putting stuff away and made big noises again. She looked at a piece of paper and looked through all the bags and started saying more dad-hurt-himself words. Then she got back in the wheely thing, went away and came back again with another little bag of stuff. It must have been secret stuff because she wouldn't let me stick my nose in it to make sure it was safe for them to have. You gotta watch out for humans, sometimes they need someone to check on stuff like this, you know.

After she put all the stuff away, the kids came home. Mom was having decision problems again. She sat down and got right back up again when one of the kid asked for snack. Then she sat down and had to get right back up to help with homework. Then she did it again and had to go answer the talky thing, Then she sat down and the front door noise made her get up. Then she sat down again but had to go see why the kids were making big noises. She made some big noises herself after that, lemme tell you. Sometimes, you just would not believe how happy we are!

Finally, Dad came home and Mom told him all sorts of things. He made the noises he makes when Mom is mad at him and he doesn't know why but doesn't want to be in trouble anymore. Then he asked what was for dinner and she played the pillow throwing game with him! Humans are fun to watch when they play with toys!

After she was done playing with pillows Mom went to the kitchen and made dinner. I didn't understand a lot of what she said but she was having trouble finding "bright spots" today. Well, being a Greyhound Detective, I'm specially trained to find stuff. I went all over the house looking for bright spots. I looked in the kids' toy boxes, I looked on top of Dad's head (he was sleeping in the chair, so I had to step on his tummy to see up there). I looked in smelly treat can but I only found an indoor rain storm. I tried to use my trick to look in the garage, but Mom wasn't having any of that. Eventually, after dinner, I just had to give up. I went in and hopped up on the couch. Lady jumped up on the other side. Soon, Mom came in and sat between us. Dad and the kids came in to join us and she made them go away with growly noises of her own. She had a bowl of ice cream so Lady and I turned around so our faces would be close in case she wanted to share but was too tired to reach all the way. We put our heads in her lap so she wouldn't have to strain to pet us, too. We're pretty thoughtful that way. Mom ate the ice cream (all by herself, darn it) and scratched our ears and gave us pettin's and stuff. Eventually, she sighed and said "Well, it looks like I finally found the bright spots in my day." Sometimes, even I am surprised at my talent! I solved the Case of the Missing Bright Spots and didn't even know it!

"Prince?"

Yes?

"Nevermind, it wouldn't do any good anyway."