Puppy Noire

Fade to black and white. Cue the jazzy background music.

Detective Poof, private eye, chewed on his favorite squeaky toy as he looked over the case files.

Camilla the camel had gone missing three weeks ago. Being the best detective in Krakenville, he took the case as soon as her distraught mother sat down at his desk. And yet, he couldn’t find hide nor hair of Camilla anywhere. No witnesses. No evidence. Nothing.

Krakenville was a big city. But big enough for a camel to disappear without a trace? Poof didn’t think so.

A wild flapping of wings caught his attention. A grey streak flew across his office.

CRASH!

A pile of feathers slid down the bookcase and fell to the floor with a thud.

Poof tossed aside the chew toy and hopped onto his desk. “Paul. How many times have I told you to just walk through the door like everyone else?”

With a sputter, the pigeon pulled himself off the floor. “Listen, detective Floof, a man’s got to spread his wings. I wouldn’t expect a little fuzzball like you to understand.”

Poof rolled his eyes. “Look, Paul, did you find anything or what?”

Paul flew up onto Detective Poof’s desk. He strutted back and forth, bobbing his small grey head as he spoke.

“Yeah, I got the scoop. But you’re not gonna believe it.”

Poof growled. “Spill it, bird. I can’t sit here doing nothing.”

“Well,” the pigeon started. “I talked to some friends down on the shady side of Krakenville. And they told me they saw Camilla get snatched.”

“Kidnapped?” Poof barked.

“Yep. And get this.” He spread his wings wide. “The kidnappers shoved her into a teeny tiny car!”

“What kind of car?”

“A Beetle,” Paul cooed. “A green one. Can you believe it, though? How’d they get a whole camel into a Beetle?”

“And you’re sure about this?” Detective Poof pressed. “This is coming from a reliable witness?”

Paul waved his wings. “Hey, I can’t give away my sources. But you know what they say about elephants, right? They never forget.”

Poof jumped down from his desk. “Then it’s time to get to work.”

“POOFIE!”

Poofie the pampered Pomeranian was awoken by a young girl’s voice. He stretched and let out a long yawn.

What a dream, he thought. Me? A detective? How crazy is that?

He climbed out of his extra soft dog bed and picked up his stuffed pigeon toy. With his little legs, he hurried across the house to the girl’s bedroom.

The girl jumped on her bed, her two long braids bouncing along with her. Poofie wagged his tail. He climbed up the puppy-sized stairs and into the bed.

“Camilla,” a woman called from downstairs. “What are you doing up there?”

The girl fell back onto the bed. Poofie pounced and she let out a laugh.

“We’re just playing, Mom.”

Time to tally up the points!

(2 pts) Prompt #1 - Poofie
(1 pt) Volkswagen Beetle
(1 pt) A Camel
(1 pt) A Braid of Hair
(2 pts) Something Large Put Into Something Small
(5 pts) Onomatopoeia
(1 pt) Tally Box

Total: 13 Points

Written in response to the Monday Mash-Up Challenge by Jonathon Sawyer. Thanks to Sweet Chaos for challenging me to do this.

I challenge Cameron Thomson and Lonely Book Corner (if you haven’t done it already).