Toby Zimmerman was a handsome, inquisitive young Beagle with a brain perfectly suited for solving mysteries. This was mainly because his natural curiosity would not – could not leave a case unsolved, a stone unturned, a bowl unlicked.
One rainy day he was inside the house, with no hope of a walk unless the downpour stopped, and even he couldn’t control that.
He was bored.
He trotted into the kitchen to get a toy. His owner, Brandon, had put a box of tennis balls and doggy toys under the sideboard … but his toys were gone! He sniffed around. Their scent was gone! Where were they?
This was a job for Detective Toby, the eagle-eyed beagle, super snooper. Toby sniffed all around the house, poking under sofas and chairs, and under cushions. Finally, he stood, regally, up on the back of the sofa in his king-of-the-hill pose, where he could see everything. Except his toys.
Where was the box? He’d seen it last night for sure. Where’d it go?
Was he being punished for something? He couldn’t think of anything bad he’d done, lately, unless, Brandon found out about Grandma’s missing hair brush. Toby took it off the bathroom counter, Sunday, after she left for church. He found out he could hold it in his teeth, and scratch his tummy, so he hid it.
Think. If I were a box of toys, where would I be? Somewhere where I could find ‘em, naturally. Then he remembered. Carolina, Brandon’s girlfriend. She said the toys were dirty. Maybe they were washing them somewhere.
He looked in the bathroom basins, not there. Tubs? No. Showers? No. Hey! The toilets, maybe? Nope, not there, either.
There was only one place left and he hoped they weren’t there because he couldn’t get at them if they were. They were.
When Brandon came home late from night school, Toby leapt up from where he’d been sleeping, and stood with his nose to the window of the dryer, full of nice clean toys.
Brandon went over to his grandmother’s dresser. “Toby, do you know where the brush is?”
Toby knew what he meant. Head bowed, contritely, he slunk over to Brandon’s bed and got it from underneath, then took it to Brandon and dropped it.
“Thank you, but do not take this brush again! No! okay?
Brandon patted him on the head and opened the dryer door. “Okay, Sherlock, have at it.” Toby grabbed his favorite rope, with his teeth. It was tied in a knot at both ends. He shook it back and forth, whapping himself in the face.
“That looks like fun.” Brandon said.
Whap whap whap.
6/19/2026
The Words That Got to Me
he stood, regally, up on the back of the sofa in his king-of-the-hill pose, *hahahaha. Anyone who owns a pet knows this EXACTLY!!! the eagle-eyed beagle, *OMG - I love the way this rolls off my tongue! Adorable. He found out he could hold it in his teeth, and scratch his tummy, so he hid it. *HAHAHAHA!! I love the visual of this in my mind.
Quid pro quo: this for that. Grandma's hairbrush for Toby's toys. I'd say Toby did WAY better in that exchange...because Grandma is now sharing a brush with the DOG!! (Actually, that happened at our house once. I would brush the dog's hair every day with this blue plastic hairbrush I found in the vanity in the first-floor bathroom. The second I would extract it from the door, Thunder would race to the piano bench in the Music Room across the hall and sit there with delight. Then I would go in there and brush him. So one morning, Thunder and I had come back from our morning walk earlier than usual, and it was just as Bobby was getting ready to do his hair. I was in the kitchen, and he calls to me, "Whoa! This is so weird! The dog just ran into the Music Room and jumped up on the piano bench and is wagging his tail and giving my hairbrush goo-goo eyes." I gasped. "Wait. YOUR hairbrush? Is it blue and plastic?" Ohhhh yeah!)