“We must hurry,” said Mommy to Meghan, “we have to get to town to do our shopping.”

“Can Casey come with us?” asked 5-year old Meghan, pulling on her pink jacket and little purse.

“Not this time”, called back Mommy. “We have a lot to do today.”

Meghan sat down beside her yellow Labrador Retriever puppy. Casey looked up at his little mistress with his soft brown eyes. Meghan scratched behind his silky ears. “Not this time, Casey, but we won’t be very long”, whispered the little brown-haired girl to her 6 month old puppy. “You’ll be OK alone for a little while.”

Meghan and Mommy went to the car and drove away. The house was very quiet. Casey could hear the ticking of every clock in the house. Not another sound was to be heard. Casey sat and stared at the door. Casey whined a little. No one answered him. Casey barked softly. No one came back in the house.

Casey was all alone. Casey was lonely. Casey howled for his little family to come back. “Oh dear”, thought the nervous puppy, “I’m all alone. I want my people. Now, what shall I do?” Casey paced around the house. He sniffed his toys. He went to his bowls. He looked out of the windows. He listened for the car. He did not know what to think. He did not know what to do. “Oh dear, oh dear”, worried the young dog, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t like to be alone. It’s scary to be home alone.”​

Casey wandered around the empty house. He went into Meghan’s bedroom. “I know”, thought the anxious puppy, “I’ll start digging here and maybe I can dig my way out and just maybe I can find my people.” So, Casey worked his strong front paws and he dug and he dug and he dug. First, he dug a hole in the carpet in Meghan’s bedroom. There were brown bits of carpet everywhere and by now Casey was feeling less nervous. Casey dug and dug some more. Pretty soon he dug up a layer of soft, green foamy stuff that had been under the carpet. Oh my, that soft, foamy green stuff came up in fluffy little pieces and floated around the room. Casey chased and nipped at the floating bits of stuff.

“Oh my, this is fun”, thought Casey, who was now enjoying himself, and soon he forgot all about being scared and alone. Casey dug some more, and dug some more again. Casey had dug all the way down to the floor boards. Casey couldn’t dig up the wooden floor, so he dug all around the carpet and all around the green foamy bits.

Not very long after that, Casey finished his big hole, and there were brown carpet bits and green foamy stuff all over the bedroom.

Casey sat and looked around the room. He had tired himself out. He did feel better though. He didn’t feel nearly as scared and lonely. Casey was feeling a bit sleepy now, and everyone knows that puppies need lots of naps. “Hmmm…” thought Casey, “this room looks soft and fluffy enough to cuddle up in and take a nap.” So, that’s just what he did. Casey lay down and went off to sleep.

After a time, Meghan and Mommy arrived home from their shopping trip. They opened the back door and stepped into the house. They put their shopping bags down in the kitchen and looked into Meghan’s room. Mommy frowned and thought that something looked very strange and out of place. Mommy and Meghan went into the bedroom and stared in disbelief at all the bits of brown carpet, all the bits of green foamy stuff, and most especially at their happy yellow puppy. Casey looked up at Meghan and Mommy. His tail wagged with joy. He was not alone any more. Casey’s people had come home.

“What’s all that green stuff in my room”? exclaimed Meghan. “Casey, did you do that?”

“OH NO!” declared Mommy. “Casey, what did you do? Daddy will be fit to be tied!”

“Oh dear”, thought the puzzled puppy, “did I do something wrong?” Casey looked around the room. Meghan and Mommy looked around the room. Something had to be done.

Mommy rushed around and cleaned up all the green foamy stuff and the brown bits of carpet. Then, with her hands, Mommy combed the edges of the carpet over the hole to try to make it seem smaller.

Suppertime came and Daddy arrived home from work. Meghan rushed to the door to greet him saying, “Don’t be angry Daddy, Casey was just scared and lonely and that’s why he dug up the carpet in my room. It wasn’t his fault. Casey should never stay home alone again.”

Daddy closed his eyes and breathed out a big heavy sigh. Daddy opened his eyes and looked down at his innocent little girl. “Yes, I suppose you are right, Meghan,” said Daddy looking over the top of his glasses at Mommy in that funny way that grownups do when they’re trying to talk to each other without words. And guess what? Casey never stayed home alone again.

The End