Lucy's Journal

Lucy's Journal – June 24, 2024

Dear Journal,

Today turned into one of the funniest days we've had in a long time. Dad decided the backyard needed some cleaning up, and naturally, that meant the whole crew had to "help." As always, things got a little wild.

I, Lucy the tan and white Shih Tzu, appointed myself Foreman of the Backyard Cleanup Crew. I wore my invisible hard hat and supervised everyone from my lawn chair, barking instructions every few minutes.

Peanut, the gray tiger cat, was in charge of inspecting leaves. She'd carefully gather a pile, only to dive into it and scatter them everywhere. She insisted this was "quality control." Every now and then she'd sneak behind someone and pounce on their tail, causing a burst of laughter and confusion.

Kiwi, our green cheek conure, was flying around carrying tiny sticks and twigs. He'd proudly deposit them into the wheelbarrow and then immediately fly over and steal clothespins from the laundry line. Whenever anyone asked where they went, he'd whistle innocently and pretend not to know anything.

The Quackers, our identical twin ducks, worked as a team. One would carry little weeds in her bill while the other waddled behind giving loud commentary. They spent half the day splashing in the birdbath and the other half chasing Peanut around the yard whenever she tried to nap.

Just when we thought the fun couldn't get any better, our friends arrived.

Gracie, the black and white Shih Tzu, came over and immediately volunteered to pull sticks into neat piles. Every time Lucy turned around, Gracie would sneak up and gently boop her nose, then run away laughing while Lucy pretended to be offended.

And then, floating through the sunshine, came the Ghost of Maybelline, our sweet brown pit bull. Even though she was now a ghost, she was still full of fun. She drifted around carrying leaves with her spooky breeze and helped cool everyone off whenever the afternoon got warm. Occasionally she'd make her ghostly bark, which startled Kiwi into dropping twigs all over Peanut's freshly organized leaf piles.

The funniest moment happened when Peanut decided to hide behind a flower pot and jump out to scare the Quackers. Unfortunately, the Quackers had already spotted her and quietly sneaked around behind Peanut. When she sprang out yelling "Surprise!" the ducks yelled "QUACK!" right behind her, causing Peanut to jump three feet in the air and land in a pile of grass clippings. Everyone laughed so hard that even Ghost Maybelline floated upside down with laughter.

As the sun began to set, we all sat together on the patio. The yard looked great, the birdbath was sparkling, and everyone was tired from a hard day's work and an even harder day of playing jokes on each other.

Ghost Maybelline gave everyone one last gentle breeze and promised she'd visit again soon.

Dad smiled at all of us and said we were the most entertaining cleanup crew he'd ever seen.

I think he's right.

Until next time,

Love,

Lucy 🐾