While in the car waiting for a red light to change, Fleegle, riding shotgun, lets out a very loud bark that makes me cover my ears.

“Ouch. What are you barking at?”

He stares ahead intently. “That man.”

I look where he’s looking, but see no one. “What man?”

“That man in the big hat.”

I look again. There’s a man in a cowboy hat far away in the next block. “He’s like a zillion miles away.”

“He’ll be close soon enough. You watch.”

“Why bark, why not wag? What’s so scary about him?”

“He leans to the left when he walks. No one walks like that. He’s up to something. I’m sure of it.”

The light turns green, we pass the man and we’ll never know what he was up to.

Next: Negotiating with Cookies #12 – Meal Time

Previous: Negotiating with Cookies #10 – Breakfast

Start at the beginning: Negotiating with Cookies #1 – Stinky Butt