Martha and Nacho: A tale about friendship

<><><><><><><><><>Part one<><><><><><><><><>

Once, there were two friends named Martha and Nacho. Martha is an Alaskan Malamute which is a type of dog who loves the outdoors. She’s a bit clumsy , loves swimming and her favorite game is hide and seek. Her best friend is a small tabby cat named Nacho. He’s very curious about the world around him and is also very smart but gets annoyed easily. They both love playing together in their backyard that has beautiful flowers that are pink, red, and orange. There is  plenty of space for them to run around, and a big oak tree that gives them shade and a place for Nacho to climb. 

Right now, they were playing their favorite game, hide-and-seek. Martha was the seeker, and Nacho was hiding. High and low Martha looked for him around the backyard but couldn't find him. She looked in the tree hollow, she looked under some old chairs, she even looked for him in a dirty old wooden crate that was used for storing oranges. But she just couldn't find him. Just when she was about to give up and call out his name over and over again, she saw an orange flower move in a flower pot. She carefully went up to it and tipped it over and Naachoo ran out. 

“I found you!” exclaimed Martha. 

“How did you find me?” asked Nacho. 

“I saw your tail.” 

“Aww. Well, I'm a bit tired of hide and seek. I will now go for my afternoon nap. I'll see you laters,” he yawned as he strolled inside. 

As the glass sliding door slid open, Martha's owner walked out and said “It's time for a walk!”. When Martha heard this, she immediately sat up and bounded straight toward her in three long strides. Twenty minutes later, Martha and her owner came back home and lay down on her couch. She closed her eyes and later, she was asleep. When she woke up, she felt like she wanted to play and run again, but her owner was asleep, so she went to find Nacho. But the problem was, she couldn't find him. She searched and searched again in all of the places that she thought that she could find him, but she didn't. She searched under the couch, under the bed, behind the curtains, in the bath tub, in his bed, even in her bed! She also looked outside. Once again, she looked in the tree hollow, she looked under some old chairs, in the flower pots, she looked for him in the dirty old wooden crate that was used for storing oranges. But she just couldn't find him. That left only one place for her to look. Outside.

<><><><><><><><><><>Part two<><><><><><><><><><>

Martha knew that she had to save Nacho, she just didn’t know how. She thought for about an hour, trying to think of a perfect plan to get over the fence. Just as she was about to give up, she saw a hole that she had dug earlier and she had gotten her idea. It was as if she had been struck by lightning in a storm with grey swirling clouds. Immediately, she ran to the hole in the fence gate and started digging at the bottom to make it deeper. She dug as fast as she could, dirt and soil was flying behind her. When the hole got deep enough, she carefully crawled through and stood on the pavement. She watched the loud cars whizz past her as she faced the road. She was scared. Martha had never been outside without her owner before, and had never had to find one cat in a maze of roads and buildings. 

She sniffed around the block and found herself in a dark and spooky alleyway. She walked in and immediately her footsteps echoed and bounced off the walls. Suddenly, she could hear a low growling sound. The more she walked in, the louder it got. She then saw some dumpsters a few steps away and noticed three stray dogs. One was snarling and looked angry, another was skinny and had a wandering eye, but the last one was the biggest of all of them and looked like he was the leader of them. “Hello!” Martha said. She tried to sound friendly and to put on a straight face, but she was actually slightly terrified. “What are you doing here?” asked the Biggest dog. “ I’m looking for my friend, Nacho. He’s a small cat with brilliant orange fur.” “I haven't seen anyone.” He replied in his low voice. ”Oh, are you sure? This seems like a place that anyone could wander into,” she prodded. The other dog sighed. “Look, we don't like visitors droppin’ on by surprise.” “We would love to help you but we’re too busy at the moment,” he said in a voice that implied that he did not actually have anything to do. “Please,” she started. But before she knew it, they were running after her at top speed. Martha then ran away as fast as she could, twisting and turning at every corner she saw. Right, Left, Left, right, right, right, left, left. But she couldn't lose them. The dumpster dogs were following her every move, zig zagging through the alleys. Then she realised the gap between her and them was getting closer. Soon they were in line and running next to each other. The “bad eye“ and the “angry” one were  snapping at her and the leader was behind her. Then without realizing it, she ran up a slope and they were now on a roof! 

As they ran across the house tops, Martha noticed a gap in the houses approaching fast, she then sprinted with her last bit of strength, and then she jumped across the gap. As she soared over the gap, she looked down and realised that maybe this wasn't a very good idea and started to fill with fear, but then suddenly landed on the other building as soon as she had jumped. When the dogs got to the gap, they skidded to a stop, glared at her, and then sulked away. Then she climbed down from the building and found out that she was lost. “Oh no!” worried Martha. “Where am I?” As she caught her breath, she looked around and took in her surroundings. 

<><><><><><><><><><>Part three<><><><><><><><><><>

She was on a quiet street next to another group of dumpsters. “What is my luck with dumpsters today?” she wondered. Suddenly, she heard rustling in the bushes. “Uh oh!” thought Martha. “Those dogs have come back to get me!” She looked around for a place to hide but could not find anywhere to hide. The raccoon climbed out of the dumpster. 

“Hellllllo!” said the racoon. 

“Oh.” said Martha. “You're not one of those ally dogs that chased me earlier.”  ‘Fraid not,” he replied. 

“Let's be friends!” suggested Martha. 

“Yay!” said the racoon. 

“Oh. What's your name?” Martha asked. 

“My name is Aliando the Egg Beater the 12th.” He proudly announced. “But you can just call me Ali,” he whispered. 

“Sure!” Martha exclaimed as she wagged her tail. 

“Oh!” said Martha. “Could you perhaps help me find my friend Nacho? It's the whole reason I'm out here. And help me find my way home. I kinda got lost.” “Sure thing, new friend!” Ali replied. 

“Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!... But wait, how are we going to find a little kitty in a big city? ” Martha asked. 

They thought about it for a moment, then  Ali said, “Well, we can look around, yell out his name a bunch of times, and see if we can find him”.

 “Sure!” replied Martha, “I hope he’s okay though.”  THEY THEN SEARCHED AROUND THE ALLEYWAY, LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED.  

“I can’t find him, can you?” Martha asked Ali. 

“Nope.” replied Ali. “Maybe we should go back to your house now? We can look for him on the way back, and besides, can't your owner just look for him?” Ali asked. 

“I guess.” said Martha. 

They were now in a part of the neighborhood that Martha recognised, she knew how to get home from there. The two of them then arrived in front of Martha's  garden gate. 

“Wait, you live here?” asked Ali. 

“I do.” Said Martha. 

“Huh, I’ve been here before.” 

“That's cool,” said Martha. “Well, I guess this is where we split up,” sighed Martha. 

“I guess so too,” said Ali. “Good luck on your quest to find your friend.” 

“Thanks. Maybe we could meet again some time?” asked Martha. 

“That would be cool,” said Ali.

 Martha was about to crawl under the fence when something caught her eye. “Wait, what's that?” asked Martha. 

“I saw it too,” Ali agreed. They saw something that looked orange in some bushes next to the fence. “Wait!” Ali exclaimed. “I remember something!” Then he started to sniff around the hedge and he suddenly stopped. “Follow me,” he said and disappeared into the bush. Martha was puzzled and stood right where he was and then she saw a hole! 

“Oh!” Martha says understanding. “So this is how he disappeared.” She then cautiously crawled inside. Ali was waiting for her a few feet away from the entrance. Inside the hedge was a long green tunnel that felt warm and safe. 

“Almost forgot about this place. I used to come here all the time. Apparently the dog that used to live here made it all by herself.” 

“Wow. That's cool,” said Martha. 

They crawled further into the tunnel until they saw that the tunnel turned to the right and saw an orange tail peeking out.

 “Nacho! Is that you?” Martha gasped. 

“Huh?” said a confused voice. “Martha?” She heard some leaves rustling and then saw Nacho's small head peep out from around the corner. 

“Oh, Martha it is you!” Nacho Meadowed 

“Is this your friend?” asked Ali. 

“Who is that?” the little cat wondered.  

“Me? I am Aliando the Egg Beater the 12th.” 

“Nacho, I’d like to introduce you to my new friend, Aliando The Egg Beater the 12th, as he said,”  clarified Martha. 

“But you can just call me Ali,” the raccoon  interrupted. 

“And Ali, this my friend and roommate Nacho!” 

“HI - HI,” they said. 

“Oh, I'm glad it's just you and your friend, Martha. For a second I thought you guys were one of those weird alley dogs,” said relieved Nacho. 

“Wait, you saw them too? The three dogs that were sitting next to dumpsters in a spooky alley?" asked Martha. 

“Yes yes! That's the reason…” Nacho trailed off, as if he was embarrassed. “Thats the reason I'm hiding in here. I went out and ran into them and tried to get back over the fence but I couldn't go fast enough so I forced my way into this bush and found this tunnel.” 

“Well, I'm glad you're safe.” Then she thought of something. “But how and why did you get out?” Martha asked

 “Well, the way I got out is pretty clever if I say so myself. I knew that the hole in the fence was too small for me to crawl under. Then I thought of ways that I could make it bigger. So then I came up with the ingenious idea that the dirt under the hole could be easily moved, and make the hole big enough to go through. But, I realised that I could not dig the hole with these paws, so I picked up a giant spoon thing with a pointed tip, that was just laying there,  and used it to scoop the dirt away!” Nacho proudly explained. 

“I think the spoon you said you used was called a garden trowel,” corrected Ali. 

“Garden trawool, big spoon, what's the difference?” Snapped Nacho.

 Ali rolled his eyes at the remark. “Um, Nacho. I thought of that too.” 

“Oh… Um. Well… then congratulations! You are as smart as me,” said Nacho.

 “Wait, but why did you leave the house at all?” asked Martha. 

“I was bored. To be honest, it’s no fun without you. I wanted to go on an adventure,” said Nacho. 

“Well, now that that's all sorted, I guess it's time for us to all go home now. It seems to be getting dark anyway,” said Aliando the Egg Beater the 12th. Martha chimed in agreement and then they all climbed out of the tunnel. They all said goodbye and said that they would meet again soon and then they both went home.

The end:)