Flashback Friday

That writing exercise is still giving me trouble, so instead, here's another installment of Flashback Friday!

Today's excerpt is from a mystery short story I wrote for Communication Arts class in seventh grade entitled The Case of the Missing Dogs. And... I still can't write mysteries, LOL.


Chrissy Carlson was driving past the Humane Society on her way home from the store when she saw red and blue police lights flashing in the morning sun. She pulled into the driveway and almost ran into a small building that hadn’t been there the last time she’d visited the Society.

Chrissy stopped to talk to a policeman.

“What happened here?” she inquired.

The policeman glared at her with sharp, steely blue eyes. “Who wants to know?” he asked. “I’m not givin’ out any information to nosy spectators!”

Chrissy was furious. “I’m not a spectator!” she began. “I’m a detec…” But the policeman had turned his back on her, writing on a notepad.

Fuming, Chrissy walked into the large white building that was the Humane Society. She walked up to the desk and found Aliya Wilson, typing away at her computer.

“What happened, Aliya?” Chrissy asked for the second time.

Aliya sighed.

“Three dogs were stolen last night. It was almost four, but Nero got away. He ran to my house and barked at the door until I let him in.”

“Which dogs were stolen?” Chrissy asked, immediately drawn into the mystery.

“Daisy, the Yorkie, Roscoe, the Dalmatian, and Scottie, the Scottish Terrier. And like I said, it was almost Nero, too, but her got away.”

Chrissy was confused. “And he ran to your house?” she asked incredulously. “You don’t even live in town!”

Aliya looked surprised. “Oh, but I must have told you I moved onto the grounds. It’s that small building near the entrance to the driveway.”

“No, you didn’t.” Chrissy said. “I almost flattened it with my car!”

Aliya looked out the window and said thoughtfully, “It is in a bit of an awkward spot, isn’t it?”

Chrissy rolled her eyes. “Oh, no, it’s quite convenient. I’m going to go and have a word with Juliet. Bye.”

As Chrissy started down the long hall toward Juliet’s office, she noticed that none of the cops were inside. Then she passed a small room with a picture window and saw Juliet Wyman inside, training a dog.

Seeing that her friend was busy, Chrissy headed down toward the dog room, thinking Nero might be able to lead her to some clues. When she entered, she walked down the rows of cages until she came to one that read, Nero; German Shepard.

Chrissy opened the cage and then took a brush from the shelf. As she brushed the big dog, she looked closely at his fur, looking for clues. When she stood up to empty the brush, she noticed a spot of blue in Nero’s dark hair. She emptied all of the brush into the trash can except for the clot of fur with the blue spot in it.

Looking closely at it, Chrissy picked at the hair until the blue spot came free.

“Whose is this, boy?” she asked Nero, as if he could answer her.

Chrissy stuck the bit of cloth into her jeans pocket, gave Nero one last pat and put him back into his cage. After making sure the lock was secure, she went out to see Juliet.

Juliet, a busy person with very long, brown hair came out into the hallway.

“Sorry I couldn’t talk to you before, Chrissy, but I was training.”

“That’s okay,” Chrissy replied. “I had some other stuff to do anyway. I was brushing Nero. Look what I found!” Chrissy presented the scrap of mangled cloth with a flourish.

Juliet only seemed mildly interested. “Oh,” was all she said. Then, very suddenly, she looked straight at Chrissy and said sharply, “In case you’re getting any ideas, Chrissy, I was at PetsMart, getting supplies for today.”

“Chill, Juliet, I wasn’t blaming you. I just can’t ask one person and not another. Anyway, I know you’d never do anything like that. I have to go… um… Ask Henry some questions. See ya later.” Chrissy waved as she started down the hall.

Juliet stared after her then yelled, “And I was wearing green yesterday!”