Hey Mom,

Just a regular day being the fluff-guardian of Pawsburgh. Fought off alien invaders with the gang using water blasters by the pool, kept the town’s spirits high and our tails higher. All in a day’s work. Pawsburgh can sleep easy tonight!

Stay pawsome,
Tuffy 🐾

Hold on to your leashes, fellow canines, for I, Tuffy-Bear, must recount the day Pawsburgh faced the greatest threat to its tail-wagging existence.

I’d trotted into Kelpie Keys, the sun a pat on my back, when the eeriness hit. Not even the sweet aroma of Paw-lickin’ Pancakes could distract from the silence pressing onto the streets like a massive, invisible paw. No barks echoed, no tails wagged. In fact, it was during this uncanny quiet that I, and my stuffed squeaky toy Sir Squeaks-a-lot, first saw them.

UFOs, like monstrous frisbees, peppered the dawn sky. Bella, Lola-Jean, Abby-Jean, and I exchanged wide-eyed glances, our morning bound for the infamous Doggone Deli diverted. “Aliens,” I barked, more statement than query. Their nodding heads agreed. Pin-drop silence became a symphony of growls and anxious barks; the aliens were invading Pawsburgh.

“Are those Beggin’ Strips?” Abby-Jean asked with a hopeful wag, squinting upward. Alas, she was gravely mistaken. A beam of light shot from the underbelly of the lead craft, siphoning our bone-shaped fountain dry. Panic flared within me. Protecting Pawsburgh wasn’t just about bravado; it was about community—the very stitch that kept the fabric of our town snug and warm.

“Don our battle collars,” I announced. “This furry tale ain’t ending with us as space snacks!” Off to Onyx Otterhound Oasis we sprinted, where our secret stash of water blasters filled with pool water lay hidden (a dreadful element to most dogs, but perfect ammunition against extraterrestrial invaders).

We battled through the day. Shots of the dreaded H2O pelted the UFOs as our four-legged brigade dashed and dodged their foreign tech. When one water blaster ran dry, we knew the chase would lead us somewhere dire. Speak of the devil—towards the pool. Even as my paws recoiled at its very edge, we couldn’t shy away from our fears, not with the fate of all Pawsburgh pawing at our hearts.

“You ready to be heroes?” I asked my friends, my voice steady, hiding my internal whimper. They howled an affirmative, even as the rain began to plummet down, further turning this into the kind of soggy affair we detested.

Engulfed in rain, pelted by water on all sides, alien technology clashed against canine cunning. We yapped and yowled, a chorus of defiance. Sir Squeaks-a-lot, ever by my side, let out his familiar battle cry each time we struck a ship.

“Eat pool water, you interstellar flea bags!” Bella bravely yipped, and with one final splash, the lead UFO spun like a dizzied squirrel before crashing into the now empty bone-shaped fountain.

The other crafts, perhaps out of some newfound respect or simply because they were soaking wet and rather put out, retreated as fast as they’d appeared. The skies cleared, and our tails ceased their anxious tucking.

I won’t lie. There was this moment, as wet and tired as an old chew toy, that we relished in quiet pride. I turned to my brave troops, my friends, my partners in every absurd adventure.

“And that,” I said, shaking the rain from my fur, “is the power of Pawsburgh pawtery.”

The invasion was over. The vacuum of peace returned to our magical town and us to our various delights, with the exception of the pool, of course.

Come the morrow, we surely won’t mention our almighty battle to our unsuspecting humans. Instead, we’ll leave them to wonder, as they note our unusual fatigue, “Whatever did the dogs do today?”

Oh, if they only knew…

The End.