During the trip back to the magnolia tree, the sheltie’s ears perked up as it heard the sound of poorly executed bird calls.

The dog’s pace quickened as it raced back to the tree. When it arrived, it woofed in order to alert the “bird” to his presence.

Movement in the tree’s limbs revealed Tom who looked relieved until he saw the look on the sheltie’s face.

“I was bored ok.”, Tom said to which the sheltie shook it’s head.

“You try sitting in a tree for 20 minutes with nothing to do but crouch and try not to get your butt wet.”

The dog simply set the cloths down and waited for his friend to get dressed.

“So. Who is getting what here?”

The sheltie quickly pounced on the jeans and then grabbed the underwear.

“Well I guess that’s fair considering jeans are hard to wear commando compared to shorts but these things are almost 2 sizes too small.”

The sheltie turned its head in the equivalent of a shrug and picked up the shorts and t shirt before dropping them at Tom’s feet to which Tom sighed before putting on the cloths.

The sheltie then dropped the jeans and other t shirt at the base of the magnolia tree before walking away. “Why are you not changing back and where are you going?”

The sheltie barked before continuing forward without looking back.

“Well I guess we can wait on the whole sleeping thing while sparky the wonder mutt and his sidekick have a forest adventure”, Tom said before following his friend through the trees.

It was around 9 P.M and the streets were empty with only the streetlights to guide the sheltie back to the Goodwill.

Tom followed the sheltie all the way up to the door before realizing what was happening. “Oh no, you are not making me pay for this when I have no way to explain where the clothes went. There’s also the fact I’m wearing the clothes you stole. Also we have to conserve the money we have until we can get our packs in the mail.”

The sheltie nipped at Tom’s ankles before entering the store.

“Fine but I don’t think you can eat kindness and there is no way I’m sharing my $100 when you get hungry in a few days”, Tom muttered before following the sheltie into the store.

The sheltie walked up to the counter and looked back at Tom with an expression that implied impatience.

Tom walked up to the counter slowly weighing his options on an explanation. By the time he reached the it he knew what he was going with.

“Hello there ma’am. My dog ran away from me during our walk and I think he might have come here and grabbed some cloths. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience. Ever since he was a puppy, Sparky here has had a fascination with clothes. It’s almost like he thinks he’s a person.”

With a small crinkling of her eyebrow, the lady behind the counter responded, “ Its no problem sir. Do you have the cloths he took with you?”

“Oh well you see the clothes were so dirty by the time I found him. I don’t want you to have to deal with cleaning so I thought it might be easier to just buy them outright.”

The clerk responded “Oh that’s no problem sir we can wash the cloths. In fact, there’s a washer right in the other room so it’s no trouble.”

Tom blanked and responded “I insist on buying them. I think his teeth put a hole in the underwear and you never know with a dog like this he could have even run through a sewer with them or something.”

“If you insist sir, I guess that’s your decision.”

Tom breathed an internal sigh of relief before looking down at the sheltie and then looking back at the clerk with a glint in his eye.

“By any chance do you carry dog leashes? I wouldn’t want Sparky getting away and causing any more trouble.”

Tom was still smiling as they arrived back at the Magnolia tree.

The sheltie had pulled its claw out right when they entered the forest and Tom now had an annoyed Arthur pulling off the leash around his neck.

“That was not cool”, Arthur stated coolly

“You’re the one who wanted to pay for the cloths”

“Whatever. Let’s just go get some sleep. I saw a cheap inn on the town map a few blocks away from here”

Tom responded sarcastically, “What? You mean we aren’t sleeping in the bushes tonight?”

“After the flight and the Goodwill experience, I think an actual bed is in order.”

Both began to walk toward the hotel through the dry crinkly leaves of the forest.

The streets were completely deserted, and the moon illuminated the city as they arrived back in town.

Arthur slowed and then stopped altogether as his eyes moved slightly back and forth before settling in a forward position.

He turned to Tom saying, “Hey lets go to a Walmart or something and get some real cloths.”

Tom replied “are you sure? These cloths are comfortable enough for me.”

“Yea, I’m sure. It won’t take a minute”

They backtracked a block the way they had just come to reach the nearby walmart.

Tom noticed Arthur looked ready to bolt with an almost animalistic glint in his eyes and twitching of his arms and legs.

They reached the Walmart and instead of going to the clothing section, Arthur headed straight to the bathroom.

The store was empty with only a few weary eyed staff manning the registers for the night shift.

When they both entered the bathroom, Arthur turned and said “sorry for acting strangely but I just felt something really strange out there. It almost felt like I was being watched but I couldn’t see anyone.”

Arthur paused before continuing saying, “I know our bags are here, but do you think you can keep flying tonight? There’s another city a few miles east of here according to the map.”

Tom replied, “Not sure I understand what you’re talking about, but if it will make you feel better then sure.”

Arthur then grabbed some trash from the trash can and jammed the door open before jumping into the can after lifting the lid off and setting it on the tile floor.

“Shift in the garbage can so the piles of cloths don’t draw attention. Try and close the lid if you can on your way in.”

Arthur shifted and flew into the air. He craned his neck at Tom in an expectant manner who lifted one leg over the lid of the garbage can, almost tripping, before managing to fit himself inside.

“The things I do for friendship” he muttered before bending over and struggling for a second to grasp the garbage can lid on the ground as his fingers keep hitting the rim but not latching on.

He finally reached the lid and placed it on his head before squatting down and starting to shift.

The garbage can lid slowly fell into place as Tom shrunk before Arthur’s eyes.

Arthur heard sounds of rustling in the garbage can before finally a robin flew out of the opening causing the lid to swing back and forth.

They both flew toward the door which had been propped open. Arthur led the way up to the rafters and fluttered around in a mindless manner.

Tom was dumbfounded before realizing Arthur was playing the part of a trapped bird and just waiting for a shopper to enter or exit the door so they could make their escape.

Arthur saw a shadow approach from the exterior of the building and began flying toward the door to time his exit.

The door opened as an middle aged employee entered for his shift.

Arthur heard the flutter of wings behind him announcing that Tom was trailing as they both continued heading for the door and flew out right as it opened.

Tom made it through by the narrowest of margins with the door almost closing on his tail feathers.

The close call made him tweet out a sigh of relief right before nearly slamming into the back of Arthur who was hovering in place.

Tom looked around for the cause of his friend’s actions, but the only thing he could see was a man in a brown trench coat approaching the store from a few hundred feet away.

Tom was confused and did not understand why Arthur had stopped. However, Arthur felt as though there was intense pressure all over his body.

Arthur snapped out of his stupor and quickly flew in the direction opposite the man. Tom noticed the motion of his friend and followed Arthur.

Arthur flew as fast as he could with Tom following closely behind.

Arthur hoped the man had not noticed them but felt certain that he had.

He figured their only hope was to make it to the city or forest and find somewhere to hide, a somewhere that was heavily fortified with concrete walls, weapons and provisions.

As he thought about it, staying at the walmart was probably their best option considering it had almost everything they needed.

However, Arthur knew that ship had sailed and that they might as well continue flying. He didn't know who that man was, and he certainly didn't want to find out.