THE STORY LINE 45

"Shut up and eat your cupcake, you know that's really why you're here, and I don't mind if it is the reason," said Spike, a bit prickly. "We cannot talk strategy on an empty stomach, and I have a plan that will do us both a lot of good--if we can pull it off, of course."

THE STORY LINE 44

"You have such a wonderful personality," said Kirby, politely. I'm sure I would have wanted to visit at some point."

THE STORY LINE 43

"It's all part of my training," said Spike. "I've had to become quite expert on getting people to come to me."

"I would have come to visit you anyway," said Kirby."

"Tell the truth--it wasn't a done deal until talked about the cupcakes now was it?"

THE STORY LINE 42

'True to his word, Spike had a good supply of cupcakes on hand, and set some out for himself and Kirby. who exclaimed:

"This is great, I've never had cupcakes for dinner before. What made you think of them?"

THE STORY LINE 41

"Puppets are made to fill out long impossible forms in a strange language not spoken by anyone, and told that if they ask questions about the forms, and the answers they get are wrong, then they have to fill out more forms."

"How would they know if the answers are right?" asked Kirby.

"Exactly," said Spike. "We have to stay away from this day or we will be stuck filling out forms forever."

THE STORY LINE 40

"That's my house at the edge of the field," said Spike. "I've got plenty of cupcakes for us to eat for dinner."

"You do? I really like cupcakes a lot," said Kirby. "Maybe I should just stay with you and start fresh tomorrow."

"No, we have to get you home tonight--tomorrow is a very evil day. Terrible things happen."

"Like what?" asked Kirby.

THE STORY LINE 39

"Isn't finding someone who cares about you a treat?" asked Kirby.

"I believe that's right," said Spike. "Now let's you get a little supper and we can discuss getting you back with your family tonight."

THE STORY LINE 38

"I'm sorry, Spike, I shouldn't have run off," said Kirby, trying to hug his friend.

"That's all right I'm just glad you're back."

"Now I understand the Come command, but how in the world can I use it to get my family to come to me?"

"Let's start with what it means, " said Spike. "Tell me what it meant to you that made you come running. It wasn't just the idea of a treat, now was it?"

THE STORY LINE 37

After a while, however, Kirby had further doubts about this strategy. He was getting cold and thirsty and quite hungry.

Then he heard Spike's voice: "Kirby! Come!"

Maybe I was not such a good dog, maybe I should try to be a better dog, he thought.

"Kirby! Come!" The voice was more insistent. He could not resist.

THE STORY LINE 36

This is not so bad, Kirby lied to himself. Things will work themselves out if just do nothing.

Then the day went forward with no results.

THE STORY LINE 35

"You keep going, then, I'll be right here for you," said Spike. "And even though I can get a little thorny, they will seek me out, those who run from me."

But run Kirby did, further into the field of daffodils.

THE STORY LINE 34

"Where are you going?" asked Spike. "You're already lost and you're going to get loster."

"That's not a word and I'm not listening to you!" said Kirby.

"You could die of hunger and thirst out there and no one would know," said Spike.

Kirby tried to ignore this piece of intelligence and kept going.

THE STORY LINE 33

"Do you think maybe it meant, 'Follow us, we are the way to happiness?' "

"No," said Kirby petulantly.

"Perhaps it meant, 'We love you and want you safe so come over here, please?' "

Kirby felt his cuteness had been insulted. "Must be going, now!"

THE STORY LINE 33

"Wow, you're an idiot" said Spike, with the same unfortunate honesty as before. "I know they can not have taught you that. Now think carefully, for a change: What exactly did they tell you to do when they said 'Come!' "

Kirby squirmed. "I don't remember and I resent this line of questioning."

THE STORY LINE 32

"I didn't mean to be quite so prickly," said Spike, realizing his mistake, "I just assumed that you understood what it meant, the word 'come,' as it is essential to my strategy for you."

"Of course I understand the command," said Kirby. "When they say 'come,' it means I should look cute and stand still."

THE STORY LINE 31

"You're not a very good dog, are you?" said Spike, not wishing to be thoughtless. He was just honest.

"What are you saying?" said Kirby. "Of course I'm a good dog!

THE STORY LINE 30

"I certainly have my doubts about that," said Kirby. "I mean, my family tells me to come to them all the time, and it doesn't work."

THE STORY LINE 29

Taking the time to smell the carpet worked for the Yoga Instructor. He continued the story:

"Spike felt so sorry for little Kirby, not being able to enjoy the field of daffodils because he was pushed out of the Easter Basket and lost, he told Kirby that he would get him back to his family. 'But how?' asked Kirby. 'I think I'm lost forever.'

'The trick,' said Spike, who'd had a lot of time to himself in his life to figure out problems, 'the trick is to make them come to you!'

THE STORY LINE 28

"This is a fascinating story line," said the Head Guy. "Don't stop!"

The Yoga Instructor had to think quickly for some delay so he'd have a chance to figure out the ending of his long tale. "Hold on," he said, "I have to take the time to smell the carpet."

THE STORY LINE 27

"So before the others could stop him, he pushed me out of the basket, so I never got to the hiding spot where the children would find me. I was lost in the field with the daffodils. It's very sad when daffodils can't make you happy."

THE STORY LINE 26

" 'Let me explain to you what Easter is all about' said the brown bunny. "It's about suffering and bloodthirsty Romans and heavy burdens and nasty Philistines.'

"You are one bitter little brown bunny," I said, not to be nasty, but just stating facts.

'That's it! You're out of here!' he said.

THE STORY LINE 25

"I realized I had mad a big mistake. The brown bunny was, well, hopping mad. Myself, I never mind when someone laughs at me--I'm glad they're having a nice time. This is not always the case, I learned. The brown bunny started making threats: 'You're going to die! I'm kicking you out of this basket!'

"I explained I was just trying to get in the Easter spirit."

THE STORY LINE 24

"But the Big Bunny was quite kind and said to jump in. He said there were going to be a lot of treats and surprises. I have no resistance to treats--not always so good with surprises--but the idea of treats won out so I hopped in and went off with them."

THE STORY LINE 23

"The little brown bunny hissed like a snake: 'I don't want anything cuter than me in the basket.' One of the little white lambs laughed at him, saying, 'We'll all have to jump out then!' But what was worse, all the lambs followed along, laughing at the brown bunny. His nose twitched so hard it went nearly out of its nose mooring."

THE STORY LINE 22

"I found the basket they were going to hide, filled with bunnies and lambs, and asked the Big Bunny if I could jump in and hide with them."

THE STORY LINE 21

"We were at the house, as usual," Kirby explained, when the big people told the little people that on Easter Day, they would get to find things that were hidden."

"Did they go and hide you?" asked Spike.

"Um-not exactly," said Kirby. "I might have hidden myself by mistake."

"How's that?"

THE STORY LINE 20

"I'm so sorry," said Kirby. "I don't want to be like everyone else and hurt your feelings. You are very kind to help get me back to my family. Maybe they'll want to pet you as a reward. Or at least give you treats."

Let's worry about that later," said Spike. "Now tell me where you last saw you family?"

THE STORY LINE 19

"I think you've stuck with me enough," said Kirby.

"At least I could point you in the right direction," said Spike. "Get it? Point you? Oh please, don't go away mad like everyone else. I can't help it if I'm not cute and cuddly like you."

THE STORY LINE 18

"Aiiiiiii-I really must be going. I have to find my family," said Kirby, thinking quickly .

"Please let me help you" said Spike. "You were nice enough to try to pet me, so the least I could do is stick with you."

THE STORY LINE 17

"Aiiiiiii," cried Kirby at the sharp needle that stuck his paw.

"You what?" asked Spike. "You liked it or not?"

THE STORY LINE 16

'So, against his better judgment, Kirby reached out to pet the porcupine.

THE STORY LINE 15

"You hate me already, don't you?" said Spike.

"No, that's not true," said Kirby. "I can tell you have any fine qualities. Many fine, sharp, pointy quill-ities. I mean, qualities."

"You're not going to pet me, are you?"

THE STORY LINE 14

Kirby's eyes were now quite sad at the thought of not being able to pet his new friend. On the one hand, he didn't want to hurt his paw. On the other hand, he didn't want to hurt his new pal.

THE STORY LINE 13

"Have you been working on the sad puppy dog eyes part of this?" asked Kirby, his paw hovering near Spike's muzzle. "It always lets them know you're not going to bite."

"I never bite," said Spike. "I would never hurt anyone. Now please, try petting me."

THE STORY LINE 12

"Oh, don't think I haven't tried sticking my muzzle out to get some petting. Problem is, when I stick my muzzle out, my muzzle gets stuck," said Spike. "Then the people stuck say all kinds of things that--tell you the truth--don't sound that friendly."

"Here, let me try petting you," said Kirby, reaching out with his paw slowly. He tried to think of a delaying tactic. He was, after all, a very smart dog.

THE STORY LINE 11

"No, of course there's nothing wrong with wanting to be petted," said Kirby. "In fact, that's why I want to get back to my family, because they do pet me. Sometimes they don't realize that they want to pet me, but I just stick my little muzzle out and give them my sad puppy dog look and, well, they just can't help themselves."

THE STORY LINE 10

'Really, I was hoping for one of my family to come and find me," said Kirby.

'Your family,' Spike sighed. "I bet they pet you, don't they?'

'Why yes, they do.'

"I just want to be petted, too," said Spike. 'Is that so wrong?'

THE STORY LINE 9

"It was a Porcupine making his way through the daffodils. 'You wanted me?' said the Porcupine.

'I made a mistake, I think,' said Kirby.

'Oh please, don't say that, I want to be friends. My name is Spike,' said the Porcupine.

THE STORY LINE 8

"But Kirby the Puppy's elation soon turned to consternation...

THE STORY LINE 7

"Then the puppy saw a friendly figure making his way through the flowers.

'Over here, please! Can you please come this way?'

THE STORY LINE 6

"I'm not sure how I got lost--my owners always said I was a genius, that I could go to Yale or Harvard, maybe even Cal Tech, but let me tell you this--just because you're smart, it doesn't mean you can't get lost.

"What I need is to find someone who will help me find my way back to them. Now they are supposed to be very smart people, my owners, but I'll tell you another thing about smart--the only kind of smart I care about is the smart that will get me back home."

THE STORY LINE 5

"The puppy is in a field, surrounded by daffodils, and at first we think he's a happy puppy, because he's surrounded by Spring flowers, but soon we sense his inner sadness.

"The puppy says, 'My name is Kirby, and I think I my be lost. I was hoping you would help me."

THE STORY LINE 4

Suddenly the Yoga Instructor got an idea. "I was going easy on you, because I was afraid once you heard the story, you would plotz, but I am going to tell you this story about the puppy--The Easter Puppy!"

THE STORY LINE 3

"Well, sure-um--it starts with this little puppy..."

"Great! Then what? Keep going!"

"He's a really cute little puppy..."

"Yes, yes, but what does he do?"

THE STORY LINE 2

"Excuse me, did you hear the phone ring?" said the Yoga Instructor.

"I did not," said the Head Guy, "but if there is a call, it can wait until after I've heard your idea for the puppy movie, which I'm sure will be an enormous hit because it is so high concept, and all we need now is the story line."

THE STORY LINE

"Oh, you want a plot, do you?" said the Yoga Instructor. "I suppose next thing you'll want a writer and a script."

"It's not a horrible idea," insisted the Head Guy. "Sometimes they even give out awards for those."

"I'm not in it for the awards, I'm an artist," said the Yoga Instructor, stalling.

"Of course," soothed the head Guy, who had encountered quite a few artists and ones who called themselves such in his time. "Now what exactly is the story?"

YOGA SESSION XXXI

"There would have to be a personal trainer, a personal chef, a groomer who can trim nails without causing any commotion and a full-time driver."

"Could the peanut butter treats be available on set visits?"

"I don't see why not."

"And can there be ice cream, too?"

"Of course there can be ice cream. Vanilla. Vanilla with nuts. Or banana."

"Then we may be able to make a puppy movie," said the Head Guy. "What's the story line?"

YOGA SESSION XXX

"There are soft rays of sunshine through white billowy clouds, and everywhere you look, there are peanut butter treats."

"I like peanut butter," said the Head Guy, smiling too, at the thought of endless nut delights.

"Sharks don't like peanut butter," instructed the Yoga Instructor.

"So how much would that cost?"

"I'm not done yet," said the Yoga Instructor.

YOGA SESSION XXIX

"I did not know that yoga instructors were allowed to bite," said the Head Guy. "Or make threats."

"Let's just get back to this meadow in the mountains," said the Yoga Instructor, smiling inscrutably. "There is endless grass, lush and enticing, and soft on the fur."

"How much would that cost?" asked the Head Guy.

"Nothing--nothing in comparison to Shark dollars."

"Is this above the line or below the line?" asked the Head Guy.

"Hush and let me tell you more," said the Yoga Instructor.

YOGA SESSION XXVIIII

"There are no Sharks," repeated the Head Guy.

"Picture an adorable puppy running through the meadow," said the Yoga Instructor.

"Wait a minute, are you sure there are no Sharks?" asked the Head Guy. "Sharks make a lot of money."

"There are no Sharks," repeated the Yoga Instructor. "Pay attention or I'll bite you."