Play, then "Play"

Beside herself with excitement, Winnie shifted from foot to foot. "Uh...I...I wanna...wanna play hide n' seek!" she declared, panting eagerly. I was a bit surprised at that. I was expecting fetch or something. If she noticed my confusion, Winnie gave no sign, just eagerly waiting for my answer. Well...sounded innocent enough.

Shrugging, I nodded. "Sure thing, girl. Who's going t..." I began. As soon as she comprehended my agreement, Winnie ran around in a short circle. "You! You it! I count!" she half cheered, half demanded. She ran up to a tree and pressed her face against it, tail wagging fiercely. "You go now! I count! 30, 29, 28..."

Thirty seconds?! I took off. There was a sinking feeling in my gut. I was beginning to think maybe she wasn't as childish as I first suspected. Sure, hide and seek. Innocent enough, right? Except she's a wolf. Where could I hide that her nose couldn't track me down? I mean, it's not like there were any rivers or anything for me to cross to hide my scent. There was a duck pond, but I wasn't going in there. That's just disgusting.

I was running out of time. That's when I saw it. A drainage pipe. I mean, yeah, it was probably connected to the sewer or something. Admittedly, I had no idea how the system worked. Either way, if I stayed just at the edge of the darkness, it shouldn't be an issue. Besides, the smell might hide me too.

Now I know what you're thinking. Why am I trying so hard to hide? Surely if I let her catch me, she'd want to be rewarded. With another pup making attempt, no doubt. Even if that wasn't the case, she'd be real happy to see me and I could enjoy her attention, such as it was. The thing is, I was a bit...competitive. If I was challenged to something, I would try to win. Even if it meant kinda sorta losing. It was my curse.

WAY off in the distance, I heard a long howl. The "hunt" had begun.