I could not believe what was right in front

I could not believe what was right in front of my eyes. It was the best gift of all time! It was a tiny little puppy with fluffy brown fur, who wanted to play all day!

With his tail wagging I put his new collar on him as we headed out for his first trip to the beach.

The salty ocean air hit his nose and he jumped in excitement. Rufus tugged on the leash and my fingers released him.

It was at that moment I realized, I have a very slim chance of catching him. My adrenaline kicked in, and I darted after him.

He sure had great legs, though. "Got to get those legs," I instructed my brainstem as I panted and wheezed after him. The culprit did a triple-flip over a chainlink fence into a d

ark alley that seemed a dead end. I thought for sure I had him. With his back against the wall, capture seemed inevitable, but a strangely confident look in his eye troubled me.

He had the look like he had been in this situation before. Almost like he planned for this...

but was trying to look as if he had not planned for this. Yes, he had the look of someone looking like he had never been in this situation before, but he planned it all along.

He was what I like to refer as a Stealth Planner. His seemingly spontaneous reaction to the new was in fact rehearsed. This situation was far from novel for him. His body language

murmured insouciance but I perceived micro-tremors in his apparently casual movements, like a film played slowly. But for the first time in my life I felt safe from the unexpected.