The day I became a sand detective (and solved absolutely nothing)

The frisbee landed somewhere behind me and I completely ignored it.

Mom kept calling my name from down the beach but I had more important work to do. Someone had been here before us. A lot of someones. The sand smelled like sunscreen and hot dogs and something salty that wasn't just ocean. I put my nose down and followed the trail.

It led me in a circle. Then another circle. Then to a spot where someone had definitely dropped chips. I investigated the chips situation very thoroughly. Mom caught up while I was conducting my research.

"Lucky, what are you doing?" She was holding the frisbee and looking at me like I was being weird. I wasn't being weird. I was being professional. There's a difference.

The sand felt different under my paws than the sidewalks back home. Softer but harder to run on. Every step left a print and I kept looking back to see where I'd been. My paws looked bigger in sand prints than they do on concrete.

Mom threw the frisbee again and this time I chased it. Not because I wanted to catch it but because running felt good and the wind was making my ears flap in that way that makes everything better. I caught it by accident and Mom cheered like I'd done something amazing.

We stayed until the sun started getting low and everything turned orange. The whole walk back to the car, sand kept falling out of my paws. I'm probably still carrying some of that beach home with me.

There's sand in Mom's gym bag now. She doesn't know yet.