Bingo The Winner

Sambo looked toward the large, old, farm house. He looked up and down the country road that passed the farm. It was Sambo's duty to protect the farm from intruders and bark when something, or someone, came too close to the farm. There was not a strange animal or person in sight. Sambo shook his head when a large bee flew by his ear. He stretched out his large, coyote-looking body and took another nap. Suddenly, Sambo's ears stood up. He heard a truck coming down the road. He jumped to his feet and began to bark. Sambo's tail started wagging when he recognized Joe's red, four-wheel-drive pickup truck. He greeted Joe as Joe crawled down from the large vehicle. Joe patted Sambo on the head and walked toward the house. Sambo followed Joe up the back steps to the kitchen door. Joe patted Sambo's furry head just before he went into the house and closed the door. Sambo laid down on the back step and began watching the road again. He barked when a small calf poked its head through one of the wooden fences located beyond the back yard. "Protecting this place is hard work," Sambo thought as he laid his head down on his front paws. Sambo heard Joe opening the door. He moved out of the way and followed Joe out to the pickup truck. Sambo waited for another love pat on the head. "When Betty and I are married, Sambo, we're going to move to town. You won't have to work so hard to protect our house in town," Joe said. He patted Sambo again and crawled back into the pickup truck. Sambo watched Joe's vehicle back away from the house and drive out of sight on the dusty, country road. He lay down next to the road to watch over his territory again. It was getting dark when Sambo smelled a terrible odor. Sambo's nose started burning. He rubbed his nose with his paw. The odor was sickening. "It's that awful black and white cat that makes that awful smell," Sambo told himself. He ran to the chicken house north of the farmhouse. Sambo barked and growled several times before the skunk came out of the chicken house. Sambo barked and growled louder.