Dog is man and man is dog

Aunty Vanessa handed me a long, round package.
“Happy birthday Alice,” she said. I ripped off the wrapping paper and there, rolled up like a newspaper, was…

“A rug.” I said flatly
“Well-yes!” said Aunty Vanessa.
I tried to look like I was pleased but I thought it was a bit of a strange present.
When the celebration was over I decided I should make some use of the rug. So I got out my new coloured pencils and some paper and sat down on the rug and began to draw. When Mum came in, she couldn’t see me anywhere!
“Alice! Alice!” she called.
“I’m right here Mum!” I called back to her, standing up.
“OW!” I looked up. I’d bumped my head on the roof!
“I can’t see you anywhere!” Mum called back to me. I looked down: at Mum’s head! This was weird. I leaned over further, and found myself looking at the bottom of the rug! I was flying!
“Mum” I called, “I think this might be a flying carpet! LOOK UP!” Mum looked up and saw me.
“Alice!” Mum called back to me, “What are you doing up there!”
“I don’t know!” I called back to her.
“I’m going to go and call the fire brigade,” said Mum.
“Yes, that’s a good idea” I said.
So Mum went and called the fire brigade.
“They’ll be here in five minutes,” she said to me when she got back.
When they got there the chief was a bit worried.
“We can’t get the ladder in here,” he said to Mum. “We’ll have to pull her down with the ropes.”
“Okay,” said Mum nervously.
The fire chief whistled. “You there,” he called, “bring over the…”
“Whoa!” I shouted. The flying carpet was taking me back down to Earth.
That night, I decided to experiment a bit more with my new flying carpet. So I got it out and sat on it. It wasn’t long before I felt myself rising into the air.
‘Right,’ I thought. ‘What happens now?’
As if it had read my mind the flying carpet shot forward and
flew out the window. I felt the icy cold breeze on my face.
But I didn’t have time to shiver, because at that moment the flying carpet took off again. Up, up it went, through a cloud and into space. It was a magnificent sight, with all the stars twinkling and the moon! The moon was a bright as day! Meteoroids kept flying my way, and one narrowly missed my shoulder. Then I felt the carpet start going down, down, and skid to a stop.
I looked around, this wasn’t Earth! I was sitting on the ground, looking at someone’s legs. They were rather skinny, furry legs and the feet! Oh! The feet looked exactly like those of a dog. I moved further up the body, he had no clothes on except a red dog’s coat. And then I saw the head and I understood. It was a dog! It was a Labrador standing on two legs, and it was holding a dog lead. And at the end that he should be on there was a boy.
“Hi!’’ He said “I’m Scruffy. You must be new here”
“Well” I replied “yeah, I just got here”
A truck pulled up. “The human catcher!” Shouted Scruffy. “Quick! Run! Hide!” I felt myself being lifted up by the furry paws of a bichon frise. I was bundled into the truck and the door slammed shut.
It was pitch dark. I couldn’t see a thing. The truck started to move.



After about an hour's drive the truck stopped. I was pulled out and taken to a large building. It was dark inside but not as dark as inside the truck. I was thrown into a cell with some other humans crawling around on all fours.
“A new comer”
“Threes’ company, fours a crowd”
“Looks like an Earthling”
Everyone was talking.
“Excuse me” I called out. “Could someone please tell me where I am?”
“Oh, Sorry” someone said. “You have just been thrown into the man catcher’s prison. I’m Itchy”
“I’m Scratchy” Said another.
“And I’m Tibbit” Said the last. “Have you got any food on you? I’m starving.”
“Tibbit!” Cried Itchy.
“What’s going to happen to us? “ I asked.
“We’ve got to stay here until someone buys us. Not much food, but plenty of water.” Said Scratchy
“What? No!” I shouted. “I’m going to find a way to get out of here and back to my planet. And I sat down and thought.
Itchy, Scratch and Tibbit woke up early next morning but I was already awake.
“I figured it out” I said. “Listen, I have a flying carpet. If we can get on to it we can fly out that window and back down to Earth.”
“And how exactly” remarked Tibbit “are we going to get your flying carpet in here?”
“I haven’t quite got that yet “I said. I thought for a bit and then…….
“I’ve got it” I shouted, and I began to whistle.
I saw the flying carpet coming towards us, but there was something on it! It was Scruffy! The flying carpet flew up and over the railings.
“Quick!” I shouted. “Get on!” Everyone got on and it was a bit of a squeeze “Now, who’s a really good climber?!”
“Scratchy” said Itchy and Tibbit together.
“Ok.” I said. “Scratchy, I need you to climb up to the window and whistle!”
It was after we had been in the air for about ten minutes that I noticed the strange colour of the sky we were flying through. It was a sort of grey-purple colour, with a huge black sun and orange clouds.
After about an hour’s flight I saw Earth.
“There it is! “ I shouted, pointing. But the
flying carpet started flying upwards.
“NO!”I shouted. “DOWN!” I tried everything! I leaned forward, I tapped the front. ‘Come on,’ I thought ‘go down’ and it did! It sailed down and landed-plonk!-right on the roof of my house.
“Oh I’m so glad to see you!” Said Mum. Then she stopped cold. “Who’s this?” she said, eyeing Itchy, Scratchy, Tibbit and Scuffy’s clothes.
“I’m Scruffy” said Scruffy “and this is Itchy, scratchy and Tibbit. We are from the planet Zoilus.”


“Well” said mum “First we’ll get you lot some better clothes from the second-hand store, and then we can go to the park. What do you think Alice?”
“I think that’s a marvellous idea!” I replied enthusiastically.
We had a wonderful time at the park. The Zoilus were wearing very smart red suits, which were a great change from their usual rags. We were just about to go home when I spotted something in the sky.
“It’s a Zoilus spaceship!” said Scratchy “The dogs are invading!”

Five minutes later, the battle had begun. The dogs were scratching and biting us, but there was nothing we could do. People gathered round, the whole town must have been there!
“Alice!” called Scruffy from the gate “Follow me!”
Pushing my way through the war zone I reached him. We ran on without speaking, until we reached an empty street.
“Alright, listen I’ve got a plan” Said Scruffy.
He went on to explain his plan and then we hurried back to the park.
I ran onto the swing, swung up and over and landed on the frame. As Scruffy had predicted, this manoeuvre instantly gained everyone’s attention.
“Attention all dog owners!” I called “Please bring all your dog food and dog leads to the park immediately!”
I laid down some food and stood in front of it. The dogs closed in on me. I quickly attached a lead to each dog and Scruffy tied them to the fence.
The next day, Aunty Vanessa came to visit.
“So Alice, How do you like your ‘rug’” she said to me.
“Oh, It’s Okay” I replied casually.
While Mum was saying goodbye to her, Aunty Vanessa thought she felt someone tap her on the head, but when she looked up, no-one was there. She chuckled to herself and drove away.