"There was a creme-colored cottage that belonged to three furry dogs and two busy humans. The dogs shed
their hair from morning to night. There was dog hair in the couches, on the carpets, and hidden between
furniture. The hair was waiting, quietly.

        One magical evening, at a quarter past twelve, the planets aligned all in a row and the dark covered the
moon. These two events made truly weird things happen.  Trees began to grow upside down and birds walked
instead of flew. And in the creme-colored cottage, while the humans and dogs slept, the dog hair that was
hidden in the couches was drawn like a magnet to the hair hidden behind the furniture. Soon all the hair
came together and formed one odd looking dog made of hair." -- from Hair Dog

        "Esme and her dog, Miss Madison, did everything together, and couldn't imagine ever being apart.

        On Mondays, they watched their favorite television shows. On Tuesdays, Mommy played the piano as they all
sang and howled silly songs. On Wednesday nights, they slept cuddled in one sleeping bag, and Esme shared the
pictures she saw in the night sky's stars. On Thursdays, they ate jelly sandwiches on lightly toasted bread and drank Nappytime Tea. And on Fridays, they took long walks treasure hunting in the nearby forest.

        One Wednesday night, Miss Madison refused to sleep cuddled under the stars. Esme and Miss Madison always
knew what the other was thinking and feeling. It made Esme very sad when this time, she did not know what was wrong." -- from Nappytime Tea

Chapter Three:  AN EVENING STROLL excerpt

She leapt after Gustav to catch him and tripped over a chair, but she was already too late. He was already zooming back to the kitchen. 

"Hey! That's not fair!" She yelled after him, and rushed back to the kitchen.

It was at that very moment, that they heard a horrible ghastly scream come from the kitchen intercom. 

Gustav furiously scrambled into the dumbwaiter and slammed the door shut behind him.

For one horrible moment, Emerald thought a wandering guest might have seen Gustav and had screamed. 

She raced down the hallway to see, when she met up with Mom and Dad. Mom's hair was in curlers and she looked half awake. Dad's mouth was wide and hung open, and he was pointing up at the stairs.

"I heard the scream coming from upstairs," said Mom, who had impeccable hearing to go with the eyes in back of her head.

Emerald let out a sigh of relief. They hadn't seen Gustav. 

The three raced up the stairs to the second floor, their slippers squeaking against the tile as they ran. They heard another noise, this one more bizarre--clapping--coming from the Daffodil Suite.

"Knock on the door, Mom. It's Mr. Snottynose's room," Emerald demanded. 

Mom gave Emerald a nasty look before tapping on the door.

"Mr. Albacore? Sir? Are you all right in there? We heard a scream," asked Mom in her most professional sing-songy innkeeper voice.

The door opened right away revealing a wide awake Mr. Albacore who didn't look scared or upset. He was grinning.

"I'm fine. Fine. More than fine. I'm screaming with joy. How absolutely delightful," he said.

Mom, Dad, and Emerald exchanged confused looks.

"My room is haunted!" He reported while he was jumping up and down, his hands were waving in the air. 

Emerald's heart skipped a beat. She knew she had left Gustav downstairs so it wasn't him. Could there be other ghosts?

Emerald glanced over at her parents. Dad looked like he had just gotten off a ride at Disney World: excited and alive. Mom looked like she got off a ride too--she gets notoriously sick on all the rides.

"It's simply splendid. I am overjoyed," continued Mr. Albacore. "How did you know I was writing my thesis on the ectoplasm of ghosts and its effects on houseplants?" 

No one knew."  (copyright 2004 Ronni Ann Hall, The Smell of Friendship)