Twelve times. Twelve times we have been around this building on a scooter. Eleven times too many. My owner, Angeline, is an energetic eight-year old who loves to play. I love to play too, but there is a limit to my patience. I wonder if I could escape for a few minutes and take a rest. She wouldn’t notice, would she? All I do is follow anyway, I deserve a break. I wait until I see a shadowy hole on our thirteenth time around the building. A dark alley. Perfect. At just the right moment, I slip into the alley and disappear, feeling odd that I was not following her every movement. I watch Angeline as she rides away, shadowless. She didn’t even notice that I was gone.