Homework Disruption

It was a quiet afternoon in the house, the kind of stillness that made every sound seem louder. The rhythmic ticking of the kitchen clock echoed through the room, marking time as Lucy, a teenage border collie, sat hunched over at the kitchen table. Her thick black-and-white fur stood out against her brightly colored hoodie, and her mismatched socks peeked out from under the legs of her faded jeans. Her ears twitched in concentration as she glared down at the open math textbook in front of her, the pages filled with complex algebraic equations.

She tapped her pencil against the paper, a frustrated growl escaping her throat. “Ugh, this is impossible.” she muttered under her breath, resisting the urge to fling her pencil across the room.

Her mind was half on her homework and half on everything else she’d rather be doing—hanging out with her friends, going for a walk, anything but solving equations.

Suddenly, a soft, barely-there tug on her ankle broke her concentration. Lucy frowned and glanced down under the table. Sure enough, there was Bean—her little human kiddy—crawling around on all fours like he usually did. His wild, curly brown hair framed his dirt-smudged face, and his big, curious eyes were locked onto Lucy’s socked foot. He let out a quiet bark, more of a high-pitched yip, before grabbing the edge of her sock between his teeth.

“Bean, not now.” Lucy sighed, gently wiggling her foot, hoping to discourage him. But Bean only saw this as an invitation to play. With a playful growl, he latched on to her sock with his teeth and gave it another tug, his tailbone wagging in excitement.

Lucy rolled her eyes, trying to focus back on her homework, but the persistent nips at her sock made it impossible. She could feel Bean’s tiny teeth gripping the fabric, his warm breath puffing against her ankle as he gnawed lightly on the soft material. The occasional nip of his teeth tickled her, sending little shivers up her leg.

“Bean, I’m serious.” she grumbled, trying to sound authoritative but only managing to sound slightly annoyed. She gently kicked her foot again, but Bean yipped in excitement, as if this were part of the game. He growled softly and clamped down harder on her sock, pulling it until the fabric stretched tightly across her foot.

Lucy sighed in defeat, knowing she was losing the battle. She glanced down at Bean, who had now fully committed to trying to pull the sock right off her foot. His chubby little face was scrunched up in concentration, his eyes gleaming with mischief. He tugged harder, crawling closer and bumping his head against her shin as he tried to wrestle the sock away from her.

“You’re impossible.” Lucy muttered with a reluctant smile. Bean barked in response, his little hands patting her foot as he continued his tug-of-war. His teeth grazed her skin through the sock, not hard enough to hurt but enough to make her jump slightly in her seat.

Lucy leaned back in her chair, dropping her pencil onto the table. There was no way she was going to get any more homework done with Bean in one of his playful moods. She reached down and scooped him up into her arms, lifting him out from under the table. Bean let out a surprised yip, his legs kicking playfully in the air, but he quickly settled into her lap, looking up at her with wide, innocent eyes.

“You know you’re a little troublemaker, right?” Lucy said, rubbing the top of his head. Bean barked happily, his tailbone wagging as he wiggled in her arms, clearly pleased with himself. He squirmed, trying to crawl back down to the floor, his fingers still reaching for her sock, but Lucy held him close for a moment longer, scratching behind his ears to calm him down.

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Lucy said with a soft laugh. “You win this round. But I really have to finish my homework.”

She glanced at the clock on the wall. Time was slipping away, and her mom would be home soon, expecting dinner to be started and her homework to be done. Lucy sighed, standing up with Bean still squirming in her arms. “But first, let’s find something else for you to play with.”

Lucy set Bean down on the floor, and he immediately started crawling toward her feet again, his eyes still fixated on her socks. She quickly grabbed a nearby chew toy—a plush ball with a squeaker inside—and tossed it across the room. Bean’s head snapped up, his eyes following the toy as it bounced across the floor. With a joyful bark, he abandoned her sock and scrambled after it, his little hands and feet moving in a blur as he chased it across the kitchen.

Lucy shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Finally.” she muttered, sitting back down at the table and picking up her pencil again.

For a few blissful minutes, the only sound in the kitchen was the soft squeaking of the toy as Bean happily gnawed on it in the corner of the room. Lucy managed to work through a few more math problems, her pencil scratching against the paper in steady, rhythmic strokes.

But, as always, the peace didn’t last long.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bean crawling back toward her. His toy, now thoroughly slobbered on, lay abandoned on the floor behind him. Lucy felt his presence before he even reached her, the mischievous glint in his eye telling her exactly what was coming next.

Before she could react, Bean lunged for her foot again, yipping happily as he nipped at the toes of her socks.

“Bean!” Lucy groaned, dropping her pencil once more. “You’re going to get us both in trouble!”

She scooped him up again, this time giving him a gentle but firm pat on the nose. “No more sock games.” she said sternly, though a faint smile adorned her lips, betraying her fondness for the little troublemaker.

Bean just barked in response, his tailbone wagging as he looked up at her with those big, innocent eyes, completely oblivious to the chaos he’d caused.

Lucy sighed, a smile tugging at her lips as she hugged Bean close. “You’re lucky you’re so cute.”

With Bean now distracted by another toy, Lucy finally returned to her homework, knowing full well that the next interruption wasn’t far away.