"Tempting, isn't it?" A little voice in the back of her head whispered. The small girl shook her head. She knew better; her mother had taught her about things like this. The ball she'd been playing with in the front yard had vanished over the fence. She could easily open the gate now; she'd grown two whole inches recently. Still, the child hesitated.

Forlornly, the girl thought of her brightly-coloured ball. Purple and pink swirls. It was her favourite. Finally she decided she couldn't stand it anymore and went after the ball. It was bright ouside; surely she'd be fine. Peering either way past the gate, the girl didn't see her ball. Figuring she'd been playing to her left, she went that way and turned to see the ball sitting in a mud puddle. She cautiously approached the ball along the sidewalk until she was in front of it. So close... but she'd have to step into the street. Her mother said that was bad and her mother was always right. Looking both ways, she quickly stepped down, grabbed the ball and ran back up the sidewalk and around the corner. She clutched the dirty ball to her, went back in the yard and started to close the gate.

The tiny child heard a soft growling behind her and, spinning, dropped the ball. It rolled away as the little girl looked straight into the foaming mouth of a stray dog that had wandered into the yard. She screamed as the dog lunged forward. The dirty ball lay in a muddy puddle in the empty yard, the gate swinging gently after the dog that had just left.