“You know there’s a leash law, right?” asked Tabitha.

“Yeah, but we’re on a trail in the middle of the woods,” Samantha said as she unclipped the leash, releasing Max, her black Labrador Retriever. She stood up, held out her arm, sweeping it from left to right, while saying, “Look, no one’s around.”

“What difference does that make?” asked Tabitha.

“Well, you’ve heard the question about if a tree falls in the woods and no one’s around to hear it, right?”

“I have, but it’s a stupid question. Sounds are vibrations. Of course it makes a sound.”

“Yeah, but those vibrations don’t become sounds until they hit someone’s eardrum,” Samantha said, smirking. “So, I’d argue that it doesn’t make a sound.”

“Whatever. What’s your point?”

“The leash law is just like the tree. If no one’s around, then it’s not really a law, right?”

“Uh, no.”

“No? Just no? That’s your rebuttal?”

“Yes.”

“Come on, you can do better than that.”

“I can, but you don’t want to hear it.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, I do. I do. I do. I do. I d—”

“Alright, stop!” said Tabitha. “You’re so annoying sometimes.”

“I know, but it works, ‘cause now you’re gonna tell me.”

“Fine. I think it’s a dumb idea you made up so you can break the law.”

“That’s a terrible rebuttal.” Samantha smiled. “Which means I win. Besides, it’s science. You can’t argue with science. So, no sound means no law.”

“Your logic is flawed.”

“Aw, you’re no fun. Besides, Max needs freedom,” she said as she tossed the leash onto the ground. “And room to run, ya know?”

“That’s what dog parks are for.”

“That’s not the same. They don’t even have trees in dog parks.”

“Maybe that’s to keep the dogs from chasing squirrels,” Tabitha said as she nodded toward Max, who was frantically jumping at the trunk of a nearby tree, barking at a squirrel.

Samantha smiled. “Exactly my point,” she said as she held out her arm toward Max. “It’s fun.”

“Tell that to the squirrel.”

The squirrel leapt to another tree. Max followed, nearly trampling a rabbit that had been hiding in a nearby bush. The rabbit darted into the woods, and Max sprinted off after it.

“Max!” shouted Samantha. “Get back here, Max!” She stamped her foot, then ran into the woods after him.

“Seriously, Sam?” Tabitha called out. “You’re gonna get lost. He’ll come back. Samantha!” Tabitha sighed, then seeing Max’s leash on the ground where Samantha had tossed it, she picked it up and muttered, “You don’t even have his leash.”

About an hour later, Samantha was standing on a high platform atop an old, abandoned quarry structure near the edge of the woods.

A man walked out from behind a tree toward the structure. He looked at the rusty rung ladder that was attached to the side of the structure and called out, “Samantha, what are you doing up there?”

She looked down, then after a moment shouted, “Hey, Scott! What are you doing out here?”

“What do you think?” he asked. “Looking for you.”

“Oh. Hey, have you seen Max? He ran off and I can’t find him.”

“And you thought to yourself, ‘Hey, maybe he climbed up a rung ladder.’”

“Well, no, but I came across the abandoned quarry…… and I just couldn’t help myself, so I started exploring. Besides, I thought I might be able to see him from up here.”

“Well, you can’t, so get down here and be careful. This place is falling apart. It’s dangerous.”

Not moving, she said, “It’s fine. I climbed up here without any problems. It’s perfectly safe.”

“Samantha, I answer calls to this place every year. I’ve seen everything from broken phones to broken bones. Now get down here.”

Samantha sighed, then climbed down the ladder. Once she reached the ground, she smiled and said, “You should see the view from up there. It’s amazing. If I—”

“Samantha James, you’re under arrest for criminal trespass and violation of the leash law.”

“What?” she said as she held up her arms and took a step backward, nearly tripping. She steadied herself and began stammering, “But…I was looking for Max…and trees don’t make any sound…I mean, the quarry is abandoned…so no one really owns it, right? I mean…I thought…” She dropped her arms to her sides. “Am I really under arrest?”

“No.”

Samantha let out a breath.

Scott said, “Luckily for you, I’m off duty. I came here as a favor to Tabitha.”

“Wow, that’s a relief. I was really worried for a minute there. You—”

“You should be worried. You’re in violation of the trespass law, which could land you 15 days in the county jail.”

“What?” Samantha’s eyes widened. “That would be awful.”

“That’s not all. Violations of the leash law could be even worse. They can be classified as misdemeanors when they’re committed on government land, like the trails you were on with Tabitha. Offenders can be incarcerated for up to 20 days or pay fines up to $1,000. And don’t even get me started on the civil and criminal liability if an unleashed dog injures a person or even another animal.”

Samantha exclaimed, “That’s over a month in jail!”

“Now you’re getting the picture.”

Samantha looked around. “We better get out of here before a real cop comes along!”

“You mean an on duty officer?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“I know.” Scott placed his hand on the back of Samantha’s upper arm. “Let’s go.”

Samantha started walking with him, then stopped and said, “Oh, wait. What about Max?”

“He’s fine. You really should have listened to Tabitha. Max came back right after you ran off looking for him. Tabitha brought him home, then asked me to come looking for you.”

“Oh, oops.”

__________

Liked this story? Leave a comment at the bottom of the page!

April Wenzel writes family-friendly fiction. She is a multi-story FaithWriters Challenge winner. Her readers often describe her work as sweet, intriguing, funny, and surprising. April firmly believes that her most valuable and joy-filled roles are wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. Read her full bio at aprilwenzel.com/about.

Copyright © 2026 by April Wenzel. All rights reserved.

No part of this story may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, places, events, and incidents in this book are the product of the author’s imagination.