Chomp! Right in the middle of the clearing, Pigúiça found the biggest bone she had ever seen. It was so big that to carry it, she had to walk sideways, like a crab.
“It's mine,” she announced to nobody. “All mine.” A rock nearby hummed something, but Pigúiça pretended not to hear.
Soon Fofuxo showed up, wagging his tail. “What a great bone! Can I play too?” Pigúiça hugged the bone with all four paws. “No. It's mine. I found it first.”
Fofuxo didn't get upset. He just lay down in the grass and watched the clouds. One of them was shaped like a bone, and he chuckled to himself.
Pigúiça tried to play with the bone. She tossed it up, but it was heavy and came down on her head. Bonk. She tried to chew it, but it was much too big for her little mouth. She tried to run with it and tripped.
She sat down, a little grumpy. Playing all alone with a bone that size was harder than it looked. And, to tell the truth, it was kind of boring.
Then she looked at the bone. There was one end on this side. And another end on that side. Two ends. She looked at Fofuxo. One Fofuxo. She looked at herself. One Pigúiça.
“Fofuxo,” she called, very softly. “Want to hold the other end?” Fofuxo's ears popped up, and he came running.
Each of them grabbed an end, and the tug-of-war began. Pigúiça pulled this way, grrr. Fofuxo pulled that way, very gently, grrr. Sometimes he let her win, and sometimes she let him win.
Before long, Bolota the long-eared basset hound and Tico the dachshund came trotting over. “Can we play?” asked Bolota. This time Pigúiça didn't even stop to think. “Yes! Grab the middle!”
It was the most fun afternoon the clearing had ever seen. Everybody pulling, everybody laughing, and nobody remembered anymore whose bone it was. It belonged to everyone who was playing.
When the sun slipped behind the mountains, the puppies flopped down in the grass, leaning against each other, tired out from all that laughing.
Pigúiça rested her head on the bone like a pillow. Fofuxo rested his head on the other end. They stayed there together, watching the first stars come out.
“Can we play again tomorrow?” she asked, her eyes almost closed. “We sure can,” said Fofuxo. And Pigúiça fell asleep right there, smiling, with her head on the bone that now belonged to everyone.
