Once, when we lived in Orono, Maine, I ran away from home. I didn’t go alone; I took our dog, Velvet.
It was early afternoon and we set out, Velvet on his leash, and me carrying my hobo pack on a stick. In it I had some snacks and some food for Velvet. We walked out of town for what seemed like several hours. It was starting to get dark and it occurred to me suddenly that I was all alone out there with nowhere to sleep. Of course, I wasn’t scared because I had Velvet.
As it was getting dark, a car pulled up beside me and Velvet got excited. Sure enough, it was my dad. He asked me where I was going, and I said “Anywhere!”. He told me that was fine with him, but I was not taking his dog. He said “You can continue on your trip, but the dog is coming home with me”. He stopped the car, and got out. Oddly enough, when he tried to take Velvet’s leash, Velvet came back closer to me. I think it hurt my dad’s feeling.
We negotiated for a bit, but finally I gave in and we all climbed into the car and went home.