Stay, Benson!

Every morning before school, Flick says, ‘Be good, Benson. You stay and mind the house. NO CHASING!’ But as soon as Flick waves goodbye... Flick’s dog Benson is a very good boy... or so Flick thinks. When Flick leaves for school, she tells him, ‘Stay, Benson!’. Instead, Benson races out the front door and chases a cat into the back garden, over the fence and into the park, where he chases a squirrel. A ball catches his eye and he follows it into the pond – and then he runs, dripping wet, through the middle of a picnic lunch, stealing a sausage! The picnickers shout ‘GO HOME, BENSON!’. He races back across town, and arrives home just as Flick returns from school. ‘Have you been a good boy, Benson? Did you stay?’ Only the reader really knows what Benson, the naughty dog, has been doing all day…