Buddy Found a Sock. We Do Not Know Which Sock. We May Never Know.

There is a sock missing in this house.

Not a pair of socks. One single sock. Its partner sits in the drawer, alone and confused, waiting for a reunion that may never come.

Buddy knows where it is.

Buddy will not say.

This is one of his signature moves — what I’ve come to call the Beagle Disappearing Act. Something goes missing. Buddy is nearby but not suspiciously nearby. He’s just… present. Casual. Sniffing the air in that innocent way that somehow reads as extremely guilty.

I’ve searched the garden. I’ve checked under the bed. I’ve looked in his basket, behind the sofa cushions, inside one of my own shoes, which led to a whole separate mystery I won’t get into here.

The sock is simply gone.

Buddy watched the entire search operation from his bed with the calm, unhurried expression of someone who knows exactly how this ends.

The thing about beagles — and I say this with enormous love — is that they were bred to follow a scent and make independent decisions. Hunting dogs. Problem solvers. Creatures designed to think for themselves and not particularly worry about what the humans would like them to do.

This is a wonderful quality in a working dog tracking across miles of countryside.

It is a chaotic quality in a small apartment in Antwerp.

Buddy does not see a distinction. To him, the sock operation was a successful mission. Objective acquired. Objective secured in an undisclosed location. Perimeter of the living room successfully patrolled.

He sleeps very soundly, Buddy does. The sleep of the righteous.

I bought more socks last week. Three pairs, because apparently that’s just a household expense now.

Buddy watched me unpack the shopping with great interest.

I caught his eye.

He looked away first.

The sock has still not been found. Updates will follow if the situation develops.

In the meantime, Buddy documents several similar operations in Unleashed: Buddy’s Diary — though in his version, he is always the hero of the story. He’s not wrong, exactly. He’s just selective with the details. 🐾