The Squeaking Braid

I ducked out through the kitchen cat flap straight into the quiet gravel beneath the tall potting bench! Right there in the gloom lay a fat, ribbed rubber dog bone stuck in a cluster of dry terracotta pots. I threw my whole weight down and gripped the knobby rubber stem with both skeletal hands, giving it a fierce theatrical yank. *SQUEEE-HONK!* The hidden air valve let out a shrill, shrieking bellow that made me jump straight back! I leaned right over the dusty rubber rim, eyes wide, shoving down with both bony palms to hear the wild plastic screech echo through the empty clay pots. What a wonderfully noisy rubber beast!