Paw prints

Louis was known as the town menace to everyone except Louis's owner, David Barker. David was Louis's best friend and was responsible for teaching him to paint. Now I know what you're thinking; that's not so unusual. But Louis wasn't a boy: he was a brown and white patched Beagle. David had pestered his parents to death after seeing Louis at a dog home. Day and night the only thing David said to his parents was, "Can we get Louis?". Nothing more. Eventually they gave in and surprised David one evening after dinner by handing Louis to David with a big red bow tied round his neck.
"You must promise to train him now, David," said dad. "That's the deal."
And train him he did. David taught Louis how to do the regular things like sit and stay, but also taught him to balance a ball on his nose, walk on his back legs, and peel an orange with his teeth. But the trick David taught him that he was most proud of, but which earned Louis with his notorious reputation, was how to paint.
Louis loved it. He got so excited when David got the paint pots out of the cupboard and spread paper on the kitchen floor that he started yapping, wagging his tail and dancing round in circles. He would paint for hours on end. At first he used his paws, dipping them in the paint and padding around on the paper until David put a long brush between his Louis's claws and showed Louis how to dip his brush into the paint.
Dab. Swipe. Splodge. Swish. Blob.
Louis splattered red, blue, yellow, orange and green paint across page after page. Louis made so many paintings that David managed to completely redecorate his bedroom.
David's parents despaired not just because of the mess that Louis created but because they could never get into the kitchen to cook. For weeks they all lived on take out pizza.
But when the townsfolk noticed Louis's talent they commissioned him to paint something for them. David wasn't particularly keen on making Louis paint on command. That wasn't his intention, but David's parents said that Louis could earn them all some money.
"Times are tough, David," said mum. "Tourists aren't visiting Drabness anymore. The hotels are all closing down and sadly it won't be long before we have to close our doors to visitors too. We have to find another way to make ends meet."
It seemed okay at first as Louis only had a few commissions but when everyone in the town wanted a Louis Barker original Louis started to rebel. He refused point blank to paint. One day Louis was so fed up he dashed out of the kitchen through the dog flap with the paint brush still in his mouth.
All day David searched for Louis. He went to all Louis's favourite places, the park, the river, Drabness Art Gallery but Louis was nowhere to be seen.
"What would a dog with a paint brush do?" David asked himself. And at that moment David spotted something on the pavement: a red splodge painting of a stick man.
"Louis!" David muttered as he looked ahead of him and spotted more red pictures on the ground. As David followed them across the town the paintings became bigger and bigger until soon they were no longer on the pavement but on the walls of the shops, daubed across glass doors and windows. Louis was rampaging through the town painting everything in sight. He painted houses, street lights, park benches, bus stops and even painted a man asleep in a shop doorway. David weaved through the streets in search for his runaway dog and everyone he passed had some complaint to make about his dog.
"You should keep that thing locked up," one elderly woman said and held up her handbag that had a red painted smiley face on it. "Look what he's just done."
"Where did he go?" asked David, hurriedly.
The woman pointed towards the town's ancient, ruined castle.
David shuddered. "I'm in big trouble if he paints that," he said and ran as fast as he could.
Just as he reached the crossroads he spotted Louis heading into the grounds of the castle.
"Louis! No!" yelled David.
Louis stood stock still, with the red brush in his mouth. But before he could dash through the gate David spotted a tall man in a suit reach down and grab his dog.
"Hey," David yelled and ran across the road. "He's mine. Leave him alone."
"You have a talented dog there," the man said. "I take it he's responsible for this graffiti art?"
David wasn't sure whether he should own up to the fact that Louis had done it or not. He didn't want Louis to be taken away and locked up.
"He might have," David said hesitantly. "What of it?"
"He's just what I've been looking for. He could make your town very popular indeed."
"Really?" asked David, his eyes widening with excitement.
"Oh yes. Tourist love this kind of thing, especially American tourists. And with our artist being a dog, I think we could revive the fortunes of this town."
David was so proud he was sure he had just grown a foot in height.
"You hear that Louis. We can put Drabness back on the map and mum and dad will never have to close their hotel. You'll never have to do another commission again."
Louis dropped his paint brush and leapt into David's arms and gave David a big, red-tongued lick to his face.