Ford's Apprentice

Perfect

Canis kicked the ground with frustration. He'd been kicked(quite literally) out of the lab.

He hadn't meant to let the Cycloptapus escape. It'd been a simple mistake. But mistakes could turn into disasters, and disasters could spiral into madness. He had to be absolutely perfect. He could not allow mistakes.

He squinted into the dark woods. Maybe if he caught another creature he could get back into Ford's good graces.

He warily walked into the woods, hoping that his complete lack of knowledge about this entire world wouldn't hold him back.

He wandered around for a while, but all he saw were a few birds and squirrels. At around 6:00 he started to head back. But where was back?

He was completely, totally, hopelessly lost.

Simple mistakes.

Canis sighed dejectedly. He was so dead when he got home. He tried to track his path back to the Mystery Shack, but he had been careful not to leave tracks.

He growled at his own stupidity as he realized that he could track himself by smell. He was a wolf, for goodness sakes!

He managed to get home at around 7:45. He changed back into his human form and slid into the Shack.
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"Where have you been?"

Canis looked at his feet, avoiding Ford's furious glare. "In the woods," he said mysteriously.

Ford growled. "For 6 hours?" he asked with obvious annoyance.

Canis nodded and continued to stare at his shoes.

Ford stood up and forced Canis to look him in the eye. "Why were you in the woods?" he asked and Canis knew from his voice that he had a pretty good guess.

The truth spilled out of Canis.

"I felt bad about losing the Cycloptapus," he began. "So I went into the woods to find something else, but I didn't find anything. I got lost in the woods and it took me two hours to find my way back. The rest of the time I was in there looking for something."

Ford sighed. "Canis," he said. "Everyone makes mistakes, I should know I've made many in day, but you don't have to prove yourself after you do. No one is perfect, boy. Don't try to be something you aren't."

Canis smiled weakly. "Are you mad about the Cycloptapus?" he asked a bit nervously.

"No," sighed Ford. "You didn't mean to, but be more careful in the future."

Canis nodded. "I will," he promised.

Ford smiled and the two walked into the lab to finish their job.