A Scrappy Tale – Shadow Puppets

     The puppy was awakened in the middle of the night… again! It had been the same night every night at the same time. From twenty feet away came the loud sounds of Dominic snoring. Tonight, the pup decided, is the time to even some of the score with Dominic. He quietly stepped off the gang bed and step by step made his way into the doberman’s spooky territory. Judging by the strength of the scent in his nose he stopped within inches of the bully. Much to his relief he could also hear Leak snoring lightly nearby. After waiting a couple of minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness he figured out where Dominic’s paw was and it’s distance from the water bowl. It was not far at all!

     With his short snout he very softly and gently nudged the paw from the edge of the bed and lowered it into the water bowl. The June heat wave was still in full force and the water itself was more than lukewarm. Temperatures hadn’t cooled down much during the nights in The Bronx. With great satisfaction of carrying out the hardest part of his plan he slowly and quietly made his way back to the gang bed, one step at a time. Although the beast’s snoring would have drowned out any sound he would make, he sensed something different. He wondered if Leak was still asleep. His snoring seemed to be absent.

     During recreation period the next day the puppy and Daizey were treated to spending the time in the Attendant’s Office watching TV and being pet, played with and fed Lactose Skeletal brand dog treats by the Woman. Daizey explained to the pup that this was a privilege sometimes granted by the Woman to dogs who behaved well. This day she was watching the movie “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”. The pup was very intrigued by it. He felt his spirit soar when he heard Monte tell Chloe “We are tiny, but we are mighty!” He once again had visions and fantasies of flying in the air, wearing a cape, and biting the crap out of Dominic and making him howl in pain. He and Daizey washed each others’ paws and nuzzled. “I know you’ll get outta heah one day,” she reminded him. “’Dis ain’t ya kinda place.”

     The puppy was triggered to dream again of being free of this miserable place, but then something caught his attention. The Woman’s package of stinky burn-sticks… and the fire-maker on top of it she used to get one to burn when she’d stick it in her mouth lie on the floor nearby. She had left the room to return the pups to their cells. Ace and Zippy bolted into the Office to explore and look around for any possible escape route. “Zippy!” yipped the puppy. “Zippy, c’mere.”

     The speedy pup approached the little Chihuahua saying, “Yo.”

     The puppy said, “I need you ta take ‘dis t’ing and hide it wit’ our food stash.”

     “Whawt fwor?”

     “Please! No time to explain. Jussa doowit!” The puppy grabbed the Woman’s cigarette lighter in his mouth and put it in Zippy’s mouth. Ace and Zippy ran intentionally in meandering patterns just as the Woman came in to shoo them out and into the cell. Then she came and returned the puppy to join the gang.

     Finally all pups had been returned to their cells. They were trying to eat when Dominic ran them all off. He cornered the puppy and very angrily said, “You go-win ta soigery today, squoit!”

     “Why?”

     “You made me wetta ma bed last nwight!” The other puppies looked at each other smiling in disbelief.

     “I don’t know what you tawlkin’ about,” the pup replied innocently.

     “You put ma paw inna ‘dat warm wawtah and made me whiz inna ma sleep!”

     “I did not!” the puppy yipped back. “An’ you got no proof.”

     “Oh yeah I do!” barked Dominic.

     “Whawt proofa you gawt?” The bully said nothing. He knew he’d been set up in a trap. If he said how he knew he’d expose Leak as his informant. Then what everyone suspected anyway would undeniably be out in the open.

     Just out of Dominic’s peripheral vision Ace growled and said, “You know whawt happens iffa da Pits and da Rawts finda out you ovahkill wit’out just cawze.” Dominic slowly turned his head to look at Ace and started a warning growl. Then he heard 3 other small but committed growls from all directions around him. Marco, Zippy and Delbert for the first time together decided enough was enough. If one was going to be targeted, then they all would become targets. They realized they had strength in numbers. Dominic tromped off to his corner.

     The gang gathered together on the bed and the puppy thanked them all for rescuing him. “Did you doowit?” Ace asked him.

     “Do what?”

     Ace looked at him with that “you know what I mean” look.

     The puppy said to Ace, “When we make ‘dat move I want Leak to go with us. And I’m serious.”

     “Whawt?!” Ace hissed. “Awre you crazy?”

     “No,” the puppy replied getting comfortable for the night and closing his eyes. “I’m vindictive. And he's got a destiny to meet. Sleep well, bruddahs.”

…to be continued…

A Scrappy Tale - First Love

     The Woman came into the dog-jail cell the following morning and took Dominic out to the front room not to be seen or heard. Curiously the other puppies heard her say to him on their way out in her human gibberish, “Someone wants to see you Dominic! You may get a new owner!”

     “Ace!” the puppy urged in a whisper. “Help me drag ‘dat water bowl beside Dominic’s bed.”

     “Whawt?!” he whispered back incredulously. “Whawt fwor? You gawtta deathwish?”

     “Naw, I know what I’m doin’. I just need a little help wit’ da setup.”

     “Delbert, come ovah heah and helpa us, willya?” Ace inquired. The three pups together dragged the large, almost empty water bowl into the ominous, dark corner of Dominic that none of them had ever ventured into since his arrival. It was another very hot June morning in The Bronx, New York. The bowl was one of two for all the pups. It was big enough for any one of them to sleep in as a bed if it were empty. Each of them could feel Leak watching them unseen in the darkness. They hustled back to their bed hoping the Woman wouldn’t return before they reached safety.

     “Whawt was da pwoint of ‘dat?” Ace asked the puppy. “You know Leak izza gwunna tattle awn us, don’t ya?”

     “Yeah, I know. If anybody asks we just say we’re offering peace to Dominic by letting him have that as his own water bowl, you guys got ‘dat?” They all reluctantly nodded. “Somethin’s gonna happen to ‘dat goon real soon, capice?”

     “Whawtta you tawlikin’ about?” Ace asked very suspiciously.

     “Ace, you gonna find out soon enough. Trust me. Da less you know, da safer you are.”

     An air of discomfort stirred among the puppies but they all felt something genuine about the chihuahua’s word and finally relaxed with a nervous faith. “Don’t fworget about da plan we tawlked about da othah nwight, huh? We gawtta figure out a way ta keepa him awn da othah swide.”

     “I’m workin’ on ‘dat, Ace. I’m really scrappin’ my brain for ideas.”

     The Woman brought Dominic past the cell on the way out to the play yard. She returned to let them all go outside for recreation period. The puppy decided to lie down in an inconspicuous corner of the yard. Daizey and her friends came running and yapping from inside the girls’ cellblock. She saw him and walked near him asking, “Hi, do you mwind if I lie down in frunna you?”

     “That would be nice,” the puppy replied.

     “Why awre you ovah heah bwy yaself?” she queried as she plopped down in front of him.

     “Scrappin’ my brain.”

     “Fwor whawt?”

     “I’ll tell ya if ya promise not to say anything to anyone. And I mean no one.”

     “’Dat bad, huh? You c’n trust me. I prawmise.”

     “Ways to get even.”

     “You mean… ?” She turned and looked at Dominic who was exercising on the obstacle course.

     “I mean,” he answered.

     She stood and and walked over to him. “You need an ownah. You need someone to adawpta ya, nawt stuck inna heah wit’ ‘dat mawnstah. Nobawdy’s gwunna wawnt him. But you… you’re special. You’re cute. You’re kind. You’re a dream puppy! You treat ya friends right,” she encouraged him as she began to lick the inside of his ears.

     Great, he thought. This was just great. Now he was distracted. He felt so special because of her words and cleaning his ears. He was suddenly captivated by her. He was falling in love but he didn’t want to. Yet he couldn’t help it. He had something important to do. He was too busy to fall in love. But she was treating him so special!

     The Woman gathered up all the puppies and led them back to their cells. After a few minutes Dominic got right in the face of the puppy in the gang’s own bed and snapped, “What’sa da big idea puttin’ ‘dat wawta bowl bwy mwy bed?! How dare you invade mwy territory!! I oughta take-a you out right now! Awllaya!” The puppy gagged from the effects of the little white smoke stick hanging out of Dominic's mouth. He'd smelled it before as the Doberman usually smoked them in his corner but this was the first time he'd ever smoked one in plain view.

     “Why do you think it was us?” the puppy asked nervously, struggling to sound brave.

     “I gawt ma ways. Explain!”

     “I thought we’d just do sump’n’ nice for ya. I thought we’d share water bowls and that one could be all yours. No one else’s but yours.”

     Dominic glared angrily at him for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he said in a very low growl, “I’ll accept. But I’m nawt ya friend. I don’t need you. You’re a Chihuahua… a stoopid, ignorant, dumb, lame-brained, waste-of-fur, retawrded Chihuahua!” And with every centigram of energy in his being Dominic said, “ROAF!” blasting cigarette smoke right in the puppy’s face and trudged back to his dark corner of the dog-jail cell.

     The puppy yapped at him, "I see you're still here. I guess you weren't wanted. Again!" He couldn't see Dominic in the darkness of his corner, but he knew the bully stopped walking and looked back at him very angrily. Then the puppy lied down for a nap. He felt another inspiration to return the evils Dominic had been dishing out. That burning cigarette suddenly put a hitch in one of his plans. If the newspaper told the truth then how was he lighting them without freaking out? But he couldn’t focus. He kept picturing Daizey and her pleasant, warming face, and her voice in his mind, and her words giving him hope. He wanted out of this hell hole badly. And he expected that would happen very soon. But, doggonnit! Right now he was stuck on Daizey.

…to be continued…

A Scrappy Tale - Gathering Intel

          The puppy snapped awake with alarm. His paw was still soaking in the water which was no longer warm and he had almost relieved himself while he slept. He thought for a moment. Then he smiled. He may have been tiny, but he liked the idea his mind just came up with.

     “’Ey, howyoo feelin’?” whispered Ace from behind him.

     “Sore,” the puppy replied.

     “Awlmost dinna twime. Zippy, you ready fwor ‘Awpuhration Just Dessoit?'”

     The greyhound pup tossed his head upward whispering, “Yo!”

     “Operation 'Just Dessert'? What’s that?” the puppy asked.

     “It’s howa we get da resta owah food. ‘Dat’s whawt you ate ‘dis mwornin’. ‘Dat dumbbutt Dawminic chases us awll awff and eats da rest. Zippy is owah ‘ninja’ smugglah. It’sa how we keepa from goin’ hungry.”

     Zippy very quietly and watchfully made his way to the food bowls. He scooped as much food as possible into his mouth and quietly but a little more hastily returned to the little gang’s bed in their corner, dropped it under the blanket and sat down. Then without a sound another pup of many breeds came out of the shadows of Dominic’s corner and looked around with much curiosity. The puppy hadn’t noticed him before. After the new face receded into the shadow the pup asked Ace, “Who was that?”

     “We cawlla him ‘Leak’ cawse ‘dat’sa awll he does: leak information on us ta Dawminic. He rats us out ta keep fr’m gettin’ beat up. He’sa gwunna getta his one day,” Ace said looking toward the corner very intently.

     The puppy saw a newspaper spread out on the floor nearby he hadn’t seen before. “What’s this?” he asked walking to it?

     “Newspapah. ‘Dey put it down fwor us if we gawtta do business in da nwight aftah ‘dey get done read’n’ it.” The puppy was looking at it intently. He didn’t know what a coincidence was but he was about to experience one. On the right side of the middle section was a small 2-paragraph article headlined “DOG DISPLACED FROM HOME FIRE”. And it included a photograph of the animal. The puppy was aghast. The article was about Dominic! He looked at the top of the page for the date. 3 weeks ago! He saw in paragraph 2, “An unnamed attendant from The West Bronx Animal Rescue Center said, ‘Dominic was pretty frightened and shaken up but we think he’ll pull through. The fire really terrorized him.’”

     He ran back to Ace and asked, “How long has that jerk been in here?”

     “Dawminic? Oh, just came in a couple days afta me. Coupla weeks. T’ree, maybe. Why?”

     “I’ze jussa curious.” They looked at each other in complete surprise.

     “Did you jussa tawlk like-a me?” Ace asked twisting his head sideways.

     “I t’inka so. You must be rubbin’ off on me,” the puppy smiled. Zippy had made two more very discreet trips to gather food for the morning.

     Then came the Woman with 2 fresh bowls of food. While she went through the process of opening the jail door and bringing the food in Ace and the others whispered among themselves watching her every move. After she'd locked the jail and left the room Dominic emerged from the dark corner of the cell. This time Leak came with him. "Eat!" Dominic barked and walked back into the corner. The puppies all hurried to the bowl to eat as much as they could as fast as they could.

     After a few minutes he returned. Ace and his friends all ran to the bed without a yip. The puppy saw him approaching and slowly backed away from the bowl a few steps. Dominic stopped in front of him and stared at him. The puppy stared back. In a move too fast to react to Dominic grabbed the puppy's back by the mouth and hurled him against the bars... again. The puppy got to his feet and stared back at Dominic. The Doberman twisted his head questioningly and finally laughed at him. Then he ate most of the food.

     The young one hobbled to the gang's bed where they all circled their dream zones and plopped down for the night. The Chihuahua puppy didn’t have a super costume to wear. But he felt smart like Ace the Bat Hound with the things he’d learned about his antagonist and some of the ideas he’d come up with to deal with him.

...to be continued...