User blog:InklingBear/Life of Pets - Chester

Story #16 - Chester
 12:30 pm

It's a wonderful Friday afternoon down in the good neighborhood of Royal Woods. The skies are clear, temperatures were humid. Heck, there's barely even a single cloud in the area. Even the yellow and orange leaves are greatly falling off the trees. Of course at a time like this, the kids were still in school, enduring all those boring lessons. They really couldn't wait to come back home to enjoy yet another loud weekend in the household.

In the backyard, Charles was happily chasing Cliff around as if they were playing a game of tag. Barking and meowing ensued from the two animals for seconds until the canine took a huge leap towards the swift feline. He inevitably tackled him down without a problem as they rolled together like a truck tire before they collapsed inches away from the porch.

"Gotcha, cat!" Charles said with a smile.

"Yep, ya did." Cliff neutrally responded. "Now kindly get yer rump off my belly."

The dog did so without having to hesitate. Cliff was feeling energetic enough to turn the tables around for once. He wanted to chase after the dog now.

"Alright dog," the cat spat. "Now it's my turn ta come after ya!"

Charles got himself prepared with a smirk. "Oh no ya don't!" he said before he started running off. Cliff followed him soon after. The chasing went on for some seconds as their barking and meowing continued on. As they were continuing the chase, a small little whine omitted from somewhere in the backyard.

It caught the two pets off their guard. They paused right in the middle of their chase as they listened in to the sounds of mewing. They spent a good portion of their time wondering where it could be coming from.

"Hey, ya hear that?" Charles said.

Cliff barely twitched his ears. "Loud 'n clear, dog." he responded. A second or two passed by before the cat had a suspicion. He had a feeling the source of the sound came from behind a couple of trashcans, located just beside the porch.

"Could it be comin' from over there?" the cat pointed over to the bins.

Charles thought to himself as he listened in for a few more seconds. He had a feeling the feline may be correct. "Ya could be right there." he said, walking closer and closer to the trashcans. "Let's go see what it is."

They were a couple of inches from the items now. Charles stopped next to them as he put his paw out to stop Cliff from proceeding any closer. They took the time to listen in one last time. The two animals perked up after a second. There was definitely some mewing going on behind there.

The dog was going to take a look behind there. He deeply inhaled and exhaled before he popped his head to the other side of the bins. The one thing the white pup saw much to his surprised reaction was a young, stray kitty the size of the palm of a human hand. It was real sad, to the point where it didn't feel like getting up to move around.

Charles' ears flopped at the sight of the innocent animal. He didn't know what to do for the poor thing. In the eyes of the pit bull, it was like his first born child. It had a similar color coating just like him.

"Hey you..." Charles uttered. "What's wrong? ...Are ya okay?"

The kitty didn't respond.

It didn't take long for Cliff to take a peek behind the bins due to his shear curiosity. Questions ensued for the feline as he looked on at the poor kitty. Was it lost? Was it somewhat abandoned by it's owner? There weren't any tags on it or anything. There was a good chance that it didn't even have a name.

The feels hit the feline more than the dog. They both started to feel bad for the animal. They wanted to have the nerve to help it out however they could. Even if it meant putting their lives at a risk, or having to duke it out with the employees of the Green Mile Pet Sanctuary once again. It was like being the father of an animal they've never had.

"Aww, poor thing..." The cat uttered as he glanced over to the dog. "We gotta do somethin'." he said.

"Yer tellin' me." Charles responded, walking over to the pup before he softly stroked his back. "Remember back a couple episodes where we took care of that kid?"

Cliff knew exactly where this was going. He didn't even have to guess. "We're gonna take 'em in and take good care of it?"

"That's exactly the plan I was thinkin' of, pal." Charles answered, smiling happily. The kitty was enlightened to the sound of possibly getting a home. It was like a pet's dream come true. It was happy to the point where it wanted to meow and spin around in circles. Its ecstatic expression got him to do just that in a matter of seconds.

Cliff started to have second thoughts after thinking about it for a brief moment. "I dunno 'bout that, dog."

The dog tried to get Cliff to consider. "Aw c'mon." he said. "If takin' care of a kid's an easy feat, how bad can it be for this lil' furball?"

Cliff sighed as he grabbed a hold of the kitty. It purred, influencing the feline to lighten up. "Well, least it beats changin' smelly diapers." He wafted the air halfway through his sentence. "In all honesty, I couldn't take that kid fartin' around us."

"Bah, she's just a child." Charles said, brushing it off like it's nothing serious. "That's all just a part of life, my friend. Ain't nothin' ta be embarrassed about."

That sentence from the dog put a smile on the feline's face. "Well... you're not wrong." The cat's face was determined. He was ready for this. Here's to hoping that having a small new addition to the family wouldn't be much of a hassle.

"C'mon, let's do this!" he said.

Inside the living room, Rita was on the edge. She was irritated about the big mess she just had to spend about an hour on cleaning, all thanks to the pets. However, most of that responsibility belonged to the canine and the feline. But this was one of the risks she was willing to take as she had to nurture and care for such a huge family. She bent down on her fours soon after as she cleaned away the stains that were still on the carpet floor. Walt was in his cage, observing her actions as Geo rolled right next it.

"Those dang animals," the mother said. "Always working on my nerve sometimes."

To no surprise, Walt felt like he was offended. He rolled his eyes as if that wasn't even close to being true. Geo stood there, not reacting to her words. It was like it didn't even faze the small hamster.

"I swear, if they make another mess, or bring one more thing in this house, they are outta here!"

Walt silently gasped along with Geo. They clearly didn't seem to remember doing anything bad since they were just small animals. They were concerned. As of now, they were willing to try their best not to let things escalate down the hill.

Rita was done cleaning up the mess the animals had made and promptly walked her way back to the kitchen. She stopped about halfway to the open doorway of the dining room as she observed Charles and Cliff emerge from the room. She had to set things straight to them while she had the chance.

"Oh, there you are." the woman sternly said, much to the surprise of the two pets. "Now you listen to me, don't you two make not another mess, or bring another single solitary item in this house! Not one more of either!"

Charles and Cliff stared blankly at the woman as if they had no idea what she was talking about. As she continued warning them, the dog attempted to go incognito with the kitty behind him. He stuffed the kitty into the trophy cabinet beside him, in hopes that she wouldn't notice.

"Or else you animals are sleeping outside for the rest of this month." Rita said. "You hear me?"

Charles and Cliff simply nodded in agreement. It was only less than a week or so. To them it seemed like weeks, but that was a risk they were going to take as they were in a rock and a hard place. They didn't know they couldn't make another mess or bring any outside items in until after they snuck the young kitty in the house.

"Good!" the woman concluded as she walked her way into the kitchen.

Tensions were rising for them. They had no idea what to do from there. If only human beings could understand what the pets were saying, it would've been a lot easier for all parties involved. For now, they were met with a new task. They had to try their best to keep the mother of the house and the young kitty from ever crossing paths.

"Dog, what the heck are we gonna do?!" Cliff frantically exclaimed, shaking the white dog out of fear.

Charles calmed the fraidy feline down. "Relax, pal. Everything's goin' fine so far!"

Walt and Geo quickly approached the dog and the cat with a suspicious vibe in their heads. "What did you do now?" Walt asked.

Geo examined their unusual actions. "Frantic dialogue, concerned attitude, the moist noses... is there something wrong?" he said.

Cliff looked around to check if they were in the clear. He turned back to Walt and Geo soon after. "Ya bet there is." he answered. "We're in some real deep predicaments!"

"We were just tryin' ta help find this kitty we found a new home." Charles sincerely added as the kitty emerged from the cabinet unnoticed. The animal ran with a cup over its head, completely blocking his view.

"What are you talking about?" Walt asked.

"Does it have a name?" Geo added.

"We found the poor thing left stranded alone behind the trash bins in the backyard." Charles answered the bird.

"We felt really bad for it and we decided to help!" Cliff added. "Also it didn't have any tags on it or anythin' so I dunno its name or if it's a boy or a girl."

The bird sincerely gave his advice to the animals. "Have you guys tried peeking at it's-"

Charles quickly interfered Walt as shock filled him in a snap. "Bird!" He yelled, pointing to the reader as he gave him an irate glance.

Walt took notice of the reader, realizing the reader's appearance. "Oh... right." he uttered before looking back at the two animals. "But seriously, are you two insane?! We're gonna get kicked out into the streets if the woman finds out about that-"

Too late. Screaming ensued from the kitchen, interrupting the bird yet again. It was Rita, she was startled by the sight of a moving cup. "Aah! A mouse!" she exclaimed. Unbeknownst to her, it was the little kitty. It wandered around aimlessly as it continued to bump into the walls and the appliances inside.

The pets were quick to take notice. "Uh oh." Charles uttered. He was scared that things would be quick to escalate. The kitty ran about in the living room now, still wandering around with it's blocked vision. "There it is!"

Walt and Geo were surprised at this sudden appearance. The bird started to lash out at the two animals. "Hurry! Do something!" he exclaimed.

"Right!" Cliff responded as he chased after the animal. Charles followed him almost immediately after.

Geo thought to himself for a mere moment. "Where have I seen this before..?"

The cup was leaned up against the wall now. It didn't take long before Cliff picked it up, only to find there was a mouse hole behind it. The two pets were surprised. It caught them both off their guard.

"Huh?" Cliff uttered. "I don't remember this hole bein' here in this house..."

"Me neither, cat." Charles added. "How long has that been there?"

Cliff inserted his paw in the mouse hole as he dug around in there for some seconds. Unbeknownst to the feline, there was a mouse trap inside. A snap omitted soon after, causing him to meow loudly in pain.

"Ow ow ow ow!" he exclaimed, pulling his paw out from the hole as he waved it about. Charles made his move by doing the exact same thing. He stuck his paw into the hole. He had a feeling the he got the little kitty in the palm of his white paws.

"Aha, gotcha!" he said. As he extracted his paw while he wasn't paying close attention, he had no idea that he was carrying an actual mouse. He set the rodent right on his back before he walked away from the cat. The feline paid attention to what was on his back before he started to utter some words.

"Uh... dog?" he said, influencing Charles to stop walking and turn to the cat.

"Yeah?" Charles responded. The first thing he noticed upon looking back was that the kitty was sleeping right in his doggy bed before he turned to his back. He finally realized that he instead grabbed the mouse living in the hole. It flicked his nose, causing him to yelp before it jumped off the canine's back.

Charles was irritated that the mouse resorted to an action like that. He rubbed his nose to soften the disproportionate pain. At the same time, he was confused. But there wasn't any time for questions. They were determined to keep the kitty a secret from the mother of the house.

Walt noticed the small kitty making way for the parents room. "Guys! The kitty's headed for the bedroom!"

They had to act as fast as they can. What if Lynn Sr. was in there? The dog zipped inside the bedroom as fast as lightning. A few seconds later he emerged from the room in shock. He saw something he wouldn't expect to see in his life as a dog.

Cliff was impatient and frantic, along with Geo and Walt. "What are ya doin', dog?" the feline said. "Get 'em!"

Charles was too stunned to even think properly. He blushed a second after the cat asked him that question. "I ain't goin' back in there..."

The feline sighed before he approached the door. "Oh fer cryin' out loud."

Charles stopped him before Cliff could enter. He was very serious with what he had witnessed in the bedroom. "No cat!" he said out of fear. "Don't go in there! Get the heck outta dodge while ya still can!"

Cliff was tough enough to do so anyway. He knew the pain he had to endure seeing a lot of things that he can't wipe off of his memory. It was for the kitty, and he wasn't planning to risk getting thrown out of the house.

The feline grabbed the dog's arms. "Trust me dog, I've seen a lotta things in my life too. Even if it was somethin' I wasn't supposed ta see. I'd imagine whatever's in there won't be any different." He inhaled and exhaled. "I'm goin' in."

And thus he did. He was a brave but domesticated cat, willing to conquer and face anything life had to throw at him. The first thing he saw was the kitty driving around in a toy car. He freaked. He had to act fast. He jumped in to grab the animal to no avail. Unfortunately, that only led to the black feline slamming down of the hood, launching him on top of his ball of yarn.

It struggled to keep it's balance. It was headed towards the backside of Lynn Sr. in his robe. "What did I do with those shoes..?"

Cliff's eyes widened. He didn't have much time. He made his daring attempt to stop him before the yarn knocked him off, land on the backside of the man. "I could've sworn they were under- YOW!"

The man turned around almost immediately. He noticed Cliff with his claws deep in his robe. He blushed as he awkwardly gave a sheepish smile while the man glared at the feline.

Walt shook his head. The bird knew he had conquered something like this before. "I can't believe you had to chicken out like that." he angrily said.

"That's cause ya don't know what was behind that door!" Charles rebutted.

"Please." Geo interfered. "I mean, you've seen that baby naked in this house countless times so-"

"That's cause she's just a baby!" Charles said as if his reasoning was justified. "I don't mind the kid but this is somethin' else entirely!"

A conclusion was met as Lynn Sr. started screaming. "Cliff, take that ball of yours and get out!" Cliff was quick to jump out of the room. He sighed out of relief after doing so.

"That was close." he said, showing the kitty to the rest of the pets with a satisfied grin. "See dog? Told ya it wouldn't be a problem."

The kitty's stomach started growling. It was way past lunchtime. For the pets, anytime of the day is lunch or dinnertime as usual. They were surprisingly greedy animals whenever the family isn't around to watch them. They were a bit surprised that nobody in the house even noticed how intelligent they really were.

"Eh, you guys hungry?" Cliff said.

Charles answered the cat as Walt and Geo nodded in agreement. "Always! Ya know how we are."

 Few Minutes Later

The pets were stacked on top of each other. From Geo, Charles and Cliff with the kitty balancing on top of the feline sans Walt. They tried their best keeping their balance as they are about to raid the pantry for the treats. As the feline grabbed hold of the handles, they were unexpectedly cut off by the sound of Rita ascending the stairs to come back into the kitchen through the basement from washing clothes.

"Cheese it! It's the lady!" Walt exclaimed. The other pets came collapsing down to the checkered floor below them. The kitty on the other hand wasn't so fortunate. He landed right in the bowl of batter on the counter.

Rita observed the pets piled up into a group before she spoke to them. "What are you all up to now?" she suspiciously asked. The pets glanced towards each other as if they haven't done anything guilty.

"Now, out." she commanded as the pets gladly obeyed. "I don't need any kind of foolishness from you guys while I'm making something sweet for the family."

The four were at the doorway to the kitchen now. A second passed before they all realized the kitty was nowhere to be seen around them. They all started to panic.

"Wait a sec!" Cliff uttered looking from his left and right. "Where's the little furball?"

The rest of the pets looked all around the dining room. It was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh no, we're goners!" Geo worried.

"Of all the things that could've happened," Walt said. "It just had to be this!"

Charles peeked back into the kitchen. He observed the woman going through the cabinet, looking around for some sugar to use. The kitty popped up out of the bowl, unaware of what was going on.

The dog gasped. "There it is!" Charles pointed, grabbing the attention of the others. They looked inside, copying the dog's surprised reaction. Things were getting intense.

"Somebody do something!" Geo quickly suggested. As Rita was still looking for the sugar, Charles grew determined as he quickly zipped in to the rescue. He was inches away from reaching inside the bowl until he got caught by the mother.

"Charles!" she exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing?! Please be patient!"

The dog ran back into the dining room faster than when he ran in. His heart felt like it was punching through his chest trying to save the kitty. The animals sat nervously, watching the woman add sugar and milk into the batter, not knowing the kitty was still inside. They were worried it was going to drown, or escalate to something worse.

They grew more surprised as they gasped at the sight of her preparing to use the mixer to mix the ingredients together. Without getting a chance to react, Rita switched on the mixer. Thankfully for the pets, it somehow wasn't working.

Rita was confused. "Oh, what is it now?" She turned around to observe Cliff, hiding the unplugged cord behind his back as he whistled innocently. "Cliff!"

Catching the feline off guard, she yanked on the cord, pulling it out of the cat's paws. "Give me that cord!"

She plugged it back in not long after while Cliff smiled sheepishly at the woman. "I'm getting sick of all this tomfoolery you animals are doing!"

The cat gulped. The pets' options were extremely thin from this point. Reacting out on impulse, Cliff grabbed the can of whipped cream from the fridge, passing it on to Charles. He knew what to do. The dog sprayed the cream all around his mouth, making him appear rabid. It was sure to work, since they managed to get free pizza with this trick.

The dog was ready. He approached the woman growling and barking, attempting to scare her off. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't even fazed in the slightest. She could quickly tell that was the whipped cream the animals were using behind her back.

Rita gasped in shock. "My whipped cream!" she exclaimed. Charles reacted innocently like he didn't see this coming at all along with the rest of the pets. "That's it!"

She grabbed a hold of the dog, along with the cat as she took them outside. "You two are staying out!"

Unbeknownst to everyone, the kitty managed to escape from the bowl of batter before it was too late. It jumped down on the checkered floor before it hid under the table. Rita came back inside the house with a small sigh.

"Finally, now I can get this finished and out of the way." she said before switching on the mixer. This time it worked. Charles and Cliff popped their heads through the doggy door. They were in complete shock, hearing the sound of the mixer running. Their eyes widened overtime as they soon noticed that the kitty was being blended in the batter. It was absolutely mortifying.

They pulled their heads back out as they couldn't bear to look at another second of the mixer. There was nothing else they could do now. Sadness and despair filled the two animals. Cliff was on the urge of crying as if he just witnessed a cruel action served inside the kitchen. To them, it certainly did. It hit them like a hard punch in the gut.

A couple seconds in, the feline started bawling. "Oh dog, what have we done! How could we just let this happen?!"

Charles started shedding tears, throwing his canine head down. "I can't believe ourselves, lettin' that woman blend that poor thing!" he exclaimed.

Cliff was in need of comfort. He hugged the saddened pup. "He was like a son ta me! A fella that could warm the hearts a millions!"

Charles immediately hugged the feline back. "I know, cat. I know. He was... like a son ta me too." He had nothing else to say. They were to saddened to keep their dialogue between them going.

 Half Hour Later

The dog and the cat were still laying outside running the waterworks while the whining ensued. A second passed before Rita opened the door to the back porch. She figured that she might have been too hard on the animals.

"Alright Charles, Cliff," she said. "You two are free to come back inside now."

Back inside the living room, the two pets were still in a deep depression. Walt and Geo approached them once again, this time with concern filling their expressions.

"There you guys are!" Walt said.

"You guys alright?" Geo worriedly asked.

Charles gave a sigh before he answered. "It's... been better..."

Cliff added immediately after. "Better indeed..."

"Well what happened?" Geo asked.

Rita approached the pets with a cookie platter cover. "Such sad faces you all have." she said, grabbing each of their undivided attention. "I know exactly what'll cheer you animals up."

She set the platter down on the carpet in front of the pets before she removed the cover of the cookie platter. It revealed only four cat shaped cookies, hot and ready to be devoured. "Here you go!"

The sight of the cookies sitting right in front of the pets gave them all the depressing implication that the poor kitty was turned into a sweet treat to eat. Charles and Cliff are about to start the waterworks again as Geo and Walt's mouths agape.

"Go ahead, take one!" she said before she walked back into her bedroom. Charles was the first to grab a cookie from the platter. He spent a good second examining it before he placed the cookie on his back. Nostalgia filled the saddened pup as he started whimpering.

Horror and sadness filled the bird and the hamster. "Oh no..." Geo whispered.

"It can't be..." Walt added.

A second later, Charles had no other choice but to let it all out. The dog was crying and howling as he was very hurt with all the things that had escalated to this. Cliff was on the edge of crying again for some bit of time before the dog's crying got him to do the same.

Geo and Walt sympathetically threw their heads down, as they were also to the point of almost tearing up. They felt the urge to go over to comfort them. Given their amount of sadness, they could really need some at a time like this.

Walt flew on top of the feline as Geo rolled in between the two animals. "It'll be okay, you guys." the bird sincerely said.

"You did everything you could." the hamster added.

Their depressed bawling continued for a good while. Unbeknownst to them all, the kitty approached them until he was about a yardstick away. It's mewing caught all the animals off guard as it got them to stop their crying. They got a sight full of the kitty right in front of them in the living flesh, before they happily rushed over to it with tears of joy.

The cat picked him up, happily smooching its face unconditionally. "Chester! You're alive!"

The dog did the same soon after before he snuggled the kitty. "Oh, thank goodness yer okay!"

Walt was confused. "...Chester?"

"I swear, I've seen this somewhere before..." Geo said.

They all came together for a group hug, as if they were showering the young feline with their affection. Their sights turned to Rita standing just behind them as she grabbed their attention with a cough. She tapped her foot on the carpet as disappointment filled her expression.

Her appearance caught them off their guard once again. It was over. The one and only path the pets tried so desperately to not let happen finally made its connection. They looked at each other as they didn't know what to do from this point onward. Charles and Cliff's ears flopped down as they realized they had only one option left as they started whimpering simultaneously.

Begging.

The two approached the woman at her feet as they held onto her pants legs. Mewing and whining ensued for a while in hopes to get Rita to reconsider and change her mind. She felt bad for the pets. It was like taking a child away from their parents. Their persistent begging was clearly getting to her. Sympathy filled the woman before she spoke to them once again. It couldn't hurt to have another pet, and it didn't look like it'd be much trouble.

"Will you two calm yourselves?" she said, influencing the pets to let go of her legs. "You can keep that little friend of yours for a little while, but on one-"

She was interrupted mid-sentence by the Charles and Cliff happily smooching at her feet. "Stop that." Rita commanded as the pets gladly obeyed her. "On one condition. It's your responsibility. You have to take care of it. You hear me?"

Charles and Cliff nodded at the woman without having to hesitate. Rita finally headed back into the bedroom. "Alright." she said before she closed the door.

The dog and the cat walked over to Chester with a stern expression. "Now listen here you," Charles said. "Dont'cha ever scare us like that again!"

Cliff gave a bit of remorse. "Though in all honestly, it's mostly our fault. I had no idea I would put ya in danger like that. I shoulda been more careful with youse." he said, before he petted Chester on the head. "Can ya ever forgive me?"

Chester responded by jumping up to his face, giving him a small lick on his cheek. Cliff's ears perked up. He was happy enough to pick Chester off the carpet and snuggle with him in his arms, all while he purred.

"That's my boy!" Cliff happily said.

Charles, Walt and Geo all gathered in for another affectionate hug. "We love ya, Chester!" the dog said.

Chester happily smiled with a small meow.

~End~



Trivia

 * This premise is heavily based off a 1952 Merrie Melodies cartoon called Feed the Kitty.
 * This fanart by eagc7 was an inspiration to this story.
 * Just like the pets, the name Chester comes from the comic artist Chester Gould.