User blog:InklingBear/Life of Pets - A Boy And His Dog

Story #19 - A Boy And His Dog
 1:30 pm 

It was yet another peaceful Saturday evening down in the wonderful neighborhood of Royal Woods. The skies were somewhat cluttered with a tiny chance of rain, the leaves were softly blown across the fields of the grass and the streets. It was another quiet day indeed. Once again, Vanzilla was nowhere to be found in the driveway. Could the kids be out and about doing another family activity? Who knows when they could return. It's only a matter of time.

Charles emerged from the doggy door leading into the kitchen as he held a leash in his mouth. He glanced towards the audience. "Hey you!" he said. "Are ya ready fer somethin' a lil' different?"

A pause took place before he continued to speak. "Great," Charles said with a little wink. "Today's story's gonna be a short one. Not only that, it's exactly what it says right there up on the top o' the page. Since I wouldn't wanna bore ya with the lengthy details, I'm gonna cut to the chase here."

The dog continued to walk straight ahead as he led himself into the dining room. "I love my boy deep down as well as the rest a' this family. What with all the bondin' we share from going out on a walk, ta chowin' down on somethin' ta snack on, it's ev'ry dog's dream."

Charles took a peek inside the living room. Lincoln was laying right there in the living room. He was currently busy with his somewhat annoying habit of reading comic books while he wore nothing but his tighty whities.

"Come on, Ace Savvy!" the boy said. "Pin him down! Show that menace who's the boss!"

The white canine closed his eyes and shook his head. "Although, I'm really not into that habit he possesses, me 'n him love ta do a lotta stuff together!" His stomach growled before the dog looked down. "And speakin' of chowin' down, I sure am hungry... 'n that's another habit 'o mine I love. A dog's gotta eat after all!"

The new edition of the Ace Savvy comic left a stamp of satisfaction in Lincoln's mind. It might've been the best one he's laid his eyes upon yet. "That was amazing!" Lincoln said. "Totally worth the five dollars and seventy three cents! And now-"

Lincoln was interrupted by two barks from Charles as he brought his doggy bowl to the kid. The dog was hungry, and Lincoln knew exactly how to rectify the canine's request. "Oh, hey Charles!" the boy greeted. "You must be hungry!"

The dog rolled his eyes as if that sounded much like an understatement, to which it was in this case. He grabbed the canine's bowl and made his approach in the kitchen. Charles wasted not even a second as he followed the kid to the same destination.

The two were inside the kitchen interior now. Lincoln managed to feed the pets on a few occasions. He knew exactly what to do. The only problem being a bit too short to reach the pantry a couple feet higher than the boy, which is exactly where the pet food was currently stored at.

The boy promptly sighed with a little bit of irritation to add. Charles simply sat down and looked at the boy do his work as he grabbed a hold of the chair.

"Alright now," Lincoln uttered under his breath. He walked over to the pantry before he set the chair down. "One of these days I won't have to use one of these."

Charles wagged his tail. He simply panted as he had a feeling the kid wouldn't soon let him down. If there was anyone in the world the white pup could look up to, it's the boy, along with the dirty tomboy and the future rock star of the family. Lincoln was finally at the pantry. He gained a firm grasp of the knob before he casually opened it up.

There they were. Aside from the cat food and bird seed there was the one thing that would definitely satisfy and breed of dog out there in the world.

Puppo Snax.

"Here we go!" Lincoln uttered as he grabbed the container. It was then he hatched a realization that it was suddenly hollow. He tried to shake the container to find out if there was any left. Unsurprisingly, it didn't manage to omit a single sound.

It was empty.

Lincoln looked down at Charles with a desolate expression painted on his face. The white pup was confused now. "Aw, Charles," he said. "This container's completely depleted."

Charles let out a subtle burp.

Lincoln's eyelids came halfway shut in an instant. He had no choice but to come up with an alternative to feed the dog. He looked all around. There was bound to be something in the kitchen interior that he could feed to Charles.

His options were slim. He didn't know how to cook anything on his own. Not only that, there was a possibility that Lynn Sr.'s leftover lasagna might have went stale since it was cooked several days prior to now.

"Man, what am I gonna feed you?" Lincoln uttered as he softly caressed his chin. He was thinking for a good few seconds all the while Charles' stomach growled. The latter was growing a little impatient. Given that Charles is an animal, he's always hungry. Whether the pup just ate a half hour ago or not, it's one of those habits that a dog like him could possess.

A good second or two later, Lincoln finally came up with a minor suggestion. He confidently faced the dog and spat his offer. "How about some cookies?" Lincoln said, before he added to his sentence. "...with good amounts of sugar?"

Charles loved the sound of that offer loud and clear. He contentedly wagged his tail and gave the eleven year old boy two barks of approval. Lincoln knew what the dog's response was due to his pleased reaction. It was settled, just like that. Cookies it was. Alas, there was only one problem.

The cookie jar was resting on top of the pantry. Lincoln ultimately realized that using a single chair wouldn't be enough for the boy to reach the antique. He broke a single sweat right then and there. He had to do it, not only for himself, but for Charles as well.

"How am I gonna do this?" the boy thought to himself before he glanced over to the dog. Charles responded with a simple shrug. He may be smarter than an average dog, but so far, none of the family knew about their scary amount of aptitude. It's like a secret deep down he wanted to keep to himself and not show it off in front of the kid for now.

Lincoln was quick on his rump to realize the chair is a little shorter than the counter top. While he was still standing proud on the chair, he took a step up on the counter. He was a little high than before, but as he reached up, still no luck. He was still too short by at least two to three inches.

The boy groaned. He had to figure out another way. A couple of seconds in, it hit him in the back of the head. He had to be a little strategic to reach that little prize of his. He squinted his eyes as he stared on at the item in question.

Determination filled the middle child.

He jumped up as he obtained a firm grip on the top side of the pantry door. He held on for dear life as he extended his left arm out to grab the cookie jar. Charles was completely mesmerized. His attention was completely locked on the kid as if he were watching a very interesting spy movie for the absolute first time in his life. He grabbed a bucket of popcorn and stuck his drooling mouth into the container as he watched.

It was getting intense.

Lincoln grunted. He was almost to the cookie jar. He was only a couple inches away from finally achieving his goal. He reached and reached for seconds as he broke out another sweat or two. "Almost there..." he uttered. "Aaannnnd..."

He finally did it. He managed to get his palms on the antique. "Got it!" Lincoln confidently spat. When he least expected it, he yelped as he lost his grip on the pantry door as he fell down, only to be held dangling around by his underwear. His backside was completely exposed, right there in front of the innocent animal.

Charles eyes widened as he took notice of Lincoln's little predicament. He was distressed, along with the middle child.

"Big dang it!" Lincoln said in humiliation as his face cheeks started getting redder and redder. "Exactly like last time! I should've seen this coming."

Charles glanced over to the reader before he nodded his head.

Lincoln groaned. "At least it can't get any worse than this..." he uttered.

Charles thought to himself. "As if danglin' around in the nude ain't embarrassin' enough..."

The cookie jar was so close to the edge that it tipped over and fell straight to the ground. It shattered into several individual pieces as cookies scattered over the checkered floor as if it was a puzzle that takes several hours to complete.

Lincoln wasn't just in a embarrassing predicament anymore, he was at risk of getting hurt. The boy screamed as he observed the crashing antique scatter across the floor before Charles whined in great fear as he realized this. Usually, he would just go ahead and devour those cookies if he really wanted to. This time it was different.

Charles didn't care about getting a sweet bite to eat now, he was gravely concerned for the eleven year old boy. He had to figure out a way to save him before he would inevitably fall to his doom. He gulped as he looked around for something that might be of useful help in a situation like this.

"Charles, help!" the boy yelled before a small tear omitted. It came from Lincoln's underwear. Anxiety filled the human being and the animal now. Time was running out as we speak. Charles had his paws over his head. He whined louder than last time as he tried his best to come up with a plan. He had no time to waste as he took one second to get in a huge gulp before he sprung into action.

Lincoln covered his eyes as he lamented. He was completely vulnerable and defenseless. "How could this even happen? My sister's gonna see me dangling here hanging by my underwear and they'll laugh at me like tomorrow will never exist!"

The boy's underwear omitted another tear, it was halfway through rending the poor kid in the nude, right in front of his pet. The sound had the boy shaking. It was like a nightmare that was about to export into a huge reality, falling in shards of glass and being rendered naked.

Luckily for him, his left hand rubbed across a kitchen towel before he grabbed it without even having to hesitate. At least the eleven year old boy had something to cover up with once he's finally free from the pantry door.

"Well, at least there's that." Lincoln thought to himself as he opened his eyes. In his vision, it was exactly the same output from before even closed his eyes. The only difference was that he never remembered a broom suddenly being in the kitchen. A second passed by before Charles came back into the kitchen as fast as he could with a dust pan.

"Charles," Lincoln said, grabbing his attention. "What are you doing?! Help!"

Another tear came from Lincoln's underwear. He was about to fall in a couple of seconds if the pup didn't act fast. He continuously shifted his attention to the floor and dangling, technically naked Lincoln until one more audible tear from the boy's underwear ensued. There was only a few seconds left at best.

Charles had no choice. He was determined to help save the boy's life, but at the same time he was scared stiff. He ran to the side of the counter top as Lincoln's underwear finally tore through.

The boy was free, but he was inevitably falling now, screaming loudly as he descended to the floor below. Charles had to be brave. He backed up a couple inches before he lunged straight at the naked boy. He tackled him as he knocked his fall off-course away from the broken cookie jar before they both rolled into the fridge in front of them side to side.

Just like that, Lincoln's life was saved.

The boy and the dog's eyes spiraled out for a few seconds before they simultaneously collected themselves. "What the heck happened?" Lincoln said. His face got redder and redder as he realized he's completely nude. His eyes opened up wider than a novel book. He was clearly embarrassed as he attempted to cover up with the towel he had in his hand. "Oh man..."

At this point, Lincoln didn't know what to do now. A simple predicament left him in tatters as if his reputation and dignity was literally on the line. He looked down in shame as he sighed. "I guess I brought this one on myself... again." he said to himself as Charles paid the boy some attention. "Here I am, completely naked once again. And for what? I have no idea what the heck I've done in order to deserve this. All I did was try to get some cookies for Charles and this is what I get in return?"

Lincoln sighed as he threw his head down. He was ashamed that some simple actions landed him in this output.

The bright side was, at least the incident take place outside. At least it wasn't in front of another human being. It was only in front of his dog. Charles continued to stare at the face of the naked kid before he tsked under his breath. He smirked as he left him be for a couple of seconds to get the boy something.

Lincoln heard Vanzilla come up in the driveway. As if being naked in the house wasn't humiliating enough, his heart pounded when he realized he was about to be exposed in front of his sisters. "Dang it!" Lincoln spat. "Of all the times my sisters could come back to the house, it had to be now?!"

He had to think of something. It was his dignity that was at stake. "I have to hide!"

Before the boy could get his exposed rump off the floor, he was stopped by two barks. Lincoln gasped as he saw Charles coming back into the kitchen with a pair of pants and an orange shirt in his mouth. The sight of some clothes put a smile on Lincoln's face as the dog sat down inches away from the kid.

"Oh, thank you so much, Charles." Lincoln gracefully said to the dog as he petted him for a brief moment. "I don't know what I'd do without you, boy." Charles responded by giving the kid a wink and a smile before he grabbed a cookie from the floor. Lincoln equipped his clothes on as fast as he could, before the sound of the front door ensued seconds later.

Charles came back outside through the doggy door as he chewed his cookie before he took a glance at the reader. He gulped it down before he spoke. "Well kids, wasn't that fun?" the dog asked. "It would seem that the lesson here is ta put some clothes on 'n keep 'em on at all times... or ya could end up in a predicament like that!" He chuckled. "Did ya get all that, cat?"

Cliff pushed a button as it stopped the recording. "Every second of it, dog!" he snickered. "Now all we need now is a computer!"

~End~

Trivia

 * The story was suggested by BluePrintMan.
 * Lincoln's new Ace Savvy comic price references Konami.
 * The implication that Charles may have eaten the Puppo Snax is a reference to SpongeBob Squarepants.
 * Lincoln reaching to get cookies is a nod to a flashback in The Whole Picture.