User blog:InklingBear/Life of Pets - Bone Sweet Bone

Story #7 - Bone Sweet Bone
8:00am

A sound of a honking vehicle horn emitted from the driveway of the Loud House.

"Come on, kids! We're gonna be late!"

Yet another week day for the Loud kids as they were all just exiting the house to hitch a ride to school in good ol' Vanzilla for more experiences in learning. From boring mathematics to world history, arts and crafts to exhausting physical education, it can definitely be an overwhelming day for any kid or teen alike.

After the sound of the front door slammed shut, Lynn Sr. emerged from his downstairs bedroom wearing nothing but his robe, carrying his clean attire to the upstairs bathroom to shower for the day, but not before he got a few words in to the white dog, teething on his little bone as he minded his own business. "Oh, hey Charles." he said in a rather half-hearted tone.

Where was he planning to go today, just to get out of the house? Who knows. As long as everything went well, he wouldn't complain about a single thing. The father figure of the house ascended up the stairs at such a normal pace and walked inside the only bathroom in the household, shutting the door from behind before he turned on the water.

Back downstairs, Charles was still teething on the bone he had secured in his paws, caressing it for a brief period of time as the canine passed his tongue over the bone, covering half of the item with his own wet slobber before his stomach started growling out of nowhere.

He paused. That canine belly of his was telling him he's quite famished now. Looks like he was in need to grab a quick bite to eat. "Hoo boy," Charles said. "Time ta check the kitchen for some breakfast."

The white canine walked over to the kitchen, leaving his bone unattended on the green carpet floor as he sniffed around for leftover scraps from this morning's breakfast. "Huh. No luck." He said before he actually considered about going inside the garbage can, popping open the lid and starting digging around.

Cliff and Geo came from behind the unsuspecting dog, calling out to him. "Hey, dog!" the feline said, causing Charles to slip his feet off the handle from being suddenly startled as the open lid of the container quickly slammed down on his canine head. A second passed before he drew his head out of the can, rubbing on the impact of his head right after. The blow wasn't that serious, but anything to sooth down a little head injury.

Charles turned to the smirking cat and hamster confused. "What are you two doin'?"

"Nothin'?" Cliff responded.

"Yep, nothing at all!" Geo added, while Charles looked around the interior of the kitchen for Walt. He was nowhere to be found.

"Where's the bird?" The dog asked before Geo stepped up to give off his answer.

"You know him, always having a fit about something as usual. I think he's probably mad about the backlash he's been getting recently over his birdhouse."

Walt sluggishly flew inside the kitchen interior, muttering his own mind out as the three animals sat there and watched him entering another room. "Bah, who needs them? I don't need those dumb critics telling me about my justified behavior. I clearly had every right to do what I had to do."

A long pause befelled the three pets before one of them spoke again. "Poor bird," Cliff reacted. "Anyway, I see you're uh... lookin' for a little somethin' ta munch on."

Charles stared blankly in the feline's eyes as if he didn't care what he was doing at the moment. "Yeah cat, what of it?"

"There's like a whole bunch of unclean plates and half empty bowls filled with cereal up on that there table," Cliff gestured to the kitchen table. "Thought that might satisfy ya."

The starving dog looked back into the bin for a second before looking back to the table. "Least that's somethin', probably better than this stench."

 Five Minutes Later 

The family canine of the household temporarily filled up on unfinished cold cereal and strips of bacon as he walked back into the living room. Was it any good he wondered? Probably so. He was an american bulldog, who would savagely eat up just about anything in the house and wouldn't even complain, even tearing through the couch and chewing on some leather.

Just as the dog was planning to resume what he was doing, he was in silent shock. The bone he was munching on was no longer in the same spot as it was before. He didn't even hesitate for a single second of the day as he reacted with total concern.

"My bone!" Charles said, looking around his surroundings, trying to look for it. "Coulda sworn it was sittin' right here!"

Growing more desperate each minute to try and find his delicate bone, he looked around the living room once again before he proceed to rifle through the furniture in hopes for his luck to turn around.

He tried the couch for a brief moment. It wasn't inside the couch cushions or under the piece of furniture anywhere.

"Shoot," he uttered before he tried the rug in front of him, rolling it halfway. "Not there either. Where could it be?!"

Cliff and Geo walked into the living room, catching sight of Charles rifling through the living room furniture. The two wondered what he was doing as they gave confused glances toward each other before calling out to the canine animal.

"Hey dog, what'cha doin' there pal?" Cliff asked before Charles put a pause in his action to walk over to the cat.

"My bone! It's gone missin'!" The dog answered in slight panic. "Have the two of youse seen it?"

"A bone you say?" Cliff said, scratching his feline head. "I don't recall seein' a bone today..."

"Me either," Geo added, slightly tilting his head.

The canine reacted, swinging his paw into a fist in mere disappointment. "Rats! It was a delicious one too."

He grew suspicious, given the feline and hamster's nervous little answers. He barely squinted his canine eyes as he started to interrogate the two confused animals.

"You two had somethin' to do with this, did ya?" he said.

"C'mon dog," Cliff protested. "You really think we'd have the nerve to replace your possession? I mean, nothin's really stoppin' ya from beggin' to those humans if they could getcha another one y'know."

"Yeah!" Geo added in confidence. "I mean, what does this bone even look like?"

"Like you ain't never seen one before." Charles said to Geo. "It was fresh, white! It even had that milky flavor with great vitamin!"

Cliff hesitated for a brief moment. "...So you're talkin' bout a milkbone?"

"Exactly, cat." Charles confirmed. "I've just now found out it's been missin' and I've spent the last minute or so tryin' ta reunite with it."

The dog prepares himself to get back to hunting down his bone but not before insisting on the the cat and the hamster for their assistance. "I'd ask you two to get in on this search party 'o mine but I'm willin' ta bet the cat's got a date with a certain serinus canaria ta nip in the bud right about now."

Cliff stuttered his words for a second followed by a brief beat. "Yeah, I... I do," he responded as he walks away the group, as he starts his search on finding Walt, hiding somewhere in the interior of the house. "I need ta check 'n see if the bird's okay."

Geo stood puzzled from the scientific term Charles used to refer to Walt. "Um... sir inus... con aria?"

"That scientific kid has used several terms that most of this family doesn't seen ta understand. It's kinda weird, I know." Charles said.

A couple seconds of silence befelled the two animals before Geo relentlessly brushed it off without any problem. "So, if you're still looking for someone to join your search party, I'm all in on that offer!"

"Really? You will?" Charles happily reacted with a smile.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind helping you out my friend!"

The dog grabbed Geo's transparent ball, hugging it tight in his paws in excitement. "Oh thank ya, thank ya!"

"Don't mention it!" Geo said before he grows concerned about his ball. "Careful not to shatter my ball though."

Those seven words influenced the happy dog to set Geo's transparent ball in front of him. "Sorry, Ham."

"Now so far, you've already checked the living room, now let's start trying out the other rooms in this house. I call the dining room and the kitchen."

"And I'll call the upstairs hallway and rooms!" The dog added.

Before the two of them can make their move, Lynn Sr. slowly came down the stairs, properly dressed in his attire. Before he made his way into the kitchen, he stopped by the living room to see Charles and Geo sitting there, staring directly at the man's face. What did they think the man of the house was going to do next? If anything, maybe he would give the animals a nice hello or offering them a treat would satisfy them for a good, but small portion of the day.

He walked over to the pets as he noticed the rug wasn't laid out all the way. He used his right foot to roll the rest of the floor covering out as the canine and the hamster sat and watched before the man of the house uttered his words in a half-hearted tone.

"Hey Charles, Geo. Cause no trouble," He said as the dog panted and wagged his tail, before making his way to the kitchen, pausing midway as he realized he had to do something else. "Actually, I have to call the academy first."

He went back into his room, closing the door from behind as he proceeded to get the daycare on the phone. Silence took place for the animals again before they finally made their move. Geo whipped out a magnifying glass.

"Alright. Unsolved mysteries yet to face, Detective Geo is on the case."

"Ham, where'd ya get that magnifyin' glass?" Charles questioned.

"It's a big mystery remember?"

"Ya got that right."

The two nodded together before they proceeded to split up. "Move out!"

 Two Minutes Later 

Cliff was outside, walking over to the tree holding Walt's delicate birdhouse. He tried looking for him throughout most of the household with no luck. He's extremely worried at the moment, thinking he may have distanced himself from the rest of the Loud family over something trivial.

He got himself ready to check his birdhouse. Could he really be hiding inside his own home, trying to calm down from the situation, or could he really be gone?

He inhaled deeply, before emitting a long meow to the bird. Time passed by for a bit, but no bird to be found. Eventually, he just simply called out to him. "Ay, bird! Are ya in there?"

Walt instantly emerged from his birdhouse still holding onto his hostile expression, bluntly responding to the concerned black feline. "What?"

"Oh there you are. I've been lookin' for ya all around the house for around five minutes."

"Why do that?"

"Cause I'm worried about ya, bird. Everythin' okay?"

Walt sighed before he answered the cat's question. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Cliff sat silently, trying to keep the conversation going as he thought up more questions to ask him out of his concern for the bird. "I... heard about what's been goin' on with ya lately..."

"You mean the backlash?" Walt assumed, tilting his head slightly.

Cliff shifted eyes downward for a brief moment before he shifted them back up to the canary. "Well... yeah. How'd ya know?"

"It's been a heated discussion for about an entire month so far. Those critics are comparing me to that rough teenage athlete just cause I was seeking revenge for my house. All of that because some people don't seem to understand my nature."

"Wait a minute, I thought birds like you are supposed to be passionate and sweet..?"

"Apparently the internet is wrong, cat." Walt corrected, temporarily confusing Cliff as he is left stumped now. "Birds like me can necessarily be territorial and/or aggressive, hence why I'm angry most of the time. I mean, there are some birds that act less aggressive but you know what I mean."

Cliff scratched his head. "Really?" he said, before Walt nodded. "Huh. Well, bird. If I tell you a little something regardin' the same situation, would that cheer ya up?"

Walt thought about it for a brief period of time. "Hmm... if you think it will, then I guess?"

"Alrighty then." Cliff replied, before he started telling his story.

 Another Two Minutes Later 

Back inside, Charles was upstairs, scoping around Lori and Leni's bedroom floor for the milk bone that's gone missing.

"Where are ya, bone?" He uttered before checking under the bed with shoes scattered all over, with no luck to turn around. "Not under here."

He gave the dressers a shot soon after, opening one of the lowest drawers filled with socks. "Maybe it's in here?" He started rifling around. The bone was nowhere to be found before Charles closed the dresser, moving on to the drawer next to it, filled with fresh pairs of underpants. The dog reacted quickly, shutting the drawer as fast as possible with a blush to top it off.

"Whoops!" he giggled before exiting the bedroom. "Not in there either."

Geo maneuvered around the dining room interior, inspecting the place for any leads to the thief. "No visible imprints on the carpet floor yet..." he mumbled, rolling back into the kitchen for any luck. "There might be a lead somewhere in the kitchen, I bet..."

Charles walked inside Luna and Luan's room for any luck. "If it's not in that room, maybe it's in this room." He only saw nothing but the girls' personal belongings for a second, until Gary the hare popped up out of Luan's magic hat. Charles spotted him, influencing him to ask a single question. "Hey you, I'm lookin' for a tasty milk bone that someone stole. Have ya seen it around recently?"

The white bunny himself thought about his little question, rubbing his chin for a second before he shook his head horizontally, telling the concerned canine that he hasn't seen it around anywhere.

"Rats." Charles reacted, before leaving the bedroom as Gary got back inside the hat.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Geo inspected the interior, looking for any kind of prints on the marble floorboards through his magnifying glass. "Huh, nothing."

As he heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen, he put away his magnifying glass and faced towards the cased opening of the interior. It was Lynn Sr., making plans to start up an early lunch at least for him and his wife when she returns from dropping the kids off at school.

"Well time to whip up something to eat," he said as he faced towards Geo, rolling his way out of the kitchen before the father of the house lifted the hamster's ball off the floor. "Wait, don't you go anywhere just yet. I need your help opening something for me!"

Geo silently sighed to himself before he submitted to his little task.

Back outside, Cliff and Walt are on the tree now, still engaged in their conversation as the cat finished up his story to tell to the yellow canary.

"And that's all that happened." Cliff concluded.

"Wow." Walt commented without flair. "That's an interesting story, and you told it very well."

"Ya see, there's no pleasin' everybody out there. It's only their opinions. I mean, it's not like it's a true fact or anythin' like that 'n all."

The canary slightly rolled his eyes. "I see that, cat. I'm okay with people's opinions but overreacting to a small little detail or action somebody does is just infuriating to me."

"Now, did that make you feel any better?" The cat wondered, slightly tilting his head.

"Barely. But I do feel the urge to thank you for trying." Walt replied without any hesitation to show, influencing the feline to believe that his efforts of cheering a friend up was something, if not anything at all.

"Oh, well... you're welcome," Cliff responded with a little beam to show. "As long as it helped ya in any way, I'm satisfied."

He dismounted from the tree, landing on his paws on the green grass below him. "Now c'mon. The dog's lookin' for a bone he can't find and he's in need of out help."

Walt hesitated before declining the task as he headed back inside his birdhouse. "You go ahead without me. I'm going to take a nap and hopefully this'll all blow over soon."

"Oh... well, alright," Cliff said before he walked away from the tree. "Guess I'll help the dog myself."

Back in the kitchen, Lynn Sr. used the hamster as a can opener as he munched around the rim of the can before he set the animal down back in his ball, praising him for his assistance. "Thanks for the help, Geo," he said. "You're free to wander off now, I've got a baloney sandwich to whip up!"

Geo resumed his mission to track down the milk bone thief as he rolled about out into the living room now before Cliff entered the kitchen through the doggy door, walking into the living room with the hamster without the father figure batting an eye.

The hamster looked around the interior to find something that could help. No luck. Cliff followed him from behind, not paying any attention to what's in front of him before bumping into Geo's ball, pushing him forward a couple of inches as he fell flat on the inside. The hamster got up as he turned around to see a neutral Cliff, pausing his movement.

"Hey cat," Geo said. "Me and the dog still haven't found that bone, you got any leads or clues alone?"

"Nada, since I just got back in here." Cliff awkwardly responded, due to the hamster's sudden rhyming. "Where's the dog?"

"He's upstairs looking for it. He's been through some of the kids' rooms so far and he's got nothing."

Cliff shifted his attention to the staircase leading up to the upstairs hallway. "Alrighty, If that's the case, I'd better go help him." He said, before he ascended up the stairs.

Geo couldn't find anything in the living room, so he went into the parents bedroom to investigate. "Can't believe I'm about to do this." he uttered before he entered the room.

Cliff made his way upstairs, calling out to Charles to figure out which room he went in. "Ay, dog. Where are ya?" He said, influencing Charles to emerge from Lana and Lola's bedroom.

"I'm right here, cat." The dog responded. "How'd it go with the bird?"

"Fine I'm assumin', now hook me up with a quick rundown on what parts of the house you investigated."

Charles took in a huge breath before he answered his question, pointing to each door he went into. "The bathroom, That door, that door, that door, and this door. Except for my boy's room and the room right behind ya."

"Okay, great!" Cliff reacted. "You check that room while I check the one behind me."

"Got it!" Charles complied before he ran inside the middle child's room while Cliff entered the room of the two youngest siblings.

Lincoln's cramped bedroom was surprisingly well kept for once. The dog himself sniffed about inside his room, in hopes to finally find his bone again. A few seconds of mingling around the interior, he managed to catch a whiff of it. It was close, building up his canine determination to end the hunt once and for all. He spent time rummaging around the room, but it came to the conclusion that it really wasn't in the eleven year old boy's bedroom.

"Not in here either?" Charles moaned. "But I can smell it from here too! Where could that darn bone be?"

Before the dog could begin to lament over his possession, He heard a meow coming from the other unchecked room, influencing the dog himself to go to the feline.

In Lisa and Lily's room, Charles walked in on Cliff, sitting there quietly as he observed something in his colorless view. He crept closer until he was right next to him before he broke the silence.

"Aroo?" The dog uttered, before the cat gestured to what he was looking at.

"Dog, is that... your bone?"

The word bone alone immediately prompted the canine to turn around and see what Cliff was seeing. It was a miracle at long last. He found his bone, being nibbled on one end by the youngest member of the Loud family, Lily Loud, who was sleeping in front of the baby cage.

"There it is... that's my bone!" Charles silently said in pure joy. "I don't believe it. This whole time, that kid's got her paws on my bone..."

A long pause between the two animals engaged as sounds of a sleeping Lily's babbling emitted in the room before Cliff continued the conversation. "Huh. Who woulda thought?"

Geo entered the room the two animals were in, before Charles scratched his head as he tried to figure out how to get his possession back. "Problem is, how are we gonna get it back? I could just snatch it away... No wait... Hmm..."

The dog was stumped, he had no idea what to do to solve this situation. What is Lily started crying after getting his bone back, or let a naughty one slip out?

"Oh, you guys found it finally." Geo said.

"Yep." Cliff answered. "So dog, what are ya gonna do?"

Charles had to take a chance this time. The result could be anything, but he'd never find out if he didn't do anything. He sighed, letting go of his tensions before he made a move. "I'm goin' in."

The dog walked over to the baby as he wagged his tail. He passed his tongue over to her face, waking her up as it influenced her to giggle uncontrollably as if she was getting tickled from her older siblings. A couple of moist licks in was just enough to get Lily to release the bone from her little hands as it drooped to the carpet below.

"Doggy doggy!" She uttered in joy, before the dog stopped licking her. By that time, the father figure entered the bedroom as the animals watched his actions.

"There you are Lily," He said as he picked her up, noticing how wet her face is from the dog's unconditioned affection towards her. "Ugh, The daycare academy will be here any minute and you look moist!"

The three animals glanced at each other before returning their attention to Lynn Sr. using his shirt to wipe her face off. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

The man walked out of the room, with little Lily in his arms. The three pets looked back at each other to a mission well completed before Charles finally went to his milk bone, reunited once again as he wagged his tail even more.

"Case closed." Geo said in confidence.

"Yeah. I guess so." Cliff added before he and the hamster turned their attention to the satisfied white canine as he lecherously swiped his tongue all over the cartilage, making not so subtle slurping noises in the process.

Cliff and Geo started to feel queasy from observing the dog playing with his milk bone, to the point where they felt like they were going to puke.

"Oh delicious, milk bone... how I love thee." Charles said as if he was playing a role in a romance film before he continued swiping his tongue all over it. The two pets watching him glanced at each other before the two decided to leave him be with his bone.

"Well, I'm glad you and your bone are back together now." Geo said to Charles, showing off a sheepish smile.

"I'm hopin' you'll savor that thing every once in a while." Cliff added before he and the hamster left the canine alone without a word.

Charles stopped licking it for a moment to lift it off of the floor as he gave it a small kiss on one of the ends of the bone.

"What'd I tell ya? Deeeelicious!"

~End~