Story #36 - Ranger Endanger[]12:00pm What another day to have a gloom-filled atmosphere take place in the nice old neighborhood of Royal Woods. How it wasn't raining at a time like this, the family will never know. In the living room, like always, the dull pets sat in front of the television screen. It showcased the weather segment brought to them by the news. Knowing how inaccurate the weathermen can be on the news, nobody was a hundred percent sure on what to believe nowadays. "Apparently, we predicted a few hours ago that it was going to be sunny with a slight chance of rain today." "Well, who's in the wrong now?" The cameraman rubbed in his face. Exasperated, the weathermen attempted to keep his cool. "But unfortunately, there's been a slight change." He sighed. "These clouds will be taking over Royal Woods for a while now. We're not sure how long these bad boys will stay in place but darn it, we'll predict that these clouds will clear up soon enough." Skeptical, the dog and the cat couldn't help but roll their eyes. Whether or not this could be a white lie, they'd rather see it happen in order to believe them. Most weather reporters aren't accurate with predictions anyway, but who could blame them, really? "Ya know, dis stuff's kinda funny ta be honest wit' youse." Charles crossed his legs and his arms. "Dese humans are always tellin' us dis false information fer millions of deir watchers." Cliff shrugged. "I'm sure dey coulda gotten a bettuh job den doin' dat fer a livin'." "Eh, dey take what dey can get," The dog glanced to the cat. "Least dey're gettin paid fer it." Cliff thought for a bit before he asked Charles a follow up question. "Hm… how much we're talkin' about?" "I dunno, but I bet it's a buncha bacon strips!" He wagged his tail and moistened his lips. "Ooh, or maybe some of dat delicious steak, all well done and thoroughly cooked fer consumption!" Cliff flicked the hound's nose. Pain was inflicted as it caused him to let out a small howl of pain. "No, ya dimwit," Comforting his nose, Charles looked angry towards the feline. "I'm talkin' about da cheddar!" An incited Charles would inevitably drool from the sound of that one word. It's almost like he was lost in a dream-filled trance. "Dat's even bettuh…" The cat facepalmed. He dragged his face down, knowing that the dog was still missing the point of what he was talking about. He had to resort to another term. "I meant money, dog." The hound himself stopped his drooling and panting. "O-oh." Awkward silence squeezed itself in between the two before the dog was stumped. "Well, I really dunno, if ya ask me." Cliff testily rolled his eyes. "Ugh, typical." Charles glanced around the living room. Geo and Walt were nowhere to be found in the room. "Anyway, where's da bird and da Ham?" The feline shrugged. "Beats me." Almost immediately, Walt flew in the living room before he landed on the couch handle. "Right here, the hamster's on the jon, and I was outside cleaning off the white spots on my second house." The dog stood there for a second. "Did ya say…" "White spots?" Cliff's cheeks shift a sicklen color before the same was inflicted on the dog. It got to the point where they were on the verge of diziness and vomiting. "Will you two chill the heck out?" Walt flew upward. "It was just paint!" Their nausea faded away. What a relief. "Oh, fer real?" Charles' head tilted slightly. "Whatevuh ya say, bird." The cat laid down on the couch. By then, the news segment would switch to a commercial break. When the first advertisement flashed on the screen, Charles hopped off the couch. "Well, time fer somethin' ta munch on." He headed into the kitchen. They presumed that he wanted to snarf down whatever goodies the family kept in the fridge. As the advertisents kept on rolling, the cat suddently heard voices. Twitching his ears, he wanted to investigate. "Eh? I wonder what's goin' on…" He flicked his tail before he hopped off the couch, walking over to the parent's bedroom. He heard some faint noises. Maybe someone could be talking outside, or upstairs? Staring at the fridge, Charles rubbed his paws together before he waved his fingers. As he got his paws on the fridge handle, he too heard noises. His ears lifted up, listening at the source. His curiosity peaked immensely before it got the better of him. He made his way to the doggy door and poked his head out. Looking around, he'd eventually find the two parents of eleven children, discussing about something… personal. Wondering about their commotion, he stood there and eavesdropped. "I'm telling you honey, we really got to break it to them sooner or later." The mother said. "I really wish we could, but the kids will be so heartbroken every time we have to tell them this kind of devastating news, especially Lana." "I know, but it's already worse that we have to sugarcoat her pets' passing so she won't be as sad." "Yeah, but that's called life, honey." The father caressed his arm. "Eventually, she'll find out the truth about 'em and never live it down." Rita leaned forward just a hair. "And Lola's still upset about her little pony being transformed into glue, thanks to Lisa." The father crossed his arms. "What a horrifying thing to even experience. It's sad, really. I didn't even know something like that was possible." The mother sighed. "And, it's just as sad as how many hamsters we've had to replace for the sake of keeping our family happy and closer together." The two looked down upon the half a dozen gravestones Lucy planted, each one having Geo's name engraved on them, while another had the word 'pony'. It had Charles fixated, albeit frightened at the same time. A whine of his ensued. "That's five hamsters," Lynn Sr, gestured to the ground. "Right there. It really pains me every time that we have to do this for our kids. So we can't let them know we've been hiding these deaths about the little guy." "Well, that's life, sweetie." Rita patted her husband on his back before they wandered off to Vanzilla. "A hamster's lifespan isn't as long as every other pet after all." Charles was quick on his tail to elicit a gasp, much to his horrified and innocent mind. Head back in the kitchen, the pup hyperventilated, his heart racing like it was fighting for first place. It's almost as if this information was too much for his canine heart to handle. "Hold on now," Charles had his head in his paws. "Dere's more den one Ham dat I knew about dis whole time?" He glanced over to the reader. "Dat might explain all dose strange behaviors he had evuh since I knew him. Gosh, I need ta start usin' my nose more often." The dog returned to his hyperventilating, this time he included blowing in and out of a paper bag he mysteriously had on him. Cliff arrived in the kitchen, now curious as to what just happened. He was worried about him. What could've gotten him worked up all of a sudden? "Hey dog," Charles' bag popped, causing Cliff to jump and give a startled meow before crashing into the tiled floorboard. A beat in, he collected himself and faced the pup. "What's da matter wit' ya?" "H-h-h-Ham…" Charles could barely keep it together to answer his feline pal. The latter was utterly stumped. Cliff's head slanted. "Huh? ...What about him?" The dog barely lifted his paw. He pointed outside the doggy door, the limb quivering as he gulped. Cliff was more intrigued to figure out the dog's unusual behavior. He took a peek out the door, his sights locked on the tombstones in the yard. It had the cat's eyes enlarged, his jaw dropping. He gulped uneasily before his head came back inside the house. His paws were on his chin. "Okay, now I see what yer talkin' about…" The two pets grabbed each other in fear. "What are we gonna do, cat?" Charles' whining took over. Cliff rubbed him on his head, hoping it'll soothe the poor dog. "I dunno… but we hafta tink of somethin' before we can kiss dat little tail of his goodbye." Before they even knew it, Geo made his way into the kitchen along with Walt, for once he wasn't rolling in his ball. They were curious about them. But now, seeing Charles and Cliff hugging each other sparked some questions they feel the need to ask. "Uh, is this a bad time?" Geo walked closer to the two, only for them to gasp at a loose fork about to fall off the kitchen table. "Watch out!" The dog dive bombed, pushing Geo out of the way before the fork hit the floor. The bird didn't understand what was going on, but soon enough, he will. Catching his breath, Charles hopped up on his feet, examining the confused hamster. "You okay?" "Uh… sure?" The hamster rubbed his head before he was set free from the dog. Charles wiped off his forehead in relief. "Phew!" Geo rolled his eyes before he casually walked off. "Well… I'm gonna go... get my ball from the basement." The trio gulped in fear. "The basement?!" Their thought bubble formed, about to showcase the horror of Geo getting— "Hold up! Stop right dere!" Charles popped up, destroying their bubble. "Dis is a kiddie show, fer pete's sake!" Walt glanced to the reader. "You won't believe how much we got away with, honestly." "Uh, let's stop him fer cryin' out loud?!" Cliff spat. This was urgent. With the basement open, the three animals peeked inside. They heard some ominous ambiance as Geo descended down further. Thinking something's out to get him, Cliff rushed to retrieve a fishing rod and hook the hamster up. Yanked back to the kitchen, the hamster yelled in horror. Charles caught Geo in his paws, much to his awkward chagrin. "Grrr, what has gotten into you guys?" He crossed his arms. "All I did was walk downstairs!" Desperate to cover their intents, the dog had to draw out a little white lie. "Er, just testin' out da fishin' rod?" He concluded with an awkward smile. Cliff and Walt inevitably did the same. Geo was skeptical, but he played along. "Alright then?" he hopped out of the dog's paws. "But I still need my ball to roll around in." Cliff's eyes shifted. "No ya don't!" He looked around. "Huh?" Geo's head slanted to the right. "Yeah, cause it's uh… b-broken! Dat's right!" Charles swiftly nodded, his ear lifting up to hear the sound of crackling from the basement. "I can hear it crushin' up into pieces!" Geo could easily tell that something was going on. Wanting to be the element of surprise to them, he pretended to believe whatever the dog, the cat, and the bird uttered right from their mouths. "I… I'm not sure if…" Walt grabbed his face. "We're telling you the truth, darn it! Quit acting suspicious with us!" The accusation drew out a head shake from the accused hamster. Now he's certain that something was up with them. Furious with the three, he lashed out. "Alright you guys, who said I was acting suspicious?" He threw his paws down. "You guys are seriously going to get worked up over nothing? I don't know why you guys are acting this way but it needs to be toned down!" He began to walk away. "Now I'll be going somewhere, and you guys maybe need to chill out." Charles tried to stop him. "But Ham…" With just down to three pets, anxiety began to peak inside them all. Charles began hyperventilating once again. Cliff was there to comfort him. "You guys, I feel conflicted here!" Walt glanced to Charles and Cliff. "Same wit' us!" They spoke together. "What are we gonna do?" Cliff eyes were starting to moisten up as his head shook sideways. "We can't just sit here, thinkin' about all da horrible tings dat might happen ta Ham!" Quivering, the dog's head faced down. "If dat's really five Ham's out dere, six feet unduh ground, I'd be darned if we lost anothuh!" Walt grew just as nervous as the feline and canine. He was sweating. A couple deep breaths in, the bird came up with a solution, before it hit the rest of the pets. "Well guys, I think there's only one thing for us to do." All together, the pets spat; "We're usin' protection!" "Seriously, a lot of you out there need it." The bird lampshaded, as he gave the reader a cautionary wink. In the hallway, Geo casually walked to the bathroom. As he whistled a little tune to himself, he hopped his way up to the sink. Unbeknownst to him, Charles, Cliff, and Walt were behind him, watching his movement. All he did so far was switched on the faucet. When the sound of tap water ensued, the trio of pets reacted in horror, thinking he might fall down the drain. Reacting fast, Walt flew to the hamster, landing on him before lifting him away from the sink. "Hey! Put me down!" Geo reacted in anger. As he freed himself from the bird's grasp, Charles elicited a horrified yelp. Rushing in to help, he slipped on a puddle of water before running face first into the sink, giving Geo a safety net as he slid down his back. The hamster glared at the nervous cat as he walked out of the bathroom, assuming they were still on his tail. The dog and the bird keep a good eye on him as Geo now made his way into the claustrophobic space that happened to be Lincoln's bedroom. What could he be doing in there? Their hearts acted like jackhammers, their nerves rising at immense rates. It got to the point where Cliff swiftly bit at his claws. Zipping over to the bedroom as quick as they could, they peeked inside. The hamster was in his cage, getting a sip of water from his bottle. Charles began to sigh in relief. There's no way he'd get hurt from doing that. The second they notice that the cage was on an unsturdy table top, they now had a reason to panic. One of the legs began to give away, it had the table slanting towards the three pets. Paws over their heads, they let out a gasp. "Oh no!" Charles uttered. "I got dis!" Cliff somersaulted into action. As he slid into place, knocking a table leg out of the way, he sighed out of relief. Charles and Walt did the same. Thank goodness for his pals. Geo was finished with his water and walked out of his cage. Jumping down, he grabbed onto one of Cliff's whiskers and his fall came to an abrupt halt. Irritated by the immense pain, Cliff let out a loud meow as he made the table topple over. It caused the hamster to drop down to the carpet and run out of the room. Still feeling their nerves was still at large, Charles and Walt followed him. Angry, Cliff rubbed his cheek and growled before spoke some strong words. "Yer gonna pay fer dat, ya gosh darn son of a f-furball." Geo walked down the flight of stairs. He thought that some bit of daytime television could take something off of his mind. Charles noticed an open nail, sticking out of the staircase. Geo walked closer down the stairs, possibly to his everlasting pain. Without even thinking, Charles ran downstairs, grabbed him and flung him down to the carpet. The hamster was understandably outraged. To him, he felt that there was no need for them to go out of their way to tamper with him. It's almost as if they think he's incapable of taking care of himself. "Hehe, sorry Ham!" Charles gave an awkward smile and wave towards the agitated hamster. His face was steadily turning light red, all while he showed off his gritting teeth. His paws slowly shifted into fists. Knowing about the size difference, he couldn't just tear them a good one across their stubborn butts. He left them be without uttering a single word. Now where was he going? Wherever the pets might think he would travel to, their outcome was certainly up to no good. Cliff joined the dog and the bird with a small pant. "Geez, I dunno how long we can keep dis up." "We hafta!" Charles slammed his paw into another. "I doan wanna see da day Ham leaves us! It'd be too disheartnin'!" Walt tried to convince Cliff into continuation. "C'mon cat, he might not like what we're doing for him, but it's for his own good!" "I dunno, ya guys." Cliff grew more anxious then before. "One part of me is sayin' dat dere's a line wit' him and we clearly passed da heck outta dat." Charles laid a paw on the cat. "But anothuh part's tellin' me ta keep on goin' just ta see what happens." The cat backed up. "Paws off da coat." "You know who I'm siding with here, cat." Walt crossed his wings, backing up towards the steadfast hound. "Besides, if you really did love Ham and consider him your friend, what would your mind tell you to do?" Cliff couldn't help but sigh. The pressure was on. "Ohhh, We'd always be there for each othuh no mattuh what happens ta anybody. I doan want Ham gettin' hurt or blackin' out ta live on my conscience fer a long time." Cliff crossed his arms. "We hafta keep lookin' out fer him." He concluded with a smile. "Alright ya guys, ya know what ta do here." Charles threw his paw in. Cliff and Walt each threw in a paw and an arm respectively. "Fer Ham!" "For Ham!" Cliff and Walt simultaneously spat in confidence before the trio shouted "Break!" Outside in the windy nature, Geo stepped outside the doggy door. Pouting to himself, he wanted to get something off of his chest. "Hmph. I know what's going on with those three. They're doing all of this cause they're afraid I'm going to get killed or something." He faced the reader. "I'm flattered that they're doing this to show that they care for me, but they're taking this overprotection thing way out of hand! I'm not a baby to them, I can take care of myself just fine, even if I don't have my ball to prove it!" He blushed. It came out wrong to him somehow. "Stop laughing!" He crossed his arms. "Eventually, all of this nonsense can calm down, once those friends of mine start realizing that literally anything can happen in a-" Before he could finish his little vent, the winds were blowing hard. Leaves were moving at such a quick pace. It's almost like a storm had befallen upon the good neighborhood of Royal Woods. Not even a lightweight animal was safe from getting dragged away from the blowing breeze. As he witnessed a squirrel getting blown away by the storm, he realized that stepping outside might have been a grave mistake. "Uh oh…" Geo made an attempt to run back inside the doggy door, only to get lifted by the winds as well. Could this be it for the little hamster? He wasn't going to give up anytime soon. He grabbed a hold of the doggy door and screamed at the top of his lungs. "Help! Somebody!" Hopefully, the pets could hear him in his dangerous predicament. "Dog! Cat! Bird! Help me!" Some luck would come to the hamster's side. Charles and the others headed towards the kitchen to see Geo hanging on for dear life. It caused the gang to share a horrified gasp, sirens blaring in their head telling them to jump into action. It was getting intense, and there was not even a second to waste. Geo was losing his grip faster than a speeding arrow. Closing his eyes and letting out a small yelp and a tear, he inadvertently slipped off. Charles grabbed on to his tiny paw. "I gotcha!" "Hold on!" Walt hid his eyes with his wings. "You can do it!" Cliff added nervously. Unfortunately, because of their anxious behavior, the hound's paws were extremely sweaty. If things couldn't get any worse than that, Geo's paw began to slip free from his paw. If he wasn't going to make it out alive, he might as well just say his last few words before it's too late. "You guys," Geo quivered. "I see what you guys were trying to do now! I'm sorry that I ever doubted you!" "No Ham," Charles sniffled. "We're da ones dat need ta be apologizin'! You were right about us havin' ta chill out 'n lettin' ya take care of yerself! I swear on me heart dat we'll stay outta yer way more often if ya really feel dat way!" Geo's eyes watered. "You'd do that… for me?" Charles wasted no time responding back. "We promise-" Without any warning, Geo inadvertently slipped free. He was thrown hard into a gate behind him as he was knocked out cold, before the heavy winds finally died down. The impact of it looked hard in the eyes of a shocked group of pets. They stood speechless as to what happened. Geo fell down to the grass below and laid there motionless. The pets didn't waste time running out to their felled hamster friend. "Oh no!" Charles yelped. "Ham!" Walt cried out. "Oh my gosh!" Cliff reacted. They approached Geo slowly. He never did move an inch, thanks to the storm. Their eyes started watering as they kept their eyes on him. Only one question rang inside their head; was this the end of their beloved hamster friend? "It can't be…" Cliff poked him around. "We did all this protecting for him… and we still couldn't…" Walt sat down, wings in his head. Charles let out a sniffle once again. He was the most hurt out of all of his companions. "Oh Ham… I'm really sorry..." He wiped a tear from his face. "Fer once in our lives, we've failed ya… I guess dis is…—sniff—goodbye…" There was only one thing left to do. Charles sorrowfully walked up to the hamster and bowed to the floor. The second the dog's puckered lips laid directly on the hamster's butt, his eyes widened like a turned on light switch. Geo yelled and hopped up on his feet. "What the heck's the matter with you?" Much to the delight of the pets, they all shouted "Ham!" as they instantly gave the hamster a heartfelt hug. "Thank goodness yer alright!" Cliff said. "We legit thought you weren't getting back up!" Walt added. Charles gave a chuckle before he blushed. "Sorry about me kissin' yer tail dere." Geo smirked in flair. "You're alright. And I told you guys you don't have to worry about me! But then again, I have to thank you guys looking out for me. I realized that you guys went out of your way to show that you guys care for me." "Dat meant a lot, comin' from youse." Charles responded. "Us too." Cliff and Walt spoke up simultaneously. "We only did dis ta ya cause dat's what pals are for!" Geo couldn't help but lend a pure smile. "Because we all know one thing..." Charles, Cliff, and Walt listened to him closely. "I love you guys... until whatever drifts us apart." His pals had their expressions shift into smiles as they cherished that comment before they let out their reaction. "Aww." Before they all knew it, an apple fell on Charles' head. It knocked him out cold as the others gasped in complete shock. ~End~
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