Covering for Themselves
~Pets' Perspective~
Nemo looked down at Pal with contempt. He was always romping around the neighborhood making a nuissance of himself like all the other dogs. It was despicable for a dog that small to be so obnoxious, Nemo thought, licking his paw with his eyes closed hoping to remove the little golden pest from his mind.
"Ugh, could you keep it down, you oaf?!" Nemo cried, jumping down onto the ground beside the barking Pal. Pal was immediately silenced, and when Nemo stopped glaring at him, his eyes caught the culprit. He hissed and reared up, trying to make his small body as big as possible.
"Nothing is working," Pal sighed. "It's been out here for three days, but it disappears sometimes. I don't understand it!" Pal spat.
"W-W-What do you think it is?"
"Oh, is the little kitty scared?" Pal mocked before looking at the object again. He was scared too and his grin faded. "I don't know what it is, but it has to do with that thing DW got for making a good grade on her safety test. It makes sounds that hurt my ears, so I try to keep away from it, but that night, this appeared. It hasn't left since."
"Well it isn't alive," Nemo concluded, moving up to the object and sniffing it slightly, "and it doesn't smell like anything, though it's hard to tell with you smell mutts around. Have you tried touching it yet?"
"Are you crazy? I would never do such a thing!" Pal spat, barking at the object again with disgust.
Nemo batted the object with his paw. It rolled slightly before falling back into place. He hit it again with more force, and the object made a twanging thud.
"It's some sort of ball. Francine has something like this, only it's smaller and orange with black stripes. It smells funny too, but she has to keep it on the roof sometimes, so the pigeons get it dirty," Nemo murmured, slinking around the object. "Do you think it's a ball?"
"I don't know what it is, but I want it out of my yard," Pal growled, barking around at the object before jumping backwards. Nemo looked up and saw DW approaching with her friend Emily. "What are they doing, Nemo?" Pal asked, trembling with fear.
"I don't know but I'm getting out of here. This is your problem, not mine," Nemo said, darting up the fence and into a neighboring tree to get away. But he lingered on a high-up limb just so he wouldn't miss anything.
~People's Perspective~
"So, where'd you get this?" Emily asked with a wide, envious grin. DW smiled, strutting past her with a wave of confidence, "I was given a safety badge, so they got me this ball. It glows in the dark and lights up when you roll it on a bumpy surface, that way people will see it if it rolls into the street and I won't get hit. Miss Morgan told us about it."
Emily nodded, picking up the ball and tossing it into the air, "How much does one of these costs?"
"I thought you had a nice allowance," DW said, gesturing for her ball. Emily threw it, thinking DW would throw it back, but she held it firmly in place as if she were guarding it.
"I do, but I don't want to spend too much. Now that I know how to read, I want to buy every book I can, one in English and one in French so I'll have both languages well-covered," Emily smiled, rocking on her ankles with pride. "So, how much was it?"
"I don't know. It was a gift," DW said, turning and walking towards the house.
"Hey, where are you going? I thought you said we were going to play something," Emily said, jogging to catch up to her friend.
"I changed my mind. I don't want to play with anything out here. What if it gets dirty? What if we get dirty? I'm not interested," DW pouted, walking into the house. Emily followed her, careful to let Pal into the house behind her. "We'll play Tower of Cows or something instead."
"We do that every day, DW. Why don't you want me to play with your ball? We'll be really careful with it, honest," Emily pleaded. But DW wouldn't give up, and a moment later, Emily's mother arrived to take her home.
~Pet's Perspective~
"So it was a ball," Nemo said, nodding as he groomed himself. "And what made you come to that conclusion, bone breath? I already told you that before they took it away."
"I heard them. DW was being very territorial about it as well. I wonder if it has some sort of special value to her that makes her want to guard it from the smelly girl," Pal grimaced. Emily had taken to wearing a dab of her mother's cologne to smell pretty, but Pal thought it smelled awful. "What do you know, Nemo? You obviously know something or else you wouldn't be here so close to dinner."
"You're right," Nemo purred, scratching himself behind the ears, "I do know something you don't, something about that stupid DW that ought to make that girl Emily find a better friend. She stole that ball. That's why she doesn't want anyone to know how much it cost, and that's why it's been in the yard for so long without being played with. She took it but she's too upset to tell anyone."
"Then why would she lead the other girl to it? You're speaking nonsense, you silly cat!" Pal growled.
"Hey, you're barking up the wrong tree, Pal. I know so because I can get into your home's upstairs using the latticework Jane installed," Nemo grinned, looking down at Pal with contempt. "When the smelly girl left, DW hid the ball behind one of those tiny doors in her room. She said something I couldn't understand, but I know that look. I give the same one to the humans when they catch me with Laverne's underwear again so they won't scold me as bad. It doesn't work on people though. DW is in trouble."
"Should we help her? I always try to help Arthur stay out of trouble."
"She pulled my tail and still thinks I'm a girl, you flea bag!" Nemo spat. "No, we let her get caught. Tell the baby to play with it one day. I'm sure she'd be happy to help," Nemo grinned. "Maybe they'll send her to the pound like they do to us."
"No, she's a person. Pounds are for animals," Pal muttered, but he wondered if DW could get sent to the pound anyway if she was bad enough.
~Kate's Perspective~
Kate crawled over to the cabinet as Nemo directed. She opened the door and immediately the ball rolled out. Kate looked around instinctively before wrapping her tiny arms around the ball. It was light but still too heavy for her to pick up easily.
"What do you want me to do now, Nemo?" Kate whispered, turning on her butt to see him better.
"Roll it around and make noise until your mom comes back," Nemo smiled, grooming with his eyes closed again. As he did, Pal came into the room and noticed the ball.
"Kate, what are you doing?"
"I agree with Nemo, Pal. DW should be punished for stealing, and I won't let her hide stolen goods in my room. I'm sorry, Pal. I know you don't like it when there's trouble in the house."
Pal nodded solemnly, moving into Arthur's room to wait for the drama to unfold.
~People's Perspective~
"What in the-? Where did that come from? Oh!" Jane gasped, remembering the moment in the store when DW pointed out the silvery ball. She wanted it as a gift, but she had only passed a silly safety quiz, something she'd already done multiple times. "I can't believe she did this. Kate, let go of that. Mommy needs to take it back to the store...and deal with your sister."
Later that night when the family was home together, Jane and David lectured both of the Read children about not stealing. But the lecture was focused on DW, who was grounded for two weeks and forbidden from going with the family on shopping adventures for an entire month, or until she could learn her lesson. DW was apologetic, but the damage was done.
And though Pal was unhappy with the stern voices in his home, he was glad that awful ball was finally gone so he could nap in peace again.
Theme 051: Animal Friends