This story is based on an episode of Dino's Dilemmas from the Flintstone Kids, entitled, "Watchdog Blues." Please enjoy!
It's a pleasant day in Downtown City. Inside the Littlest Pet Shop, a worried Blythe is in the playroom with Mrs. Twombly and the pets, reading the newspaper. "Oh dear, Mrs. T, it says here on the front page that there's been a burglar sighted in the city; he was last spotted in our neighborhood."
"Goodness!" Mrs. Twombly exclaims. A wistful look then crosses her face. "Hmm...perhaps one of the pets could keep watch for him at night, like a watch animal of sorts."
"That's a wonderful idea, Mrs. T!" Blythe replies happily. She turns to Zoe Trent. "Would you like to be our watch dog, Zoe?"
"Ooh, sorry, Dear," the purple dog replies. "I'd love to help, but...I need my beauty sleep." Just then, Blythe hears, "Ooh! Ooh!" and looks over to see Vinnie Terrio hopping up and down. "I'll do it!"
"You want to be our watch animal?" a rather nonplussed Blythe replies.
"Yeah!" Vinnie replies excitedly. "I can protect the pet shop real good-like."
Blythe is very skeptical, but says, "Well, okay, Vinnie." The little green lizard embraces Blythe in a big hug. "Oh, thank you so much, Blythe! I promise you won't be disappointed!" The other pets exchange skeptical looks; clearly, they were not as sure of Vinnie's capability.
As evening falls, Blythe Mrs. Twombly and the pets are sleeping peacefully in their beds; Vinnie stands by the door, striking a fighting pose. "Watch, thief, watch out, 'cuz here comes Watchful Watchman Winnie-eh, uhm, Vinnie. Ooh, he better not try any funny stuff or I'll practice my Dance-Fu on him! Hi-yah!" Vinnie throws several karate chops and kicks into the air.
Little did they know, however, that things weren't to remain smooth sailing for long. From the bushes outside, a tall burly man clad in a blue and purple striped shirt, black jeans, a purple cap, brown boots, and a black mask, sticks his head out and looks around. "Hmm, looks like the coast is clear." He sneaks up to the back door, picks the lock, then enters the shop. Upon hearing the door swing open, Vinnie whips around to see the burglar in the doorway and gives an audible gasp. "The burglar!"
"Now then, what goodies do they have for me?" the burglar muses as he tiptoes into the room. Seeing this, Vinnie quickly dashes in his path and trikes a karate pose. "It's stop right now, miscreant, or you'll get the Dance-Fu smackdown of your life!" The crook snickers, "You must be joking. Now, step aside, mini alligator, I got work ta do." He steps past Vinnie and walks to the back of the room.
"Ooh, a wide-screen TV with a DVR! Just what I needed!" the crook observes. Before he can take the TV, however, he's quickly caught by a lasso swung by a cowboy hat-adorned Vinnie. "Gotcha, pardner!" The crook sneers, "Not for long!" and wriggles out of the lasso and escapes.
"This guy's sure tough," Vinnie muses. I'm gonna have ta use stragety ta catch him." At this moment, a skateboard in the corner of the room catches his eye; a smile spreads across the little green lizard's face. "Aha!"
As the crook is wheeling the TV toward the back door, he suddenly hears the sound of wheels rolling up behind him. "Hey, what's that noise?" He then whips around to see Vinnie careening toward him on the skateboard, holding a butterfly net.(Vinnie unfortunately hadn't been looking where he was going and ends up knocking various furniture over in his wake.) A disconcerted expression crosses the burglar's face. "Uh oh..." WHAM! Vinnie plows headlong into the thief, sending the two of them rolling down the street. "WHOOOAOOOOOAOOOOOA!" the crook wails.
As they barrel down the sidewalk, a policewoman on a motorcycle nearby looks on in amazement. "Goodness, that looked like the Downtown City Bandit!" As the crook and Vinnie crash into a bush, the policewoman drives up to them. "Good work, little fella, we've been after this crook for weeks!" She then helps the two of them out of the bush, slaps handcuffs on the crook, and leads him away.
A now rather weary Vinnie slowly makes his way back to the pet shop; upon swinging the door open, he suddenly hears, "Vinnie? Is everything okay?" upon which Blythe and Mrs. Twombly enter the room. "How did everything go last ni-GASP!" Blythe gasps audibly at the detritus around them: tables and chairs knocked over, curtains ripped partially off of the windows, food dishes scattered, and the TV set in the doorway.
"Goodness gracious!" Mrs. Twombly gasps as she angrily traipses up to Vinnie. "I can't believe this! We trust you to look after the pet shop for us and look at what you've done!"
"B-b-but, I can explain!" Vinnie replies(Though his response is only understood by Blythe). "Y'see, there was this guy, and he was tryin' ta break in an' steal the TV. I tried ta catch him, but he kept getting' away, so I rigged up a skateboard an' chased after him. After I caught him, the cops came an' took him away. You believe me, don'cha, Blythe?"
"I want to, Vinnie," Blythe replies dolefully. "But the house is a bit of a mess."
Just then, Blythe and Mrs. Twombly hear from the TV, which the other pets have switched on, "In other news, a heroic little lizard apprehended the dastardly Downtown City Bandit last night." Blythe and Mrs. Twombly look on in amazement as footage of Vinnie capturing the crook flickers on the screen. "Police are requesting that the owners of this lizard come down to the station to collect their reward." the announcer elaborates.
Blythe and Mrs. Twombly turn to Vinnie with delighted smiles on their faces. "Oh, I'm so sorry I doubted you, Vinnie," the pet shop owner says "You can be our watch lizard from now on, if you like." Vinnie smiles contentedly. "Oh, that would be great! Thank you!"
Blythe traipses up to her little friend and gives him a gentle hug. "That's my Vinnie."
The end.
Voice Cast
Mrs. Anna Twombly-Kathleen Barr
Blythe Baxter-Ashleigh Ball
Vinnie Alfonso Terrio-Kyle Rideout
Zoe Trent-Nicole Oliver
Burglar-Brian Drummond
Policewoman/Newscaster-Kelly Metzger