This story is based on an episode of Dino's Dilemmas from the Flintstone Kids, entitled, "What Price Fleadom." Please enjoy!
It's a beautiful day in Downtown City. Inside the Littlest Pet Shop, Blythe Baxter is just about to begin her work day. "Good morning, Mrs. T." she cheerily greets her employer at the front desk.
"Oh, good morning, Blythe Dear." Mrs. Twombly replies warmly.
"Is there anything I can assist you with today, Mrs. T?" Blythe inquires.
"Well, there is one thing I do need a bit of help with," Mrs. Twombly hands Blythe a scrub brush. "Could you give the pets their flea baths, please, Dear?"
"Certainly, Mrs. T, " Blythe obliges. "I shall go and tell them right now." Upon this she then traipses off to find the pets.
Moments later, Blythe and all of the Littlest Pet Shop pets(Save for Vinnie) are gathered in the washroom in front of six large washtubs filled with sudsy water. "Is everyone ready for their baths?" Blythe inquires cheerily. "Uh huh!" the pets reply happily.
Suddenly noticing that Sunil isn't there, Blythe inquires, "Say, have you seen Sunil?"
"Gosh, I don't know," Penny Ling replies, looking all around in perplexity. "He doesn't like to take flea baths, so he may be hiding somewhere."
"Oh dear," replies a concerned Blythe. "I hope we can find him." She and the pets then traipse into the hallways, calling, "Sunil! Oh, Sunil!"
Meanwhile, Sunil is in Blythe's room, sitting on a table housing a small mirror. He opens her makeup case and takes out a bottle of rouge; he then brushes it on his nose and cheeks, then drapes himself in a towel and makes his way toward the door. Hearing movement from inside the room, Blythe traipses near the door. "Sunil, is that you in there?'
The blue mongoose opens the door with a poorly look on his face. "Hello, Blythe Dear." he wheezes. "You're certainly looking well today. I hope you're feeling better than I am." He then gives three very fake-sounding coughs.
"Oh, you poor thing!" Blythe gently scoops her little friend up. "Don't worry, I have just the thing to make you feel better." My plan is working! Sunil thinks as Blythe begins to carry him away. Blythe then enters the bathroom. "Yes, a nice hot bath will have you feeling better in no time.(1)"
"Ack!"The blue mongoose exclaims. "How did my plan fail?!" As Blythe gently sets him down on the ground, Sunil quickly takes to his heels and dashes down the hallway.
"Oh no!" Penny Ling exclaims. "Where could he have gone now?" Blythe gives a hearty sigh. "Well, we'll just have to search the shop until we find him." She and the pets then traipse off down the halls again, calling, "Sunil! Oh, Sunil!"
While no one is looking, the blue mongoose ducks into a nearby coat closet and climbs up to the highest shelf. "Safe at last!" he breathes. "Now no one's going to give me a flea bath." He curls up on the shelf, with his paws folded under his chin and drifts off to sleep.
Unfortunately, things weren't to remain smooth sailing for him for long. In the carpet below, a small army of fleas is watching Sunil's every move. Peeking through a pair of binoculars, one of the fleas announces, "This is Flea Scout Number One. Dinner at Ten o'clock!"
"Well, maybe we should wait a bit." one of the other fleas notes. "It's only 5: 30." The other fleas simply look at him oddly.
The flea captain hungrily licks his lips and rubs his belly as he looks through the binoculars. "Yum yum, this looks like quite a feast!" He then turns to his army. "Everyone, forward march!"
Upon these words the fleas begin barreling up the wall toward Sunil. Becoming aware of the sound, the blue mongoose's eyes pop wide open; he then quickly looks down and sees the approaching army. "YEEEEP!" Sunil dashes out of the closet in terror and barrels toward the back door with the fleas in hot pursuit.
The blue mongoose quickly scales a tree in the backyard which the fleas fortunately are unable to climb. The fleas angrily grumble amongst themselves. "Ha!" Sunil exclaims triumphantly. "Serves you right!" Unfortunately, he's no sooner said this when the swarm of fleas takes the shape of a saw and begins to saw the tree down. As Sunil feels the tree underneath him beginning to shake, he looks down and observes what's happening. "Uh oh..." The blue mongoose hangs onto the tree's branches for dear life as it slowly drops to the ground; he quickly hops into a nearby trash can just before it lands.
Peeking out of the can, Sunil then observes the swarm forming itself into a bowling ball and hurtling itself toward the cluster of garbage cans. "YEE-HEE-HEE!" Sunil squeals as he quickly scurries out of the can just s the bowling ball hits. Thinking quickly, the blue mongoose grabs one of the fallen trash can lids and hold it in his left paw like a shield, then nabs a large stick off of the ground and brandishes it like a knight's sword. "So, you want to play rough, do you? We'll I'm quite game for that!"
As Sunil hurries toward the swarm, wielding his makeshift sword and shield, the swarm then forms itself into a sword and begins jousting with him. Sunil manages to fight the swarm off pretty well, but they soon get the upper hand. Sunil and the swarm soon get into a standoff; Sunil fights hard, but the swarm soon overpowers him and knocks his sword away. The swarm then forms itself into a bear trap and begins chomping after the blue mongoose. "YEE-HEE-HEE!" Sunil cries. "I was wrong, flea baths really are important!" He quickly takes to his heels and zings back into the shop with the fleas rushing after him.
Meanwhile, Blythe and the pets dolefully re-enter the washroom. "We've looked everywhere, but there's no sign of Sunil." a concerned Blythe says. "I guess he'll just have to take his flea bath tomorrow." says Russel Ferguson. They've no sooner said this, however, when Sunil comes shooting into the room like a rocket and makes a diving leap for the bathtub. "Rats." the fleas grumble as they watch from the doorway.
"Sunil?" says an amazed Blythe, who can barely believe what she's just seen. "Wh-where have you been?"
"Learning a very valuable lesson." the blue mongoose replies, as he merrily scrubs his back. Blythe and the pets can only share amazed glances.
The end.
Voice Cast
Mrs. Anna Twombly-Kathleen Barr
Blythe Baxter/Fleas-Ashleigh Ball
Zoe Trent-Nicole Oliver
Pepper Mildred Clark-Tabitha St. Germain
Minka Mark-Kira Tozer
Sunil Nevla-Peter New
Russel Ferguson/Fleas-Sam Vincent
Penny Ling-Jocelyn Loewen
Fleas-Brian Drummond, Terry Klassen, Shannon Chan-Kent, Kelly Metzger
(1)It begs the question as to whether Blythe believed him or whether she knew all along that he was trying to fool her.