This is the eighteenth entry in a series created by brave kid and me, more of which he and I will be working on together in the future. (A picture of Gus is also now available on my blog, the Keeper of the Fun blog!)The storyline is based off of an episode of Tom and Jerry entitled, "Jerry and the Goldfish." Please enjoy! (BTW brave kid, thank you very much for all of the story suggestions you've given me. I've had a lot of fun working on these stories with you, and I very much appreciate it. I look forward to writing future stories with you.) :)

It's a lovely morning in New York City. Inside Dot's Puppy Pound, atop a small end table, a small goldfish with lighter gold fins and belly(1) sleeps soundly inside a small fishbowl. Just then, he hears a soft voice call, "Good morning, Gus!" upon which he quickly wakes up to see his friend Cupcake looking back at him. "How's my bestest little fishy friend this morning?"

"Oh, very well," he replies cheerily. "How have you been?"

"Quite well," she replies. "I've brought a little treat for you." The little boxer pup hands her little friend a small cracker, which he happily eats. "Mmm," he sighs blissfully, rubbing his belly. "Thank you very much, Cupcake, you're very kind!"

"You're quite welcome, little friend." Cupcake replies as she gently pets Gus on the head, causing him to smile and sigh happily.

Little did they know, however, that things unfortunately weren't to remain smooth sailing for long. In the prisonlike pound of Shelter 13, the villainous Milton Feltwaddle's nasty cat Scarface Claw, is lying on Feltwaddle's desk, listening to a cooking show on the radio. "And now," the chef on the radio says. "Zee great Chef Pierre weel give you his special secret recipe. Zees ees ze most delicious dish you 'ave ever tasted. Such a delicate aroma, such EXQUISITE taste, it weel surely make you smile." Upon hearing these words, Scarface meows and licks his lips hungrily in anticipation."Into a pot of boiling water," the chef elaborates. "Put two carrots, two onions, some string beans, some paprika, two eggs, a pinch of parsley, a dash of pepper, and zee last and most important thing...one small fresh fish!"

The nasty cat sighs and licks his lips hungrily again; he wanted very much to try this recipe, but didn't know where to find a fish. As he glances up, his gaze suddenly falls on the little goldfish napping in his bowl, through the window. Grinning slyly, he quickly hurries out the front door and through the back door of the Puppy Pound, where he quickly seizes upon the fishbowl and makes off with it.

Hearing the doors open and close, a curious Cupcake looks around the corner and is shocked to see Scarface running off with the fishbowl clutched in his paws. "Jumpin' jellybeans, Scarface has fishnapped Gus! Don't worry, little fishy friend, I'll save you!" Upon these words, the little boxer pup then hurries off after the rapidly rushing cat.

Upon returning to Shelter 13, Scarface quickly totes the bowl into the kitchen and places it on the stove. After turning one of the burners on, he then slices several carrots into the bowl; a very apprehensive Gus quickly dodges the slices of carrot as they fall like shingles off of a roof. Scarface then slices several scallions into the bowl, then sprinkles pepper into the bowl, causing the little fish to sneeze. "Oh, help!" he cries. "Someone please, save me!"

At this moment, Cupcake enters the room and gasps when she sees what Scarface is doing. Thinking quickly, she rushes in drops a large empty potato sack over the nasty cat's head. As Scarface yowls and snarls in protest while scrabbling around inside the bag, the little boxer pup then nabs Gus' bowl off of the stove and runs off.

She hasn't gotten far, however, when Scarface quickly breaks free of the bag, dashes out of the kitchen, and snatches the bowl away again. "Huh?" Cupcake glances up and notices the bowl missing. "Oh no!" she gasps. "Gus!" Seeing Scarface running in the other direction, Cupcake quickly dashes behind a nearby wall, sticks her foot out and trips him. "Meow!" the nasty cat cries as he falls; once he hits the floor, the water from the fish bowl gushes into the air, sending Gus flying.

Panic-stricken, Cupcake quickly nabs an empty water glass and rushes to catch her falling friend. "Don't worry, Gus, I'll catch you!" She first catches some of the water, then catches Gus in the cup.

"Thank you so much for saving me!" the little fish says graciously.

"You're quite welcome, little guy," Cupcake replies as she gently pats his head. "Now to get you back to your fishbowl."

Just then, the little boxer pup hears footsteps behind her, upon which she turns to see Scarface rushing after them again. Thinking quickly, she dashes into a nearby closet(Carefully balancing Gus' water glass) and pulls the door to; as Scarface closes in on them, he slams into the door and slides down to the ground. "Meee...OW." he groans weakly.

Hiding just next to the closet door, Cupcake and Gus listen intently. "Hmm," Gus muses. "I haven't heard him out there for a while."

"I'll take a peek outside to see if he's left." Cupcake whispers, upon which she tiptoes quietly to the edge of the door and peeks out. "The coast seems to be clear," she whispers. "Now I can bring you back to your bowl."

"Oh, goodie!" Gus exclaims excitedly.

Cupcake then gently picks up Gus' water glass and hurries back over to the fish bowl, which is sitting right outside the kitchen door. As Cupcake gently sets the glass down, Gus then swims to the top of the glass and takes a diving leap toward the bowl...but is quickly caught in a frying pan by Scarface before he reaches the water. "Oh no, Gus!" Cupcake gasps.

The nasty cat quickly totes the pan into the kitchen, sets it on the stove, and turns the burner on. Scarface flips the pan and opens up his mouth, waiting to catch the little fish, but is surprised when he doesn't come back down. Looking behind him, Scarface sees Cupcake holding a small teacup full of water, housing Gus(Which she'd caught him in before he could fall), standing behind him. The nasty cat meows angrily and races after them again, as they quickly take off at a clip.

Scarface chases Cupcake and her little aquatic friend from room to room, hopping over boxes, squeezing through tight doorways, and even hustling under rugs. Spotting another closet out of the corner of her eye, Cupcake quickly ducks inside and whips the door shut again, causing the nasty cat to slam into the door again. "Meee...ouch." he groans.

"You'd think he would have learned his lesson by now." Cupcake notes, as she and Gus then share a laugh.

As Cupcake peeks through the doorway, she observes that the coast appears to be clear, and slowly steps outside. No sooner does she, however, when Scarface darts out from behind a corner and snatches Gus away. "Hey! Come back here with my little fishy friend!" Cupcake exclaims angrily as she chases after the rapidly leaving cat.

She soon finds Scarface holding a very scared Gus in a pan over the fireplace. Thinking quickly, Cupcake dashes by and nabs Gus out of the pan, the ties the mean cat up in a nearby rope. She then quickly helps Gus into a coffee cup full of water as they then take off again.

As he quickly struggles free of the ropes, Scarface spots Cupcake running across a large throw rug in the hallway; he yanks the rug, causing Cupcake to trip and send Gus flying. "Oh no, Gus!" she cries.

As the little goldfish hurtles through the air, he lands in a toaster sitting on a kitchen counter; once he pops out of the toaster, Scarface catches him between two pieces of bread. "Help, Cupcake, please save me!" he cries in fear. Thinking quickly, the little boxer pup drops a large cooking pot over the cats head and whacks it with a wooden spoon. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! She then helps Gus back into the water glass again and runs off. "M-m-m-m-e-e-e-o-o-o-w-w-w. OW." a very shaken-up Scarface groans.

"Boy, that was sure a close one," Cupcake gasps. "We'd better get you back to your bowl again, Gus."

No sooner do they duck into a supply closet, however, than Scarface quickly catches Gus in a cooking pot; he then shoves a large dresser drawer in the way of the door to prevent Cupcake from rescuing her little friend again, and makes his way toward the kitchen again.

Cupcake pushes and pounds on the door. "Hey, lemme out!" Unfortunately, it won't budge. "Oh no," she despairs. "I'm trapped in here! How will I ever save my little fishy friend now?" Just then, her gaze falls on a transom above the door; as she looks down and spies a crate of bottle rockets left over from the fourth of July, her mind races. The little boxer pup quickly grabs a rocket and hops up the shelves with it balanced on her knees. She then climbs out of the transom, shinnies down a nearby hat rack, then makes a dash for the kitchen.

She gets there just in time to see Scarface slicing potatoes into a pot of boiling water while a very scared Gus lies nearby. As the nasty cat reaches for a carrot, Cupcake quickly hands him the rocket and helps Gus back into the water glass. No sooner does Scarface pick up the rocket then its fuse catches the flame from the stove. "Meow?" the cat inquires apprehensively, upon which the rocket gains momentum and sends him flying through the roof. "MMMMMEEEEEOOOOOOOWWWWW!" Scarface screeches as he speeds through the sky.

From the ground below, Gus and Cupcake, the latter of whom is wearing scuba gear, watch this amazing scene from an enormous fish tank(2). "Wow," Cupcake remarks. "Looks like he's rocketin' into next week!"

"Mmn," Gus muses. "I wonder where he'll end up."

"Oh, probably somewhere over Tuesday." the little boxer pup replies. The two friends share a laugh over this.

The end.

Voice Cast

Cupcake-Cree Summer

Gus-Brianne Siddall

Scarface Claw-Frank Welker

Chef-Rob Paulsen

(1)He might look a bit like the goldfish from the original Tom and Jerry episode.

(2)The original Tom and Jerry episode had an ending similar to this.