HERKIE'S ADVENTURE
A/n: In The Simpsons third season, Smithers alluded to a Yorkshire terrier he owned at the time by the name of Hercules, showing Mr. Burns a photo to prove it. The dog was never mentioned or seen again. So here's a little adventure story that gives him a more "meaty" role. Hope you enjoy it.
Legal yadda yadda: I own no right to The Simpsons or the characters therein. They don't own me either. I'm not making any money writing fanfic, which should make everyone but me very happy.
Chapter 1
Waylon Smithers arrived home after another exhausting day of almost literally bending over backwards to try and please his unappreciative boss, Montgomery Burns, the overseer of the local nuclear power plant. Poor Waylon hardly had the energy to get his key in the door's lock, but as soon as the sound of the key rasped in it, an excited barking issued from within the apartment. As the door swung open, a small dog jumped and yapped enthusiastically seeing his master return.
"Oh, Herkie," Smithers sighed. "At least you're happy to see me."
The small terrier continued his enthusiasm by running back and forth from the door to the kitchenette.
"Yes, yes, I know… your dinnertime," Smithers acknowledged as he unclipped his plant ID tag from his jacket lapel, placed it in the pocket then removed the garment and draped it on the back of an armchair.
As Smithers trudged wearily towards the kitchen loosening his tie, the small dog ran in circles around him in expectation of his evening meal. But as Smithers opened the cupboard to get a bag of kibble stored there, he found the sack to be almost empty.
"Good thing I bought an extra one when they were on sale, Herk," Smithers said.
Pulling out a stepstool from under the counter, he climbed to the overhead cabinet to retrieve it from it storage place. Herkie seeing a large new bag of food resumed his outburst of anticipation. The dog started jumping up against the stool attempting to hasten his master's progress. Although a small dog, his vigorous shenanigans were banging against the stool causing it to sway.
"Uh…Herkie..stop that," Smithers gently chided.
Smithers now had the large bag clutched against his chest. He started to descend when Herkie, squatting behind him, decided to help by jumping against his back. Not a large man himself, Smithers was thrown forward by the combined momentum of the dog and the weight of the bag of dog food. As he pitched forward, Herkie leaped away as Smithers dropped the sack and it burst open on hitting the floor. He had just enough time to utter a terrified groan before his head smashed down against the edge of the kitchen counter as his eyeglasses went flying across the room. He lay face down and motionless on the floor of the kitchen as his dog gobbled up the kibble strewn from the bag. Soon having eaten his fill, the little dog curled up against his owner's body and fell asleep.
to be continued...