Quick notification: The song that plays throughout the chapter is 'The Times Are A Changing' by Bob Dylan, to show the events that lead up to the story's current point in time. To make it more dramatic, pretend everything is going in slow-mo like in the opening to Watchmen.
Here's a link to the right version: watch?v=FLvY-6yQUNw
Enjoy!
Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam.
Pepper Clark is seen standing on a counter-top, microphone in hand. She appears to be telling a joke, as her audience down below is in hysterics.
And admit that the waters around you have grown.
Blythe struggles to carry a bag of pet food toward the hungry pets, who in turn are wagging their tails in apparent gusto.
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone.
Now standing on the stage, during a future point in time, was Penny Ling and Vinnie Terrio. It would seem that the two were attempting a collaborative dance-show for the other day-campers, but failed miserably, as the clumsy gecko was lying on top of the panda entangled within her own ribbons. The failure was hardly noticed, as the performers and their audience were joined in a heartfelt laughter.
If your time to you is worth savin'.
After a long day at school, Blythe Baxter enters the pet shop, backpack slung over her shoulder. She offers the pets a weary smile, to which they happily rush over to greet her.
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone, for the times they are a-changin'.
A framed picture sits atop Blythe's nightstand, adjacent to a photo of a familiar father, daughter, and mother. The recent snapshot was one of Blythe, Mrs. Twombly, and seven little animals all offering varied smiles of jubilation. Everything was perfect; not a hair out of place. Engraved into the frame itself was, "Littlest Pet Shop 2013"
Come writers and critics, who prophesize with your pen.
Penny Ling is seen inside her own home, that of a traditional Downtown City apartment. Hiding behind the doorway, she spied on her Puerto Rican owners with a desolate frown. They seemed to be celebrating, in drastic contrast to the little panda's pained expression. Clutched within her owner's hand was a sheet of paper crumpled and wrinkled from a grip tightened with boundless joy. She could barely make out the words, 'Job Relocation Form' through her own blinding tears.
And keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again.
Penny Ling is seen back inside the Littlest Pet Shop, her arms wrapped around a sobbing Minka Mark and vice-versa. The other pets expressed their sorrow through similar acts, save for Blythe, who stood in the doorway with Mrs. Twombly. Both had mournful expressions, but didn't dare intervene with the end of a once beautiful friendship.
And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin.
As it seems that Penny was the last pet to be picked up, Blythe takes her up the dumbwaiter and the two exchange a few last words, some best wishes, and a phony promise of potentially crossing paths in the future.
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'.
Safely isolated in a kennel, Penny Ling and her owners drive through Downtown City, past the Littlest Pet Shop...
For the loser now will be later to win,
...with the pets lined up at the display window, gloomily waving 'goodbye' to their departing friend.
For the times they are a-changin'.
And there was not a soul in the world that cared more.
Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call.
Mrs. Twombly looks into the pets' play-area, sad to see it was a lot quieter than usual. She doesn't take notice in the frowning face Minka has painted on the wall.
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall.
Weeks pass. The mood lightened only a small margin. In an effort to lighten up the place, Sunil performs his infamously inept magic skills for the other pets. Strangely enough, Blythe had retired home early that evening.
For he who gets hurt-
Sunil's trick blows up in his face. Pepper appears to be laughing, but in a rather callous, bitter manner. Tearfully, Sunil exits the stage and his friends depart without a word.
-will be he who has stalled.
The mongoose pelts his magic hat and cape into the trash can, tears lividly pouring from his amber eyes.
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'.
Nightfall. Blythe is seen arriving home with tired bags under her eyes. The darkened pet shop has long since vacated. Without a wink, she advances towards the door on the right of the pet shop's and enters the apartment.
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls,
This way of life seems to continue for the next several weeks. The pets saw less and less of Blythe and in turn became more antisocial with one another.
For the times they are a-changin'.
Every day falls under the same monotonous routine. Pets arrive, they give the occasional wave or 'what's up?', pets leave. Zoe sings herself asleep, basking in the display window's channeled sunlight, Minka hardly has the energy to bounce around and paint, Vinnie either joins Zoe at the window or watches T.V., and Sunil fills up on treats. In the span of one week, the slender mongoose gained a noticeable pudge. Pepper... Pepper just hasn't been the same since her scent glands were surgically removed.
Come mothers and fathers, throughout the land.
The day camp is in complete disarray. Pepper and Zoe engaged one-another in a violent fight involving bites and scratches. A paint-coated Vinnie chased the culprit, Minka, around the shop over an accident. Sunil sat about, watching the fight with a lazy glare.
And don't criticize what you can't understand.
And Russell, the pet charged with keeping order in Littlest Pet Shop, was completely giving his duties the cold shoulder, seeing as how fruitless he had been in the past. Especially since his five-year hedgehog lifespan was drawing to a close.
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command.
Zoe rakes her refined nails across Pepper's face, resonating in an agonized cry from the skunk. Her grief was enough for the pets to snap out of their own battles.
Your own road is rapidly agin'.
Even Russell and Sunil were dragged from their own self-indulged stupor to aid their wounded friend. Zoe looks horrified and ashamed of herself.
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand.
Pepper's absence lasts for a mere three days. In that time, order in the pet shop has been restored; Twombly isolates Zoe from the other pets in a dog crate. She held little resistance, seeing as this was an appropriate punishment.
For the times they are a-changin'.
Pepper returns with a morale-bolstering smile and an eye-patch. She enters the shop in an overdramatic, pirate-like manner, resonating in a surprising laughter throughout the depression-filled atmosphere. Pepper and Zoe exchange a hug, beckoning the other pets to join. They oblige without hesitation.
The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast.
With a sense of renewal floating about the pet shop (and Zoe getting a rabbis shot 'just in case'), they finally decide to investigate Blythe's apparent absence. It has been a year, after all.
The slow one now will later be fast.
Waiting at the display window for the brunette to pass by one morning, the pets were shocked at what they have discovered.
As the present now, will later be past.
Blythe, now a year older, not only looked older physically but also mentally. She no longer had that childlike glint in her eye. She actually looked more mature, sophisticated even. What was even more peculiar the 'Burger Slot' apron that hung from her duffle bag. Okay, she got a new job.
But why was she never able to visit her friends at the pet shop?
The order is rapidly fadin'.
She stood before Littlest Pet Shop, back turned, but surprisingly never entered. The pets banged on the window, called her name, and never received a response of any kind. Either Blythe had heard them, or she has gone deaf. The former was the obvious conclusion.
But who was she waiting for?
And the first one now-
And to the pets' despair, it was as they had predicted. A car pulled up driven by a rather dashing young man with his hair combed to the side.
-will later be last.
Blythe took up the front seat without ever looking back. With a roar of its engine, the car took off in a plume of smoke. Putting two and two together, the pets figured it all out. They figured out why Blythe had, not only stopped visiting them, but ignored them all together.
For the times they are a-changin'.
She grew up.