This story is based on an episode of Dino's Dilemmas from the Flintstone Kids, entitled, "Who's Faultin' Who?" Please enjoy!
It's a lovely day in Downtown City. Blythe Baxter is walking her little monkey friend Minka Mark down the sidewalk when they come to a large building with the words, "Downtown Hills Pet School" above the door. Blythe knocks on the door, upon which she's greeted by a lady in a long white silk dress and a pair of matching high heels. "May I help you, Dear?" the lady says in a haughty voice.
"Yes please, Ma'am," Blythe hands the lady a paper. "My name is Blythe Baxter and I had entered a pet contest a little while ago and won a free day at your school."
The lady gives a disinterested sniff as she examines the paper. "Hmm, yes, I see." Looking down at Minka, the lady inquires with perplexity, "What kind of dog is that?"
"I mean no offense, Ma'am, but she's a monkey." Blythe replies. The lady shoots a disdainful look at her. "Well, I can certainly tell the difference even if you can't. Come along with me." She then leads Blythe inside.
Blythe and Minka enter a large yard where several well-dressed people and their fancy-looking pets are mulling about. There's a lady with long red hair, wearing a long glittery turquoise blue dress, matching shoes, and diamond earrings, holding a bright pink cat with long wavy fur and aqua blue eyes, wearing an aqua blue collar with an enormous diamond tag, a lady with shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing a pale purple dress, matching shoes, and pearl earrings, holding a pale pink dog with curly ears and tail and purple eyes, wearing a pink collar with a pearl tag, and a man wearing a tuxedo and a tall silk hat, black pants, and brown shoes, holding a purple skunk with a white stripe down her back and a long wavy tail, wearing a yellow collar with an opal tag and a diamond tiara(1). As soon as the well-to-do owners see Blythe and Minka, they immediately begin mumbling amongst each other. "Who is she?" "What is she doing here?" "Where did she get that strange dog?"
Blythe turns and greets the owners. "Hello, friends. My name is Blythe and this is Minka." The little pink monkey gives a little wave. The owners' only responses are disdainful looks; Blythe and Minka exchange sad glances.
The fancy cat traipse up to Minka and inquires with a sniff, "How did, uhm, you get here?"
"Blythe brought me here." Minka replies. "I think she won a contest."
"Do you have any papers?" the skunk inquires.
"Well, we do get a paper," Minka replies. "Zoe and Blythe usually like to read the fashion news section, Vinnie likes the music section, I usually read the art section..." The fancy pets simply look at her oddly.
"Minka's a really great pet," Blythe says in defense of her little friend. "And she knows all sorts of tricks." Blythe then turns to Minka. "Okay, Minka...sit! The little monkey promptly sits. "Now, lie down!" Minka promptly lies down. "Now, roll over!" Minka rolls over. "Now, paint a picture!" Minka quickly grabs an easel and rapidly paints an impressive landscape.
The teacher gives Blythe another disdainful look. "Young lady, the Downtown Hills Pet School does not teach pets to act silly." Minka shoots an annoyed glance at her. "We teach our members the finer things in life." the teacher elaborates.
The teacher then leads all of the owners and pets over to several small tables lined with teapots, teacups, and dishes of small jelly-filled teacakes. "Now, remember what I taught you." the teacher informs everyone. Upon these words, the red-haired lady pours a cup of tea and begins to sip it, while her cat daintily nibbles a tea cake. "Good." the impressed teacher says. The blonde-haired lady then pours herself and her dog cups of tea, which they both daintily sip. "Very good!" the teacher notes.
Blythe pours a cup of tea and begins to glug it down like a bottle of soda, while Minka rapidly gobbles up the tea cakes. "No, no!" the teacher exclaims irritably. "You've got it all wrong!" The other owners and pets laugh riotously at this. As Blythe and Minka exchange sad glances, the girl gently hugs her little friend. "Don't be sad, Minka. You're a much better pet than any of them."
"Come people," the teacher calls from over by the bushes. "Let us practice!" Suddenly, a hand shoots out of the bushes and grabs her around the mouth! "MUMF!" The owner of the hand, a tall red-haired lady wearing a red and black striped shirt, black pants, a blue Gatsby cap, and a black mask, and her associate, a tall muscular man wearing a green and yellow striped shirt, dark blue pants, a blue derby, and a black mask, emerge from the bushes. "This is a holdup!" the lady crook exclaims menacingly as she removes a small cardboard box from her pocket. "One false move and we'll turn these fleas loose!"
The fancy pets fearfully rush into their owners arms. "Fleas?No, please, anything but that!" the skunk's owner exclaims. "Then give us all of your valuables!" the lady crook replies, holding out a burlap sack. The cat and her owner tearfully drop their collar and earrings into the bag, while the dog and her owner drop in their collar and necklace, and the skunk and her owner drop in their collar, tiara, and cufflinks. The lady crook then faces Blythe. "You too, girly." Blythe stammers, "Buh-but, I don't have any valuables, I only have five dollars!" The lady crooks sneers, "Then hand it over!"
Seeing Blythe in trouble, a determined Minka quickly rushes over and sticks her tail in the lady crook's path. As the lady crook takes a step forward, she immediately trips and tosses the box of fleas into the air. "WHOOOOOOOAAAAAAOOOOOOAAAAA!" The box of fleas lands on the guy crook's head, upon which he begins frantically itching and hopping around. "Ooh! Ow! Yipe! Eep! Ack!"
As the lady crook slowly picks herself up, Minka begins running toward her with a fierce look in her pale blue eyes. "Uhh, nice monkey," the lady crook says apprehensively, backing off. "Good monkey. Uh, I'm your friend." Unfortunately for her, Minka wasn't swayed by this in the least. She quickly scurries up onto the lady crook's head and pulls her hat down over her eyes. "Hey! Who turned out the lights?!" the lady crook exclaims as she struggles to pull the hat off of her eyes. As she's struggling with her hat, her associate stumbles into her knocking both of them head over heels. Minka then quickly ties the two crooks up with a nearby firehose, nabs the burlap bag from them, and returns the pets and owners' valuables to them. Blythe then quickly calls the police on her cell phone; moments later two officers come by and haul the two crooks away. The pets and their owners all cheer and applaud.
Moments later, Blythe and the other pets and owners gather around a small stage upon which Minka, who's clad in a graduate's cap and gown, is standing, with the teacher standing nearby. "The Downtown Hills Pet School is proud to present this diploma to Miss Minka Mark, a monkey far beyond the school's high standards of quality-in her own special way." As the teacher hands the diploma to Minka, everyone cheers and applauds. Blythe steps up to the stage and gently hugs her little friend. "That's my Minka!"
The end.
Voice Cast
Blythe Baxter/Cat/Dog's Owner-Ashleigh Ball
Minka Mark-Kira Tozer
Teacher/Cat's Owner/Lady Crook-Tabitha St. Germain
Skunk's Owner/Guy Crook-Kyle Rideout
Skunk/Dog-Nicole Oliver
(1)Their appearances are based on those of the Fancy Curls Friends from the original LPS toy line from the '90s.