I will only post one chapter at a time, but I may write more than one a day, and for now upload a new chapter only once every two days or so. That would be best case scenario, as my writing is SO much better when I've proofread everything ten times.

This chapter tells you what the invention is, and it's pretty obvious why it would be the perfect gift for Bolt. Let's begin!

II: Change

Penny took a seat at the couch, put her cell phone in her pocket, and called all the pets, who had finished their breakfast, to approach her. Mittens was the first to run to the couch and jump onto it, rubbing her black furry body against Penny's leg. Emily took a seat by Penny. "Hey, Mittens! How's my baby girl?" Penny talked playfully to her as she stroked her head with her hand. Bolt and Isabel bolt approached, tails wagging and tongues lolling. Bolt hopped onto the couch, much more comfortably than he had been, at that, as his paw which had been broken had quickly healed, and gave Penny a series of slurps on the face. Isabel sat down on the ground by Penny's legs and gazed at the TV. Penny pet Bolt and grabbed the remote, switching the TV on. Just then, Emily entered the room. Penny switched to channel 4, just as her friend had said, and on the television was a scientist talking to a woman analyst. His voice was nasally, but it sounded very wise. "What we have created here is quite remarkable. Basically, what it does is it creates a chemical balance in the brain of an animal which helps them interpret human speech, while at the same time replaces materials on the animal's vocal cords with a much more flexible material, creating a much wider array of sounds."

"So, what your saying is that house pets will, in theory, be able to speak and understand our language?"

"In theory, of course, but yes. It has not been tested, but that is what this drug is designed to do." Penny and Emily looked at each other, both wide-eyed and mouths agape. Bolt and Isabel both looked at each other and laughed a little bit, thinking it was crazy. The scientist continued to ramble on, "...We, again, have not tested this drug and are awaiting a shelter to provide an animal for us to test on. If my theory is accurate, there should be no side effects in the animal other than maybe an upset stomach or some dizzy spells depending on their reaction to calcium ions and various other minerals, but I guarantee you, DAVE will be a success. Once we receive an to try it on and examine it's effects, we will begin marketing it."

"DAVE is the name of this drug?"

"Precisely. DAVE stands for Domestic Animal Vocal Enhancement. I can tell you that this one blue capsule, placed in a dog's or cat's food, will revolutionize any pet owner's relationship with their furry four-legged friend... forever..." Emily and Penny looked at each other again, and somehow knew exactly what the other was thinking, but their expressions differed greatly. "That's it! That's what we need to do! It's different and I'm sure Bolt will love it!"

"Honey, are you sure? He said it's untested."

"He said it's untested but he said he guarantees no side effects."

"That's not the only thing. This seems a little too good to be true."

"Then call them. There's a number at the bottom of the screen." Penny hesitated as Emily began to get up. "You know what? I'll do it." She pulled out her cell phone and began to dial the number. She leaned over and kissed Bolt on the forehead, "You're my good boy, Bolt. Whatever happens, I love you. Happy early birthday, buddy." Emily walked away as an automated message answered Penny's phone, "Please hold, all our lines are currently busy. Estimated wait time: 45 minutes." Penny's jaw dropped, but she quickly regained her composture, looking at Bolt, who was wagging his tail, Isabel was alongside him. "Anything for you guys." She said softly, hit the speaker phone button, placed the phone on the table, and waited. After five minutes, she took the channel changer and began scrolling through the channels. Isabel and Bolt were snuggling with each other at the other end of the couch. Bolt noticed Rhino still not watching TV, and instead with his face pressed to his hands, eyes puffy and red and cheeks wet with tears. "Rhino?" Bolt questioned, concerned. Rhino pulled himself away so he was facing away from Bolt. "Rhino. I... uh... I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings... but... wha-" Bolt was interrupted by the fuzzy brown hamster. "Bolt. No, don't apologize. I just... need to be alone for a while. Don't blame yourself, Bolt. I know you didn't mean any harm... you said I would do the same if my family was in danger and it made me remember my family. I haven't thought about them in ages."

"Your family?" Bolt asked, sympathetically. Rhino wiped his eyes and responded, "Yes."

"What happened?"

"I'd... rather not talk about it, Bolt. I just want to be alone for a while." Bolt nodded and gave him... well, his ball... a lick with his broad, wet tongue, and then slowly padded away from Rhino's ball and back to Isabel, who was now on the living room floor, chewing on the bone-shaped squeaky toy. "Hey, Izzy."

"Hey, Bolt. What did Rhino say?"

"I dunno, something about his family and stuff like that. I think he'll be okay, just leave him alone for awhile."

"Okay. Well, I know what we can do while he's away."

"What?" Isabel immediately nuzzled Bolt passionately. "I love you." Bolt then responded with, "I love you, too." Mittens watched them cuddle with each other for a good minute or two and then dropped from the couch and approached them. "Ahh, ain't that a pretty sight?" Mittens said proudly. "What do you mean, Mittens?" Isabel asked. "You two are just so cute together. It's downright adorable, you two." Bolt and Isabel smiled at each other. Then Mittens, being the cheeky little rebel she was, then popped the question, "So... how long till we might be seeing some puppies running around here?" Bolt and Isabel didn't answer, and both of them looked a little uneasy. "Heh... Mittens... uh... I don't know if..." Bolt began, but was interrupted by Mittens. "Oh, don't feel embarrassed. It's nature."

"Yeah, but it's still embarrassing..." Isabel added. "Fine. Sorry I brought it up." Mittens responded sincerely, "You two do look cute together, though." Mittens walked back to the couched and hopped back on it, waiting for Penny to pick her phone back up. Bolt looked at Isabel a little uneasily and then walked to his bed slowly. "Oh, don't take what she said so seriously, Bolt. She didn't mean to offend you."

"No, it's not that. It's that... well... I do kinda want puppies someday... I'm just thinking about it."

"You just... don't know what to expect?" Isabel asked. Bolt hesitated and finally answered, "Yeah. Not one damn clue." Isabel walked up to him and sat down alongside him. "Well, Bolt. I want puppies, too, of course. Puppies to call my own instead of having them trained and sold by my Master." Bolt smiled half-heartedly, he felt a little more comfortable about it now. Isabel kissed him on the cheek and followed Mittens back to the couch.

***

After roughly 50 minutes, Penny's speaker phone finally made a noise. She hastily reached out to the table and picked it up, switched off the speaker phone and placed it to her ear. "Hello?" A nasally voice said from the other end. "Hi, this is Penny Wallace. I wanted to ask about DAVE."

"Penny Wallace?"

"Yes."

"Your dog is Bolt, am I correct?"

"You bet."

"Wow! Well, we were going to use the test on an old dog, but since you own the Bolt, I think you deserve to... I guess you could say... open up the front door to this new world where humans and animals communicate together through speech." Penny's jaw dropped again at this. "Are you saying you want Bolt to be the first one you try it on?"

"Yes. That dog is a real-life legend from what I've heard."

"Well, where are you at? I mean... how far do we have to travel?"

"Hmm... how about I send you a packet of these through the mail? I'll just need your mailing address and it will not cost you a dime." Penny smiled greedily and looked at Bolt. She knew he would be satisfied.