Exile woke up the next morning to someone banging on his bedroom door. He groaned knowing exactly who it was. He lazily got out of bed and dressed him in a light green shirt and dark blue jeans.
Another loud banging was heard. "I'm coming!" Exile grumbled as he ambled towards the door.
Exile opened the door to find Shag with a big smile on his face. He said something in his half-human half-dog dialect. "Happy Easter to you too," Exile replied in a groggy voice.
Shag spoke again, asking Exile if he was ready to get cooking.
"Shag, it's about six in the morning," Exile yawned. "Can't we wait another three hours?"
Shag shook his head and told Exile that the earlier they started, the faster they would finish. The husky still wasn't excited. "I'd still like to get back to sleep," he said.
The Old English Sheepdog wrapped an arm around Exile's shoulder and escorted him to the kitchen, telling him how important it was for him to help out on a holiday and that no cliched excuse could bail him out.
"I'm not being tired just so I don't have to cook," Exile stated; "I'm tired because you woke up, and don't say it's a typical cliche!"
Shag snickered and led Exile into the kitchen. He opened his cook book while his assistance gathered the ingredients for their first Easter dish: hot cross buns. The oven was turned on and the dough was prepared according to the recipe. The dough was then split into twenty-four separate buns, placed on two cooking trays, carefully marked with a cross by means of shortcrust pastry, and set in the hot oven for thirty minutes.
Once that was done, Exile grabbed a bottle of orange juice and walked into the den. It was 6:30 AM and the sun was steadily rising over the mountains. The sunlight poured in through the window, revealing the foot of a fellow cano-sapien on the couch. Exile stepped forward and was baffled to discover a snoring Blitz.
What's Blitz doing on the couch? Exile thought. Didn't he go to room last night? I'm sure that's what he did. But still, why is he here on the couch? I'll ask him when he wakes up.
Sure enough, Blitz's eyes fluttered open and he sat up. "Good morning, Exile," the Doberman yawned.
"You went to sleep in your room, yet I find you here in the den," said Exile. "Are you trying to be Harry Houdini?"
"And a Happy Easter to you too," Blitz chuckled as he got to his feet. "How's the cooking going?"
"Shag and I put the hot cross buns in the oven," Exile told the Doberman. "After breakfast we'll make the sausage bread, and, after that, we'll make dinner."
"I though we made hot cross buns last Friday."
"We did. Shag insisted we make another two dozen for today."
"Ah, I see. So, what'll we be eating this Easter?"
"Well, we'll be having sausage bread for lunch, and tonight's dinner will be honey glazed ham, scalloped potatoes, and honey glazed carrots."
"I don't know why you would glaze honey on carrots, but it still sounds good. I'm also glad that you're liking the cooking life."
Exile rolled his eyes before strolling back to the kitchen. Blitz went down the corridor and entered the bathroom. He returned to the den a few minutes later and turned the TV on. From what Exile heard from the weatherman, the day was going to be sunny with small clouds and a temperature of sixty-three degrees Fahrenheit. It was going to be a perfect day for an egg hunt.
At 7 o'clock, Shag checked on the hot cross buns and, seeing that they were all done, turned the oven off and pulling the trays out. Exile filled the teapot with water and placed it on the stove. As if on cue, Colleen walked in. "Happy Easter," she said.
"Happy Easter," Exile replied; Shag did too, only in his dialect.
"I see you lads made more hot cross buns," Colleen said; "and, are you boiling water for tea? Exile, you didn't have to do that."
"Well, I did it anyway," Exile told her. "I figured that if I'm going to be cooped up in this kitchen all day, I might as well do a lot of cooking to keep myself busy."
Colleen smiled before walking to the cupboard and taking out a cup and a saucer. Then she grabbed the small box of tea bags, took one of the bags out, and patiently waited for the teapot to whistle.
During this time, Hunter and Blitz appeared from the two doorless entrances of the kitchen. "Happy Easter," they said simultaneously.
"Happy Easter," Colleen, Exile, and Shag replied in unison.
Hunter saw the hot cross buns and turned to Exile. "So, how are things going so far with you being Shag's right hand man?" he asked.
Exile frowned. "It's fine, I guess," he said with a shrug. "We only cooked the buns, and we still have lunch and dinner to make, so it's going to be a fun ride for me."
"Exile said we'll have sausage bread for lunch," Blitz said aloud, much to the delight of Hunter and Colleen.
"Now that sounds like lunch," Hunter remarked. "Not like that garbage style macaroni casserole we had last Christmas."
Shag scoffed as he opened the refrigerator and took out a carton of eggs, a pack of cheese, bacon, and a gallon of milk.
"Hold it, Shag!" Colleen said, rushing over to the sheepdog. She seized the carton and opened it, revealing a dozen white eggs, ready to be cracked and scrambled.
"Why did you take the eggs from Shag?" Blitz inquired the collie.
"I wanted to make sure that these aren't the eggs we'll be using in the egg hunt," Colleen explained.
Shag spoke and made a couple gestures towards the fridge.
"That's good," Hunter said. "Now we know where the Easter eggs are when it's time to hunt. We've got nothing to worry about."
"This year's Easter is going to be the best," Blitz added. "I'll make sure of that, my pretty Easter bunny."
Colleen turned to Hunter and asked, "I'm sorry to be a bother, Hunty, but why did you bring your alley friend along?"
Hunter snickered and replied with: "I thought it would be nice for him to spend Easter with some new friends."
Blitz quietly growled and left the kitchen. Hunter soon followed, having the sudden urge to ridicule the Doberman for calling Colleen his "pretty Easter bunny".
Blitz was sitting on the couch watching the local news. When he noticed Hunter standing next to him, he growled again, this time at a much higher volume.
"Well, you seemed to have lost the holiday spirit in a snap," Hunter remarked.
"I did not lose my holiday spirit," Blitz responded, his eyes still staring at the TV screen. "I'm still ticked that Colleen isn't acknowledging my comments."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Hunter said in a high-pitched, teasing tone.
Blitz instantly stood up and glared at Hunter dead in the eye. "Listen to me, goldilocks," he snarled; "I don't care if I ruin your Easter! All I want is for Colleen to smile and tell me how good I am with my muscles, my brains, and my bravery; and I shall get it on this very day!"
"Bravery?" Hunter laughed. "Are you telling me that screaming like a little girl is bravery? What's next; a piledriver is the new way to hug?"
Blitz immediately lost patience and grabbed Hunter by his shirt collar. "Enough with the taunts!" he barked. "Let the brawl begin!"
Hunter bared his teeth and was just about to strike Blitz's snout when Colleen's voice made them freeze. "Is everything alright in there?"
"Yes, Colleen," the two cano-sapiens responded.
Blitz dropped Hunter and whispered, "This isn't over! You will never be her boyfriend!"
"Oh yeah?" Hunter growled. "We'll see about that when the egg hunt is over. Better yet, we can go downstairs and kill each other at a game of eight-ball."
"If that's how you want to clash, so be it!" Blitz grunted. "But know this, you still won't run away with Colleen's heart!"
Hunter snorted and headed to his room to cool down. Blitz sat back down on the couch and proceeded to watch the morning news, which was now showing families with small children having fun at a large farm, which included videos of a hayride, a person walking around in an Easter bunny costume handing out chocolate eggs, and last but not least dozens of children running through a field collecting multi-colored plastic eggs.
Blitz grinned thinking of his evil plan, the reason why he was up all night in the woods. "True, Hunter is sort of a pro at eight-ball," he said to himself; "but only because he can see what's ahead of him."