The poor child and his dog fell asleep while watching a whale give birth to it's calf on Animal Planet. Josh's bare legs dangled from the sofa, his head resting against Sweeney's sleeping form. Josh's glasses had slid to the tip of his nose: old lady style. One of them snorted as he breathed, and there's no telling who.
A shadowy figure spied through the window.
"Yes, this will be easy." he breathed to himself. "Poor Joshy doesn't have his mommy with him to hold his hand." A silent snicker went through the shadow's head.
Sweeney's eyes flickered open and he yawned. His vision was hazy with sleep, but certainly there was a new smell. His sniffed the air and twitched his ears, tickling Josh.
"Sweeney, stop tickling me." Josh rolled over and scratched his butt.
The shadowy figure stopped to listen.
What was that? he thought. I've been caught! I should leave now before that big dog gets me. But what would The Boss think? No, I can't let him down. The shadow moved on and Sweeney closed his eyes and yawned again.
"Sweeney!" Josh whispered a shout, "your breath is so bad! Please stop yawning."
Sweeney whimpered, then noticed a light coming from the direction of Josh's studio. Sweeney blinked and the light was still there. Josh felt Sweeney's wet nose dig into his ribs with an unlikely urgency.
"What is it, you crazy dog?" Josh sat up and pushed his glasses back into place. He yawned and sang an F# at the same time. "Sween, what time is it?" He heaved a breath and slouched his shoulders. Sweeney relentlessly jumped off the couch and barked twice.
"Is there something you want? Are you hungry?" Josh didn't know what to do.
Sweeney ran into the direction of Josh's studio and barked again.
"Okay, I'm coming!"
Josh staggered off the sofa, and suddenly he noticed the motion of a flashlight in his studio. What the… Josh ran to the doorway of his studio with Sweeney at his side.
There next to the wall was a masked man. He was at least as large as Tariqh, and his eyes could stare down even Darren. In one hand he held one of Josh's platinum records for Noel, in the other he had one of Josh's gold.
"What are you doing in my studio!" Josh tried to sound firm, but he knew that his hoodie and boxers took away all toughness.
The man laughed out loud. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Tee hee, oh, ha ha ha ha!"
Josh looked down at his hairy legs and wondered what was so funny. Sweeney looked up at Josh as if to say, what now? Josh slowly nodded, a new fire in his eyes.
"Put down my records or I'll have to shoot!"
The masked man chuckled, "You don't have a gun, Skinny Legs." Suddenly Josh wished he had drunk more milk as a child.
Sweeney growled and showed his teeth.
"My dog has been trained with the police, you better get out of here before he rips off the front of your pants!" The masked man only laughed harder.
Josh looked down at Sweeney and said, "Go, Sween! Go!"
Sweeney leapt towards the man and grabbed him you-know-where. The masked man shrieked like a girl and dropped the records instantly. Josh ran up to cradle the records in his arms, "Good job, Sween! Harder, harder!"
The man had tears streaming down his cheeks, "Stop, please. I'll tell you who sent me. It was…" He slipped into unconsciousness and Sweeney let go.
G
