1. You're gonna' want to read this: s/8985485/8/LAT-New-Adventures-Home-At-Last, to actually know one of the characters in the story. In general you shouldn't be reading this story before checking out Essansee's stuff. Here's the link to her page again: u/4525893/Essansee.
2. There is never a number 2. Enjoy!
The first challenge of the day was sitting right in front of her paws. She woke up early, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the newspaper boy. It landed just a few feet away from her and she had ran towards it, when she realised that the job would not be as simple as it initially seemed.
"This stupid muzzle", she thought to herself, as she attacked the paper from different angles, doing her best to get some sort of grip on the treasured object. Yet, no matter how hard or long she tried, the muzzle found a way to best her. And she had all, but given up hope. At least until a familiar voice came around.
"Wow! You'z look real troubled", a shaggy dog looked her over, "Remember me, right?"
She gave him a confused look, "What are you doing out of your home, Meelus?"
He scratched an ear before saying, "They humans of mine don't mind, I like to strech my legs out real nice."
Danielle had a sudden lightbulb switch on in her head, "You wouldn't mind doing me a favour, would you?"
He smiled at her, "With the newspaper, yes? Thought you was looking for help."
She gestured him over, closer to the fence and began to whisper her plan of attack to him. After she was done, he nodded understandingly, picked the newspaper up in his own mouth and crept to the nearest hiding spot, while she sat by, waiting for her plan to come into motion.
A little while later a door was being unlocked and out walked Jim Dear, dressed in his signature gown and slippers. He seemed instantly confused when he didn't see the newspaper lying on the grassy lawn, as it usually was every morning. Then, almost out of nowhere, a shaggy dog appeared. Startled as Jim was to see the dog in his lawn, he was more interested in what the dog was holding.
"Steady now boy", he said, while approaching slowly, "All I want is the newspaper."
He got closer and closer and just as he was about to grab it from his mouth, the dog ducked and sprinted the other way. Not willing to surrender his paper that easily, Jim sprinted after the dog, struggling to keep up the pace. Just as he was about to curse and give up, he saw the dog stop dead in his tracks as Danielle dropped to a threatening stance and released an unthreatening growl. To his surprise, the dog actually dropped the paper and jumped over the fence and out of the yard, with his tail in between his legs.
He looked back over to Danielle, who now seemed to be awkwardly trying to push the newspaper toward him with her nose. The man bent down to her level and removed the muzzle around her face. "Good girl Danielle!", he exclaimed.
"Keep this up and you'll be off the chain in no time!", he stated, while stroking her back. As he left the dog let out a few happy, yippy barks at him.
She then turned to the fence to see that Meelus had returned, "Looks like it worked out didn't it", he said, grinning wildly.
"All thanks to you", she replied with a grin of her own.
He blushed a little, "Aw gee, it was nothin', really. Anyway I better be off back to them humans of mine."
She gave him a quick goodbye and then lied down. As she thought about Meelus, she couldn't help, but let the thought of her sister, Collette come into the picture. She was obsessed with the dog. While Danielle had never felt the same way,she followed in her sister's footsteps. As much as she loved and her sister, sometimes she realised how little their activities interested her. She was getting tempted into following her other sister, Annette's lead and going off on an adventure of her own. What was it her sister told her? I am my own dog. That was exactly what she wanted to be, but first she'd have to apologise to Collette.
The day had come and gone and it had been a pretty good one for Danielle. She of course started the day by loosing her muzzle and being promised by Jim Dear that she would soon be off the chain.
Scamp, Angel, Annette and Killian had come by to talk and play. She asked where Collette was, they had no idea. She seemed to be in one of her moods they told her. That made her feel a tinge of guilt. Her mother came by later to have a nice talk with her, it abruptly ended, however when Tramp limped in out of nowhere and let slip some very 'insightful' things to his daughter. He looked at his fuming mate and ducked into a playful catch-me-if-you-can crouch, before taking off. Mad as she might have looked, she opted to play along, deliberately keeping her pace slow so that Tramp might think that he actually had a chance of outrunning her. That had her confused, her father was aging by the day, but he only seemed to become more playful. Her mother suggested that it was something called a 'midlife crisis'.
She lied down in the doghouse with these thoughts in her mind and began to drift off to sleep. The peace was cut through in an instant when a scream filled the air. She had never heard her friend scream before, but she knew that it could only have been him and that he was in trouble. She heard more terrible sounds, while looking up at the bedroom that she knew he slept in. As much as she wanted to break free and rush up, the chain was not budging, yet she refused to give up.
After what felt like an eternity of tugging, the chain came loose and she stumbled her way across the yard and into the house, where her friend's distressed screams continued to fill the atmosphere.