Chapter 14: The Deal
As Gene smirked into his face, and as everyone else look at him with worried, scared eyes, Ralph gulped down a huge knot in his throat.
You've really done it this time, Ralph, he screamed at himself as he cowered, his tail tucked between his legs. That was totally a bad dog move!!
His eyes landing on Gene once again, the mastiff found himself glaring harshly the pug all at once- wishing more than anything else that he could shoot laser beams from his eyes into the pug's tiny, stupid skull.
None of this wasn't Ralph's fault, he abruptly realized- it was Gene's.
That low-down, evil pug had pushed him too far and made him become a fool again. A bad dog again.
How could Ralph prove that he wasn't a fool? That he wasn't a bad dog, that he was so much more than just the dog 'that guards the pet shop building?'
Lifting up a massive paw and slightly shaking off the water on it before setting it back down again, Ralph's mind desperately searching for a suitable answer to his problem. To prove his worth once and for all...
Hopelessly eyeing his own reflection in the water below, the mastiff saw how empty his face look- as empty as he felt. Closing his eyes, the dog forced himself to gulp back the raw, stinging tears threatening to leak out.
It was pointless. No one, nowhere would believe Ralph the guard dog could be or was a good dog...
And there was nothing Ralph could do about it.
Maybe the guys back at the meeting were right, the depressed pooch sighed. Maybe I am doomed to forever be a bad dog. It's unchangeable, unavoidable- and I just finally need to accept it. Why even try?
Blinking them open again, Ralph's eyes pitifully bore into him in his own reflection once again...
Before something else being reflected in the water -something shiny- over by Felix caught his eye.
Looking up, Ralph saw it was just a soaked Felix, his collar's shiny tags reflecting beautifully into the water pooling below him...
And, as if getting hit by a ton of bricks, suddenly a very, very brilliant (and admittedly very, very risky) idea hit Ralph. Hard.
That's it! the mastiff suddenly smiled in hope, making his tag wag slightly. Why didn't you think of that before, ya dummy?!
Straightening up to stand tall and proud, the mastiff's once low-hanging head suddenly raised higher and more confident- the most it had been all evening.
"You know what, Gene?" Ralph smirked, approaching the pug in question as the water flooded away from the steps of his massive paws. "I'm gonna go get me a new collar- to prove that I am a good dog!" He stated firmly, filled with inspiration and motivation.
As the others around silently watched with wide eyes, Gene just rolled his eyes and snorted rudely up at the mastiff.
"Oh, please," the pug hissed. "Like Mr.Litwak would get you a new collar, let alone a good dog collar."
Smirking, Ralph childishly rolled his own eyes down at him.
"I didn't mean getting a new collar from Mr.Litwak," he mused. "I meant getting one outside of the pet shop. Getting one from someone else."
With small, judgemental blue eyes, Gene looked unimpressed.
"Yeah, right," he mocked. "Where's a bad dog like you ever going to get a new collar? Especially by someone other than Litwak?"
Feeling one of his eyes twitch slightly, Ralph paused for a moment and raised a thoughtful eyebrow. He honestly hadn't thought that far ahead.
"Well...from a person, from a place, I know...," the mastiff smugly lied to the pug, sticking out his large, broad chest. "And that's none of your business!"
That part of the plan didn't really matter, anyway, Ralph figured; he'd find the right someplace to get a collar along the way. He just had to convince the right someone.
"Whatever, Ralph," Gene scoffed, rolling his eyes dismissively yet again. "There isn't any place that gives free good dog collars away- and even if they did, they'd never give one to you. It's painfully clear you're just some bad dog."
"I'll earn one, then!" Ralph then decided, his voice louder and more forceful than he meant it to be. "I'll do something brave or heroic or something- and someone out there will be moved to give me a brand new collar!"
"Oh, yeah, suure," the pug mused, his voice as sarcastic as Ralph had ever heard it- before it becoming critical again. "You doing something heroic or brave will never happen- you're too selfish. Besides, even if you did somehow do something meriting a good dog collar, no one would be dumb enough to just give you one. I bet you anything you'll end up coming back to the pet shop empty-necked after one hour of trying to 'earn' a good dog collar."
At the pug's contemptuous, taunting words, yet another idea hit Ralph suddenly and surprisingly.
An idea that could end -or make worse- the injustice, the namecalling, the mistreatment, the rejection for the mastiff...
An idea -no matter how risky- that could lead Ralph to finally, finally belonging with the other animals here in the pet shop...
An idea that would finally make Ralph a good dog. Once and for all... hopefully, at least.
"Oh, yeah? Well, let's make this bet a little more interesting, then," Ralph narrowed his eyes at the pug, who admittedly raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Lifting his head up to seriously look at everyone else as well, the massive dog continued.
"I come back with a collar -with a good dog tag on it- within exactly 3 days, I win the bet...," the mastiff began, his mind searching for the best terms he could think of. "And I...I get actual respect from all of you guys, all the duck treats I want... and I get to live inside the pet shop with you guys, if Mr.Litwak allows, of course."
"-But if you don't get the collar within 3 days and we win...," Gene pushed his face closer to Ralph's, pausing for a moment to decide on the harshest, cruelest terms he could think of.
Smirking, the pug narrowed his eyes firmly as he stomped forward in the water.
"You...you leave the pet shop, Ralph," he concluded ominously. "Forever."
