Dog Days of Winter: Part 2
As Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey stared in happy astonishment, a delightful Golden Retriever puppy stumbled out of the cardboard box. The puppy was truly adorable, with a shiny gold coat, a madly wagging tail, and floppy ears. The chocolate colored eyes gazed lovingly up at its new owners.
"It's a puppy!" shrieked Dewey.
"Mom, Dad, you're the greatest!" Reese exclaimed.
"This is so cool!" Malcolm yelled.
"Boys, I'd like you to meet Max. He's 8 weeks old, and all ours!" Hal announced proudly.
"You really like him?" questioned Lois happily.
"Like him? We love him!" gushed Reese.
"I wanna play with him!" Dewey shouted.
The rest of the night was spent playing with Max. The family never left his side. They thought that he was the most darling thing they'd ever seen. Everything Max did, they seemed to think was absolutely adorable. Hal, Reese, Malcolm and Dewey even thought it was endearing when Max crapped on the carpet. Lois didn't find it endearing. She found it annoying. However, Lois didn't hold him against him.
That night, Hal, Lois, Reese, Malcolm and Dewey went to bed wide smiles on their faces. They loved Max more than life itself, and had never been so happy before.
A few days later, the family unit didn't find Max so charming. He managed to destroy everything he could find.
"Max! Bad boy!" thundered Lois, holding up the remains of what used to be her best bra.
"Lois, have you seen my little red book?" Hal asked his wife as he walked into their bedroom.
"What little red book?"
"You know, the one with all my client's information in it. It's the single most important thing that I own! If I don't find it, I'll be fired!" blared Hal loudly.
"I'm sorry sweetie, but I have no idea where it-" Lois trailed off in mid sentence. Her eyes fell on the mangled, small book lying on the floor. On closer inspection, she could see that it was red. The pages of the tiny book had been ripped out and shredded. It was ruined. Nothing could be salvaged.
Hal gawked at what used to be his little red book. Without a word, he stalked out of the room and into the bathroom. Lois listened as her husband maliciously lashed out every single obscenity he knew.
In the boy's room, they weren't too happy either. In fact, Reese, Malcolm and Dewey were down right upset.
"Max peed on my bunny!" moaned Dewey. He held up a very wet stuffed rabbit. It was once white, but was rapidly turning yellow.
"Omigod! He ripped up all my homework! Caroline will kill me! Or even worse, she'll try to get me to confide in her again!" Malcolm vented.
"Oh yeah? Well that stupid dog chewed up my most prized possession!" screamed Reese.
"And what's that?" Malcolm asked.
"My 'Li'l Hell raiser's Kit! It had everything a kid could possibly need to torment the neighborhood with! Water balloons, stink bombs, firecrackers, fake dog crap, everything!" Reese stomped angrily out of the room and into his parent's bedroom. His younger brothers trailed along behind him.
"Mom, we've got to do something about Max! He's ruined all our stuff! It's horrible!" bellowed Reese.
"This really is out of control. I'm sorry boys, but we can't keep him," Lois said.
"How soon can we get rid of him?" her three sons asked in one voice.
"I don't know how to get rid of him," Hal sighed.
"Don't worry about it, Dad. We'll take of it. I'll make sure Max gets a good home." Reese smiled up at his parents.
The next day, Reese, Malcolm and Dewey snuck over to their neighbors, the Bergman's house. They hated the Bergmans more than anyone else in the neighborhood.
Snickering, Malcolm set a large cardboard box down on the Bergman's front step. He rang the doorbell, and then he and his brothers run away.
As the boys were running into their own yard, they heard the front door open, and listened as Mrs. Bergman exclaimed loudly,
"Oh my! What a darling puppy!"