Chapter 7: Kevin's Gift



Inside the cupboard, Courage huddled by himself in a corner, shaking with fright. He couldn't believe what a coward he had just been. Not only did he fall victim to Eustace's freaky green mask (again), but he did so in front of Kevin and Sandy! What were they going to think of him now? "They'll probably think I'm a loser," thought Courage to himself. "A big, scaredy-cat loser." Courage buried his face in his paws and whined pitifully.



"Courage?" asked Sandy. She was standing in front of the cupboard. "Courage, are you OK?"

"Go away," moaned Courage.

"Courage, its OK. Everything's fine. Eustace is gone now. Why don't you come out?"

"I don't feel like it," said Courage. His voice was beginning to crack.

Sandy felt frustrated. She wanted to help Courage. She wanted to know why he was so fearful of the littlest things. If only he didn't act so stubborn right now.

"Well, I guess you'll come out when you feel like it," said Sandy, with a hint of irritation in her voice. She turned and headed toward the basement.

That irritation was multiplied tenfold inside Courage. He knew that he just ruined his chances with Sandy. "Why?" whispered Courage, tears welling in his eyes. "Why must I be so afraid?" With that, he folded his arms across the pipe leading up to the sink and laid his head on them. Courage started crying, feeling lower than he had ever felt in his entire life.



A half hour later, Courage emerged from the cupboard. He was feeling better. A little. His eyes were red and his fur was wet with tears. He saw a towel hanging from the oven handle and dried himself. Then he slowly walked into the living room. He got up onto the sofa and sat on it. Courage was still feeling down. He was trying to think of ways to apologize to Sandy, when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He turned and saw Kevin, his hair still wet from having just taken a shower. His father, Carl, came out of the basement.

"Your turn, Dad."

"Thanks, son." Carl headed upstairs toward the shower.

Kevin sat down next to Courage to rest.

Courage didn't pay any attention to him. He started muttering to himself. "I wish I wasn't so afraid sometimes," he said to himself.

Beside him, Kevin turned and looked at him with a concerned look on his face.

Courage took no notice and continued. "Sometimes I wish I could just choose what my emotions would be instead of being so...so spontaneous."



Kevin took his eyes off Courage and stared off into the distance. "Tell me about it," said Kevin, sarcastically.



Courage drew in another breath to say more when he stopped. His eyes widened. Did what he think just happened actually happen??? Slowly, he turned to see Kevin staring straight at him.

"Well?" asked Kevin, inquisitively.



There was no way control it. Courage screamed again.

"AAAAAAUUUGH!!!"



Kevin was slightly startled by the sudden noise.

Courage began breathing normally again, but his voice was still shaking.

"You...you can...understand me?"

Kevin started to act a little embarrassed. "Well...yeah."

Courage didn't know what to say. This was, by far, one of the oddest moments of his life; meeting somebody who could talk to dogs!

"How?" asked Courage. It was the only question he could think of.

Kevin sighed. "I dunno. I just......don't know. It started when I was able to talk, but I didn't understand what was going on until I was ten. By then, people started to think I was strange or something, so from then on, I kept my special ability a secret. My family adopted Sandy four years ago when she was a puppy, and the two of us...I dunno...connected. I can't really find the words to describe it. It's sort of like Sandy and I are mutual partners, I guess. When she started talking to you I...(Kevin felt really embarrassed about saying this)...felt a little jealous, I guess. But Sandy made it clear to me that I didn't need to be that way. She's only had very little interaction with other dogs, and she just wanted to be a good friend to you, Courage."



Courage let all this information sink in and sighed sadly. "It sure doesn't seem like it now."

Kevin nodded. "Yes, I had a feeling that this would happen. Listen, Sandy is a very understanding canine. I'm sure if you just talked to her, or something, she'd reconsider your feelings toward her. As for your phobias, I don't know whether it's a mental problem, past experiences, or... whatever that's to blame. You need to learn how to control that fear. Otherwise, your life will be miserable."

Courage thought about it. Of course, his current life could be viewed as miserable to some people, but Courage knew that there were a lot of people (and dogs) who were much worse off than him.



Kevin began to get up and head for the kitchen.

"Kevin?" asked Courage.

Kevin turned around. "Yeah?"

Courage couldn't help but smile. "This is so....weird."

For the first time in a long while, Kevin smiled back. "Hey, I've gotten used to it," he said and walked into the kitchen.



Courage was feeling much better than he did before. He now began thinking of how to talk to Sandy. Where would be the right place to do so? Courage walked over to the window and looked up at the night sky. The stars and moon were both shining like diamonds in the sky.

"I'll bet Sandy's never seen a sky like that," said Courage, smiling. He now knew the perfect scenario.



Stay tuned for Chapter 8: Under the Stars (the serious conversation between Courage and Sandy.)