"Nighttime Thoughts"



(Night has fallen. Tomorrow, both the Hendersons and the secret agents will arrive in Nowhere. Before that happens, however, let's take a look inside each character's mind, shall we?)



Courage lay awake at the foot of his masters' bed. He was still very excited that the Hendersons were coming back to his house tomorrow. In the two and a half weeks since their departure, Courage had practically thought of no one else but them: Carl and Diane, the friendly parents who were so protective of their children. Little Katie, who patted him on the head several times and never went anywhere without Mr. Furry. Kevin, the teenage boy who treated him like a best friend and displayed a remarkable personality that rivaled his own. And Sandy. Dear, sweet Sandy. She had been on Courage's mind ever since she stepped out of the car that first day she arrived. From that moment on, Courage had daydreamed about being with Sandy in every conceivable (and inconceivable) way. Courage licked his lips as he remembered that unforgettable kiss Sandy gave him in the backyard. His only worry, however, was if Sandy knew just how much Courage cared about her. Courage knew that he was no longer a puppy and understood the changes going on inside him, but these feelings were unlike anything he had ever felt before! It wasn't easy keeping them under control, but as Courage rolled onto his stomach, he vowed that he would try to maintain a normal composure throughout the Henderson's stay...but not to the point of practically ignoring them. Courage smiled. He just couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Muriel lay awake on one half of the bed. She could feel Courage lying at her feet. She was thoroughly exhausted. Muriel had spent most of the day cleaning the house with Courage and Eustace. She had always believed that a clean house was a happy house, especially when visitors were arriving. Like Courage, she was also excited to see the Hendersons again. Carl and Diane were respectable adults who always enjoyed her conversations. And those darling kids! They were so well-mannered and adorable. She also knew about Sandy and Courage's relationship, but was wise enough to stay out of it. Muriel thought about what everyone would do once the Hendersons arrived and hoped Eustace would behave as well.

Eustace could usually care less about the events that happened around here. (Blah,blah,blah.) But for some reason, he didn't seem to mind having the Hendersons here again. True, he still thought those kids were bothersome, but he guessed that he now knew what to expect from them, since they had been here before. He also didn't want anything weird happening again like last time. However, those events were becoming a dim memory. Eustace grumbled to himself, wondering what the heck was going on between Courage and that other dog.



In a motel in Colorado, Carl Henderson slept in a bed next to his wife. Had been worried about what would happen once they stayed at that freaky little farmhouse again. The events from last time had been permanently etched into his mind. Still, everyone seemed to really enjoy that place for some reason. Maybe it was because Diane met someone new she could talk to. In fact, Muriel did look a bit like Diane's mother. Then again, maybe the family dog, Sandy, finally had a friend of her own. A nagging thought in the back of Carl's mind thought it was a bad idea for a male and female dog to be with each other for too long [I smell foreshadowing!], but Carl knew from Kevin that Sandy was "an understanding, responsible dog". Carl sighed as he wished that nothing too out of the ordinary would happen next time around.

Diane, who was half asleep, had mixed feelings about returning to Nowhere. It was exciting to return to the town her deceased ancestors had built. Of course, MEETING your deceased ancestors was something else altogether. It took a lot of doing by her family to get her to go back there. She finally agreed, but the experience had made her a bit more overprotective for her kids. Diane fell asleep praying that nothing would happen to the family again when they returned.

Kevin lay in the other bed next to his sister. Like Katie, Kevin was anxious to return to the outskirts of Nowhere. He'd never admit it to his parents, but he felt that a little adventure and a little danger every now and then was good for him. Kevin had always been a fearless kid, except, of course, for his fear of heights. He knew that his sister, Katie, must've felt scared by the experience. Any ten year old girl would. But when he asked her about it, she said she wasn't all that scared. Typical Katie. Kevin quickly made it his personal goal to make sure Katie was in the best of care while she was in Nowhere.

(Speaking of Katie, she's fast asleep next to Kevin. For some reason, I don't know what she's thinking right now. Hmmmm....)

Sandy lay awake at Kevin's feet. She stared up at the ceiling, thinking about Courage. This was the first relationship Sandy had ever had with another dog. She wondered if she was going into it too fast. She quickly pushed that thought out of her mind as she thought about Courage's attributes. He was handsome, nice, and brave....at least, brave most of the time. Surely, by now Courage was not quite as scared about things as he was before the Hendersons first arrived. Sandy had dreams about Courage and her brush with death on more than one occasion and it pleased her to know that Courage would do anything for her. Sandy was not going to take advantage of this discovery, of course, and decided that she would spend most of her time talking to Courage about San Francisco. Sandy rolled onto her stomach and smiled. She could barely contain her excitement.



Agent Barsby lay awake on a motel bed. His briefcase lay next to him. He felt glad and irritated by this mission. Barsby had never gone inland into the United States before. He had lived in the U.K. for most of his life and was surprised by the vastness of this country. However, the mission itself made him a little uneasy. He had read about all the odd things happening in Nowhere, and it scared him a little. England had its share of weirdness too, but this was the first time Barsby was going to experience stuff like that firsthand. Barsby decided to think about his fellow agents in order to change the subject. Agent Gammon was okay, if only he didn't keep yakking about Barsby's driving skills. Plus, it annoyed Barsby that he was assigned to just hand over information to Gammon. I mean, you never knew exactly what Gammon was thinking. Agent Darkest Moon was young, but seemed to have everything under control. Barsby wondered if she really was prepared to take this mission seriously. And Agent R. He had a really notorious look, like he was planning to double-cross you at any moment. Did he and The Boss (as I'm going to refer to him as from now on) have some deeper connection that Barsby was unaware of? Barsby made a mental note to keep a sharp eye on him.

Agent Gammon lay on a sleeping bag in front of Barsby's bed. Barsby had one bed, D.M. got the other one, while Gammon and Agent Jonathan R slept on spare cots that were brought in from the RV. Gammon began thinking to himself: "Why didn't I get a bed? Whatever happened to sharing?" The answer to that question was obvious...nobody felt like it. Gammon was also mad at The Boss. What right did he have deleting Gammon's harmless stories from his hard drive? At least he had the decency to put it on a disk, but, seriously, he should've asked Gammon first. Gammon wondered if Boss treated all Sonic fans at the office the same way. Gammon was neutral in his feelings for D.M. If she wanted to tag along, that was fine by him. What really got to him was Agent R's attitude. Unlike everyone else, Agent R seemed to be stuck in his own little world. Every time he said something, it was about information that none of the other agents knew about. One of these days, thought Gammon, I'm gonna figure out what's up with that guy.

Agent Darkest Moon lay on her bed, grumbling to herself in her mind. She hadn't been with the Agency for very long and already she was starting to hear a rumor about herself. She denounced it almost immediately; she did NOT consider herself immature just because she adored cartoons. Why, there probably wasn't an agent anywhere who didn't secretly like a certain cartoon character. D.M. glanced at the Sailor Moon ring on her finger. She knew the other agents had doubts about her investigative abilities, but D.M. was confident she could do the job. Her photography skills were first-rate as well. D.M. thought about taking a couple of pictures of the other agents when they were asleep, but changed her mind. Who knew what that weirdo, Agent R would do if he found out.

Agent Jonathan R was miserable. He never wanted to be a government agent in the first place. He wanted to be a comic book artist. But his father, who is The Boss, remember, wanted him to follow the family lineage of providing protection for the country. So, reluctantly, Jonathan traded in his art pens for a briefcase full of classified information. It was helpful that his father was head of the department, because Jonathan had information from him that only he knew about. That was probably why the other agents didn't like him. Also, the other agents were so right-brained. Calculated, logical, point-A-to-point-B thinkers. Jonathan considered himself left-brained. Spontaneous, creative, imaginative. It was as if he had the term "black-sheep" written all over him. Finally, Jonathan simply looked as if he wasn't to be trusted for anything. Like a young Jack Nicholson. Agent R sighed to himself. Going through with this assignment with three totally different agents tagging along was not going to be easy.



(Well, at least one thing the agents and I have in common is that we're all Courage fans, right? So now you know what's going on in each character's mind at the moment. Stick around for Chap. 4.)