As he waited, he looked around his house. There were dirty clothes, dirty dishes, food containers, and spoiled food everywhere. A foul odor hung in the air. How could he allow his home to become such a mess? He sat back and turned on the television. Soon, there was a knock at the door. He got up and headed over to answer it. He opened the door, and standing in the doorway were three individuals, a raccoon, a penguin and a hedgehog. "Good," said Todd. "Right on time."
"Now what was so important that you made us get up so early?" asked the raccoon.
"I want you three gentleman to clean up my house," the turtle said. "I need it done before noon, and I'll give each of you $400 for your troubles."
"Wow," the penguin said. "Why are you being so generous all of a sudden?"
"Because I'm having some company over today and I don't want the place to look like a dump," Todd said.
"Looks like little Todd's found himself a little girlfriend," the raccoon said teasingly. "Am I right?"
"That's none of your business," the turtle snapped. "Now clean it up nice and don't steal any of my stuff. I've got a few errands to run. You'll find everything you need to clean up in the living room." He moved toward the door.
"Oh, we'll do a good job of cleaning the place up," said the raccoon. "But it'll be hard for me to resist stealing anything. After all, your collection of unwashed socks and moldy pizza boxes must be worth a fortune!"
"Goodbye, you idiots," Todd said, stepping outside. "I hope this wasn't a mistake..."
"Bye," said the hedgehog. The door closed and Todd was gone.
"OK, you guys," the raccoon said to his two friends. "Todd is paying us a lot of money, so we've got to do this right. Chris, you'll clean the living room. Matt, you take the kitchen, and I'll clean his bedroom and do his laundry."
"Why don't you let that nerd wash his own dirty underwear?" the penguin said, picking a pair of boxer shorts off the floor and throwing them across the room.
"We haven't exactly been the best of friends to Todd," said the raccoon. "But he's always been there for us. So, I'm going to go out of my way to get this place extra clean."
"Whatever you say, Andy," the bird said and then started for the kitchen.
The hedgehog started working on the living room and the raccoon moved toward the turtle's bedroom.
Penelope had gotten up early and prepared a large breakfast for Bentley, in hopes that she could convince him to spend more time with her and less time with his machine. The turtle emerged from his room and headed out to the kitchen to greet her. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Bentley honey," she said smiling. "Join me for some breakfast."
"Thanks," he said. "But I can't. Got to get down to the lab. I've gotten the time machine to travel as far back as five years. I think I'm ready for a big breakthrough!" He grabbed a muffin and then kissed her good-bye. "See you later." He then started for the door.
"Bye," she said disappointedly as he rolled out. "What am I going to do with him?" She sadly flopped down on the couch.
As he went about his daily business, Todd wondered if this Penelope girl was actually going to be nice and kind toward him or dismiss him as a worthless loser as most had done to him in the past. He also wondered if perhaps he should have hired professionals to clean up his house instead of relying upon his useless friends.
The penguin and hedgehog relaxed on Todd's couch, having largely cleaned up the house. They were watching television and drinking some beers they found in his refrigerator. "I wonder why Todd asked us to clean up his place," said the hedgehog. "I thought the swan was his new best friend."
"That swan is probably too afraid to get his feathers dirty," the penguin said.
"Yeah."
"OK, you guys," the raccoon said, entering with a large basket of freshly-cleaned laundry. "Back to work. We've only got a little bit left to do and Todd is sure to return soon."
"OK," the penguin said, getting up.
"Is that beer you're drinking?" asked the raccoon. "It's not even 10:00 yet!"
"Come on, Andy!" the hedgehog said. "You dragged us down here. At least we could have a little fun."
"Get up and finish cleaning!" Andy demanded.
"Fine..." The hedgehog removed the last remaining trash from the living room, as the penguin finished up the kitchen.
Todd returned home and looked around in amazement. "Wow..." he said. "You guys have done a wonderful job! Just for that, I'm giving you an extra hundred each."
"Thank you," Andy said smiling. "I'm sorry about all the terrible things I've done to you before."
"It's OK," said Todd, handing each of them some money.
"Like the time I glued all that stuff to your shell," the raccoon said. "Or the time I poured all that itching powder into the butt end of your shell, or the time I fired you out of that cannon..."
"Actually, the cannon thing was kind of fun," said the turtle. "You three are now free to leave. Thank you for all the help."
"No problem," Andy said. "Call us anytime if you need anything."
"I will."
The three of them depart. Todd sits down on the couch and watches them leave. He looked at his watch. Plenty of time to rest up before Penelope shows up. He took off his shoes and his glasses, spread out on the couch and pulled his head in his shell.
Penelope finished cleaning up the breakfast she had worked so hard to make for Bentley. She really hoped this Todd fellow was as nice and charming as he looked. She had really become lonely thanks to Bentley's nonsense and was hoping for a little companionship. She looked to the clock and decided to leave for Todd's early in case she had trouble finding the address.