Chapter 3 : First Impressions
"Well, let me think. Zoe Trent, she seemed really confident. She is the singer and definitely looks it. Her singing is great and she seems to love to perform. Definitely a show dog, a purebred probably." Mango looked over at Pepper to see if she was correct. Pepper nodded showing Mango that she was.
They were both sitting on two pet beds in a corner of the Pet Shop. It was a nice spot, quiet and far away from the other pets. A spot where a promising friendship could bloom and Pepper could quiz Mango on the other pets to see what she had learned. So far Mango was doing great. Mango plucked at the fabric of the yellow pet bed she was on and continued to talk. As she did, Pepper fluffed the blue bed she sat on and readjusted her tail.
"All right, Russell Ferguson next. He seems to be the leader of the group. Very organized and caring. Responsible and loves checklists. He rolls into a ball a lot?" Mango asked the last question with a raised eyebrow. She knew a little bit about hedgehogs and everything she had read about them mentioned their unique talent of rolling into tiny balls at will.
"Very good, check, check, check, check, check, and for the ball thing, check. Next!" Pepper answered with a smile and a honk of the clown nose she was wearing.
"Minka Mark is the monkey artist. She is super hyper, fun loving, and can make a mess… a lot. A little unstable sometimes. Then there is Penny Ling, she seems pretty quiet. Sensitive and caring, she loves to ribbon dance, has a big amount of grace, and an even bigger amount of tears. No offense to her." Mango said with a guilty look.
"Eh, don't worry about it. She can cry a lot, so be careful with what you say to her. Learned that the hard way… never try insult comedy!" Pepper said the last sentence while glaring at Mango.
"Good to know? Anyway, Pepper Clark, well she seems like a pretty funny skunk. Happy, fun loving, cares about her friends, and loves her props. Am I correct?" Mango leaned in as she asked the question. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled and raised one eyebrow.
"Hehehe, guilty!" Another clown nose honk.
"Vinnie Terrio is the dancer. He seems really nice. He knows a lot about dancing. Very athletic, but maybe a little on the dim side. He also seems like he can be a little clumsy at times, but hey, who am I to judge?" Mango nearly slipped off of the pet bed she was on while finishing her sentence. She just laughed and steadied herself.
"Wow, you are on a ROLL! Except, Vinnie athletic? Come on." Pepper gave Mango a confused look, wondering where she could have gotten that from.
"Dancing is very hard. To do all the moves he does and go as fast as he does you need to be very strong. Now, I know I am missing someone. Oh yes! Sunil the magician. He seems to love his magic, even if it doesn't work sometimes. But he does seem to have talent, a little cowardly, and really quiet. But I think he is a good friend and can be quite brave if he wanted to." Mango finished her summary and snuck a glance over to where Sunil was practicing his magic. His hat had exploded… again. She giggled and turned back to Pepper.
"Sunil, brave? Come on. No offense to him but he isn't the bravest pet in the room. Anyway, you seem to know quite a lot about everyone here. Everyone seemed to make great first impressions. I think you will fit in fine." Pepper gave her a pat on the back and then walked over to the door where her owner was waiting. Waving good bye she hopped into her owner's arms and was carried away.
Well, now who should I hang out with? Mango wondered as she watched the skunk be carried away. She quickly scanned the room, made her choice, and walked over.