Chapter thirty-one: The Fun Zone
Snowflake drove down the road, hoping everyone was okay at The Lookout. Suddenly, she saw something fall into her path on the road.
The husky pup gasped before hitting the breaks. Tires screeched to a halt before Snowflake looked to see if she had stopped in time.
"Ryder? Chase? What are you two doing on the road? It's dangerous!" Snowflake commented, shocked by who had caused her to stop.
At this time, Ryder and Chase's eyes met, and they had to awkwardly chuckle.
"Heh heh, um.. well.." Chase wavered.. then the three other pups noticed the crashed scaffold on the sidewalk behind their leader and friend.
"Ruff! Cones!" Chester barked, tossing out the pylons in precisely the right places to block off the road in front of and behind them.
"I leave you for one morning, and look what happens." Chester humorously scolded. "Almost get flattened by a window washer scaffold. And I'm the one playing traffic cop,.. you do know I didn't move here to bail out of trouble all the time, right?.."
"As if,.." Chase sighed, finally beginning to slide off Ryder with as little motion as possible.
But as the boy shifted onto his side and pushed himself up with his hands, he only started to stand when his chest stabbed him into hunching over again.
Hearing the boy lightly grimace, Chase froze where he was halfway to his truck and quickly doubled back so he could ease his head under Ryder's hand so he could lean on him for stability.
Oh man, what have I done now?! He couldn't help but think.
"You ok, Ryder?" Rubble asked, all pups perking up as soon as they'd heard Ryder react to the strain on his injuries.
"Ihn- I'll be ok.. just a little tender is all." Ryder replied, holding his chest with one hand with the other on Chase's head.
"Well lucky for you, we can help you out with that.. I mean getting somewhere you can rest, that is.." Chester reasoned.
"Hold on, ruff! Transfer sled!" Snowflake said. The back of her vehicle opened to show a cushioned set of seats and medical supplies.
"Get in the back of my vehicle. I can get you home safely," Snowflake suggested.
"Thanks pup," Ryder smiled, beginning an approach.
Chase did his best to keep his head up, nearly tripping once but maintained his path toward the sled; and held his position for Ryder to get into it. Then heading around to nose up the cones, Chase hopped into his truck, as Chester shifted to the backseat. And gave him a humorously judgemental look, which his brother returned with a cheesy smile.
Then rolling his eyes loosely.. he started the engine and led the group back toward the Lookout.
xxxx
Skye, Rocky, Zuma, Marshall and Ned were surprised to look up and see Chase leading the group home from the driver seat of his own vehicle.
"Chase? Guys? Where did you come from?" Skye asked, wandering toward them as the pups began to climb down from their vehicles.
"We were heading down from Jake's Mountain to come back for lunch. And on our way back, we found Ryder and Chase," Snowflake explained, as Marshall and the others arrived to meet them with Skye.
"And we definitely did not run into them in the middle of the road." Chester clarified, making some of them laugh. "Definitely did not.." And they could tell he was subtly sarcastic in saying this.
"Haha, wait why?" Rocky wondered.
"It's a long story.." Chase told them.
"Which reminds me.." he looked to Snowflake, Rubble and Chester. "How did you end up there? I mean, aren't there easier ways to get to the Lookout than cutting through town?"
"Well we were going to drive back the way we came, but..." Snowflake replied, beginning to explain what happened.
xxxx
The drive back eventually turned into a leisurely stroll rather than a full on race, which allowed them to arrive at a fork in the road at about the same time.
The pups had been driving down the snowy path, and were about to turn right when Snowflake suddenly stopped.
"Hold on. guys! Look!" Snowflake said, pointing to a big orange sign up ahead. The sign read 'Road Closed. Road Repairs Ahead. Do Not Cross'.
"Well, 'guess we're taking the long way home.." Chester supposed. "Anyone up for a song! 'On the road again!'" The sing-song tone of the last part, he knew, would annoy Chase, which could've made it more or less enjoyable.. or maybe a little bit of both.
"We can't wait to be on the road again! Do-do-do! On the road again.." Snowflake sang, as she drove with the others.
They would indeed have to drive through town to get back home.
xxxx
"Ahh.. what a jam session that was." Chester mused, reminiscing fondly of the recent event. "Too bad it didn't last long."
"Nice. We've been playing pup skate bowling. Both with the skateboard and us on it. Watch!" Ned replied before jumping on the skateboard and rolling on it into the stacked cups.
"Cups away!" Ned called, as he crashed into the stacked cups.
"And that's how you roll a pup into a cup, for fun!"
"Looks like fun. Just one question... WHHHHHYYYYYY?! You're a walking ball of fur! Not a bowling ball!" Snowflake retorted in confusion.
"Cause it's fun!" Rocky answered, retracting his pincer out to stack a couple more cups on the accumulating tower.
"And creative!" Skye added. "I mean, how many other places are you gonna see someone knocking down cups with a skateboard?"
"Nowhere," Snowflake replied.
"Sooooooo, want to keep knocking down cups with a skateboard or have lunch?" Ned asked curiously.
"I vote lunch! I'm starved!" Chester announced grandly, making Chase roll his eyes humorously.
"Second that!" Rubble called, chasing after him into the Lookout. And the rest of the pups all chuckled as they also followed suit, while Chase doubled back to help Ryder.
xxxx
Chase lay by Ryder's side, taking that post the moment his food was gone, while the other pups were still finishing up.
"You know you don't have to be glued to Ryder anymore." Marshall answered. "He's gonna be fine."
"I know.." Chase answered, trying to sound convincing. And Marshall gave him an 'you sure about that' look.
Then after a moment of holding his gaze, he laid back down with his head laid toward Ryder's thigh, away from Marshall.
"Give him a break," Chester remarked loosely. "I mean, they were almost flattened today."
"No thanks to me! I almost pancaked our leader and your brother! I'm SO sorry!" Snowflake exclaimed before whining.
At this, Chase suddenly perked up.
"Why do you say that?" he asked abruptly, as Ryder set his hand on the pup's back to stroke him. "What did you do?"
"I was leading the way back to The Lookout from Jake's Mountain, but I was so focused on getting back home, I wasn't paying attention to what was in front of me," Snowflake explained.
"You stopped in time didn't you?" Chase answered bluntly.
"Yes I did," Snowflake said.
"And if not for your lights, we probably wouldn't have even noticed you coming.." Chase added dryly. "Come to think of it.. Why were your lights on.. In the middle of the day? In sunny Adventure Bay?"
Snowflake looked back at the German Shepherd in confusion.
"Ummm.. For safety sake?" Snowflake guessed. Chase did make a good point.
"But,.. it's the middle of the day." Chase answered.
"What is this?" Chester asked, getting in Chase's face; though not in a mean way. "An interrogation? Maybe she accidentally hit the button."
"Ok, ok,.. Fair point, sheesh." Chase gave in, wandering back over to Ryder. And when he did this, Ryder ran his fingers up Chase's back and the pup shuddered in pleasure.
"Anyways, I think it's time I hang out with Chester. Right?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"You know it!" Chester smirked. "And I know just the place to do that!"
xxxx
The two pups approached the building and stared up as they came closer to it.
"What is this place? Goofball land?" Snowflake asked kindly. Her mind thought the place was made for pups to goof off in. Silly instruments, costumes, and silly activities probably awaited her.
"The Fun Zone? You could say that.." Chester replied.. then approached the doors to push them open with both forepaws.
As soon as they entered, they were met with a seating area much like that of a restaurant. But the level just above it led to something which they couldn't quite see yet. And Chester was all too confident to climb the half a dozen stairs that led up to it. And as soon as she saw what it was.. she was amazed.
A field of trampolines, mainly of square shapes, lay in front of her.. a couple cages of protection for other tiny rooms to their right and another level to her left.. she could tell there were many more possibilities than she'd anticipated.
"Nice. Is there any more fun areas in this building? It can't be just trampolines," Snowflake asked.
"Well we've got the gymnasium and the foam pits to our left.." Chester began thoughtfully. "And the basketball hoops and the ball pit to our right.. I thought there was a laser tag option, but maybe I'm wrong."
"Anyway,.." he continued, shaking himself out of his wandering thought. "We used this place as part of Chase's therapy back when he first injured his shoulder after returning home from the CorDan mansion. In fact,.. that's the whole reason this building exists!"
"Like a fun therapy building? Cool! Hmmmm, can we check out the gymnasium?" Snowflake replied thoughtfully.
"Sure, come on!" Chester nodded, stepping up to the edge of the tramp field. "Jeronimo!" Leaping across the checkerboard of tramps. He veered around to the far left side of the left end of the building, climbed the next platform up and bounded away from the pits toward the large blue padding of open floor that opened up the space before them.
As they crossed the floor, they could now study the various structures and climbing things set around the edge of the blue flooring almost as a form of sideline for the otherwise tumble worthy floor.
"How's that for fun?" Chester swagged, sending her a knowing smirk.
"Nice. What else can we do in here?" Snowflake asked, as she looked around.
"Well the foam cube pits are over there.." Chester pointed straight ahead of him at the corresponding corner nearest to them.
"The basketball tramps are all the way over there.." He pointed to the opposite corner to them, on the other end of the building.
"And some ball pits that you can jump in right next to them.. Otherwise that's it.. Still think there might be a glow in the dark, laser tag kind of thing.." and the last part she could tell was Chester thinking out loud.
"Actually yes, or some different activity," Snowflake remarked.
After replying though, the husky pup was confused.
"Wait, IS there Glow-in-the-Dark laser tag option, or do you wish there was?" Snowflake asked in confusion.
"I honestly don't know,.." Chester sighed in exasperation. "It would be cool, but somehow I think it might not be a thing."
"Awwwww. That's a shame. Any other fun rooms you can show me?" Snowflake asked politely.
"Not that I know of.." Chester thought. "But we can enjoy what's here though. Like the pits for example.." he took off across the bouncy floor and onto the landing platform that led up to the two large pits filled with red, blue, and yellow foam cubes.
"Watch your step,.. The first one's a doozy!" He warned half jokingly. "And you might find a stuffy or two in there."
"A stuffy? Really?" Snowflake said, before leaning in to see if she could find any plushies in the foam squares.
Suddenly she was knocked forward and landed in the pit of soft foam, and she looked up to find Chester smiling down on her.
"Aw, yes! I've always wanted to do that!" He cheered. "Cannonball!"
"You tricked me! You WANTED me in the foam pit. Good one," Snowflake commented.
Upon hearing 'Cannonball' though, her eyes widened.
"Wait- No!" the husky pup said before diving under the foam cubes.
But when the German Shepherd landed he buried himself and came up a moment later.
"HahaHA! You cannot escape my wrath! Serpent of the soft sea! haHA!" Chester cackled in his best hero voice.
Snowflake came up to see Chester.
"Yes, you got me," Snowflake said calmly.
"Haha! Aw come on you're supposed to play along! Trust me.. Chase would." Winking at her, summed up this fact in addition to his smile.
"Right. Hmmmm. Are there any rainbow parachutes in the gymnasium?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"Um.. I think so.." Chester thought out loud, with the wandering of his gaze. "All we gotta do is take a look on the shelves.
"Okay. Where are the shelves?" Snowflake asked as she looked around, getting out of the foam box pile.
"Anything amongst all the climbing stuff, there should be shelves all along that wall there." Chester said, waving a paw from where he lay on top of the ocean of the cubes, reclining back with his eyes closed like he were basking in the sun on a beach somewhere. "I'll let you go figure that out.." then laying his head way back he began to snore, which she could tell was very fake.
"Asleep in the sea of foam. You aren't fooling me," Snowflake said, before going over to the shelves. She climbed them carefully before finding a blue bag labeled 'parachute'. She grabbed it, and climbed down. Once on the ground, she opened the bag, got the rainbow parachute out and threw it into the air!
The rainbow parachute flew into the air for a few seconds, before landing on top of the husky pup.
"Yay! I'm a rainbow ghost puppy! Booooooo!" Snowflake said quietly to herself before flailing her forepaws in the air.
"Is that all you do?" Chester asked, when pulling himself up to poke his head out of the pit at her. "Play under stuff. And sorry if I sound rude by saying that. I'm working on that. Hush it, Chess!" He hissed this last statement to himself and continued as though he were still talking to someone to himself.
"Oh yeah?! I'll show you.. Hiyah! Rah-yayayaya!" then diving down below her view all she could see after the 'hiyah' was cubes flying everywhere.
"Only when it's fabric. Woooooooo! I'm coming to hug the cube dork! Your cube karate is no match for my parachute. Oooooooooo!" Snowflake replied as she walked in his direction, continuing to flail her paws around.
Chester looked up again, with a blue cube set on the backside of his paw(held like a sock puppet), looked at it as though it were alive then back to the husky.
"Uhh, is she supposed to be coming to get us?" he asked his makeshift puppet.
"Huh? Chester? You there?" Snowflake called out as she wandered around while under the parachute. Soon, she stopped and lifted the parachute up, only to be greeted by a blue wall.
"Are you kidding me?!" Snowflake said in disbelief. The husky pup draped herself in the rainbow parachute again, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.
"Uh oh, she's coming for us.." Chester muttered to his plushie companion. "Better batten down the hatches. All hands on deck!" He called. "I mean.. Paws on deck!"
"Man your battle stations, men!" he called, settling his position in the center of the pit. "Cause thar she blows!.. The great white Moby Snowflake approaches!"
"You mean the great, rainbow ghost Snowflake. Boooooo! Oooooooooo!" Snowflake said as she kept approaching, waving her paws wildly.
"Wait, how do you know that story? I know it because my owner has the book," Snowflake retorted in confusion.
"Ah,.. just a story Frank once told me.." Chester answered. "Or was that the scary bedtime story Billy told us one night? Ah,.. who cares, all I know is that I was told the story when I lived back in Barkingburg with Chase and the Prescotts."
"Okay. Still, I'm coming to catch you! Oooooooo!" Snowflake responded before coming towards Chester, still pretending to be a parachute ghost.
"Oh no! She's too much! Abandon ship! Abandon ship!" Then Chester tossed his foam cube buddy, scrambled out of the pit and ran away across the trampoline field screaming, while Snowflake made chase!
Ta Da! Were you surprised with how the cliffhanger ended? We certainly had fun writing it!.. Convenient how our temporary, daily posting schedule ended on THAT particular chapter,.. and yet here we are with the continuation.
Now I know some of you had guesses and suggestions as to how this was gonna go down,.. buuuut I hope you weren't too disappointed. With that said, I hope you caught the couple of references we snuck in. And mostly without trying too hard too, they just kinda came up and we couldn't resist! Anyone leave a comment if you know what they are and what you thought of 'em.
All in all.. Enjoy! Thx!