Chapter forty-nine: Burning The Night Oil
"So what now?" Chase asked, as they were tossing the dirty rags and brushes into a bucket for Katie to take away.
"Well, I'll clean those tomorrow with some of the other ones I have, and then I'll run my shop like always." Katie said. "But for tonight,.. we should probably think about going to bed.."
And Chase slightly perked up.
"What? But.. why not play a game?" Chase suggested, and he made sure not to sound too rushed. "I mean, what fun is a slumber party if we don't play at least one game?"
"Okay. But aren't you tired? We've been running around all day," Snowflake pointed out.
"What no.. I'm good, that bath was all the 'nap' I needed." Chase deflected. "Let's play!"
"Ok.." Katie complied, a little more forwardly. "But we shouldn't be up too late.. Ryder would probably like us to get to bed at a decent time."
Sounds about right. Chase thought regrettably.
"Alright, what would you like to play?" Katie sighed, a bit reluctantly.
"She's right. But I guess we have time to play a game," Snowflake replied.
'What is he up to?' the husky thought suspiciously.
"Ok, but.. what?" Chase wondered thoughtfully..
"Well we could play tag.." Katie suggested.. "or Simon says.. maybe that'll help tire you out."
I don't know about that.. Chase thought.
"Tag sounds fine," Snowflake agreed.
"Hey,.. let's actually make it, Flashlight Tag like at my birthday that one time." Chase suggested, heading over to put his paws up onto the front counter, and search around for any flashlights.
"Hm.. not a bad idea." Katie thought. "But let's be careful.. don't want anybody to get hurt, now do we."
What's she talking about? I'm always careful. Chase wondered at her subtle emphasis, which he sensed was directed at him. But then he recalled the blow from his retreat and the reset he'd endured afterwards..
Oh.. he remembered almost reliving the pain for a brief moment. Wait,.. do they know what happened?!
"Yes. We should be careful," Snowflake said, before she too started looking around for flashlights in the cupboards.
"Well we'll have flashlights.. so we'll be fine." Chase decided. "Now come on!"
Snowflake then ran to the light switch and turned it off. The only light was from the flashlights.
"Who's it?" she asked curiously.
"Me!" Chase blurted out.
"You better find good hiding spots.." he added as Katie set a lit flashlight, handle up in front of the pup. "I wanna make this sort of a challenge."
"Alright, but we'll only stay in this main area." Katie decided. "No escapes to the back rooms or anything."
"Got it," the two pups complied. Then Katie and Snowflake took off, while Chase picked up the flashlight in his mouth to shine it up in front of himself.
Snowflake ran behind the tub, then next to the stack of towels in the room.
As Chase stalked by with the flashlight, she barely made a sound..
'I hope I didn't pick too easy a hiding spot' Snowflake thought to herself.
Then Chase felt like he sensed something and stopped, but the scent of bubbles and soap made him shake his head and continue forward.
'That was close! Hehe' the husky pup thought.
Chase found himself searching along the counter.. but something kept drawing him back around toward the tubs again. But when he came round the counter from the right side instead of the left, his light shined straight ahead and found a familiar face.
"Um.. Snowflake? What are you doing?" he asked in slight confusion.
"Hiding from you. It's flashlight tag, remember? You look for us, and we run from you holding the flashlight. If you shine the light on one of us, the person spotted is the finder," Snowflake answered.
'Wish I could shine a light through your heart so you'd open up!' she thought.
"Yeah, but I don't think you have to hide, just make it hard for me to find you." Chase wavered.
"Hm,.. looks like it doesn't matter anyway.." Katie's voice suddenly said, as she came wandering over from the darkness. "You found her before she could get away so Snowflake is 'it' next."
"Yes. Okay Chase, flashlight please!" Snowflake agreed.
Chase set it down, handle up and stepped aside.
"Hope it's not all drowled up.." He said, but touching it he was relieved that it wasn't. "Phew.. all good.."
Thank goodness! He thought to himself.
Snowflake grabbed the flashlight with her mouth, then crouched in a playful way.
"Ready."
Chase whipped around and took off into the darkness. But realized that after using the light to find his way, he couldn't quite see too well, which resulted in a tumble over something soft and plushy. Restraining a grimace and a sneeze, he blew off the single little feather that popped out of the pillow he was now laying on. But had to scramble up out of the way as the light came panning his way..
Snowflake thought she heard something and turned her head towards the noise. But only saw a lonely pillow lying on the floor.
"Hmmm?" Snowflake wondered as she kept looking around.
Chase kept running till,.. ouch. He hit another brick wall, which turned out to be a part of the front counter at the center of the room.
"Ouch.." he managed to voice quietly out loud as well. Then looked up as Katie looked down. But both looked up when they noticed the light coming their way again.
They gasped and then split ways for Chase to dive into an empty tub while Katie came to sit back against the counter on the opposite side of where Snowflake was searching. Chase poked up from the tub, and it reminded him of his super spy missions..
What I wouldn't give for night vision about now.. He thought, but as he watched the light something became readily evident. Katie met his gaze and put a finger to her lips, and Chase just shook his head then pointed over past her. She was about to lean over to try and look, but Chase held a paw up and then flattened down slightly. Jumping out from the tub, he landed a bit funny, but kept up his momentum with his back legs to jump up and slide across the counter smoothly and silently. Though when he hit the ground again he couldn't quite catch his fall and he tumbled,.. but again the noise wasn't super loud..
"Huh? Did something fall?" Snowflake asked, as she turned and walked towards the sound, flashlight in mouth and shining.
After a cautious pause though Chase finally decided, in hearing that, that he had to move. So he heaved himself up to almost crawl across the floor in sort of a painful army style way and then carefully set his feet under him, when he got to the door right next to where Katie was hiding. And in quietly easing it open.. He poked his head silently out just as she looked his way and he nodded his head back and disappeared as she began to crawl in after him. And just as the door was carefully eased closed, was when Snowflake went wandering by in search of her two friends.
Snowflake walked past as she kept looking. She shined the light over her shoulder at the door, then tilted her head. The husky kept walking forward, trying to find her friends.
Chase reached up to try and pull himself onto the counter, but started to slip, though a small boost from Katie gave him the headway he needed. Keeping his body as flat to the countertop as he could, he watched as Snowflake searched round the tubs, but seeing her start to veer his way he almost jumped back. But just leaning back was enough to send him sliding off the counter. And as instinct would have it, he tried to stop himself, but the grabbing motion failed till the last second resulting in a pull on both shoulders then a drop to the ground on his back..
Ooohh noo! Chase internally moaned, trying to hold back a vocal groan.
"Chase, you ok?" Katie asked softly, shifting to lean over him.
"Yeah,.." Chase softly grunted.
Snowflake lifted her head then turned, thinking she heard another crashing sound, but softer.
"Are you sure?" Katie whispered. "You looked like you landed a bit hard, and you may have hit your head."
The slight fuzz of his thoughts soon cleared and he rolled back over onto his side.
"Yeah,.. I'm sure.." He assured her, standing right up with little issues.
Snowflake approached where she heard the sound, shining the flashlight towards the noise.
She approached the counter before jumping over it and shining the light into the hole in the table.
"Found you! What happened? I heard a noise," Snowflake asked, before jumping down and joining them.
"Well we weren't exactly trying to give ourselves away.." Katie mentioned glancing at Chase.
"I just slipped." Chase sighed dryly.
"Oh. Okay! Well, what's the time? Do we still have time to play?" Snowflake replied.
Please say yes, please say yes! Chase silently prayed.
"Actually I think we should start powering down for the night." Katie thought.
"What?!" Chase gasped, "but.. you haven't gotten to be it yet." He added openly, just barely bordering on anxious.
"That's ok." Katie shrugged. "Maybe we can play again another time."
"But.. it's not that late.. We could.. Try one more quick run." Chase suggested.
"Ummm. Are you okay, Chase? You act like one more round of flashlight tag determines the winner or something. It's just a fun game," Snowflake retorted.
"Well.. it would finish things out a little bit, wouldn't it?" The German Shepherd reasoned.
"Hey wait! Did we secure the parasail?" he wondered quickly. "What if it gets windy tonight? We should go check on it.. I got it!" Then wasting no time, he took off out the door and toward the parasail and the vehicle next to it.
"Oh, uhhhhh. Good point. Better check my vehicle too. Make sure it's turned off. Be right back, Katie!" Snowflake said, before running out the sliding doors.
But as she bounded out of the shop after Chase, she soon stopped right outside the doors and only sensed that Katie was right behind her.
"You're right,.. he is trying so hard to stay awake." Katie mentioned offly, even though she and Snowflake never stopped staring over at the German Shepherd pup. And Snowflake just nodded before going over to her vehicle.
Chase kind of fiddled with the material while smoothing it down, hoping to make himself look very busy for the prying eyes that he knew were watching him.
Snowflake checked her vehicle to make sure everything was turned off properly. Everything was fine. She then jumped out of her rig and walked over to Chase.
"You good with the parasail or do you need some help?" Snowflake offered.
"What? No,.. uh.. I got it.." Chase replied, almost a bit delayed. But then he started releasing the built-in hinges that would help to fold it down and it finally fell limp in its folded form so the straps could be secured.
"See?" Chase confirmed, gesturing to the small contraption. "I got this.."
"Okay, but I'm here while you're on the case, and if you need to yelp for help.. Hopefully we won't need to call the PAW Patrol," Snowflake said half jokingly.
"We won't." Chase replied more confidently. "In fact you can head on in and I'll be right behind you."
"Okay, just make sure to come back in!" Snowflake replied, before going back inside.
What's that supposed to mean? Chase wondered.. but as Snowflake headed back into the pet parlor he couldn't help but wonder.. I hope that sounded convincing enough..
Then taking as much time as possible, he carefully closed all the straps around the parasail and he pressed it snugly against the vehicle for an extra wind barrier before heading back inside.
And when he came around the counter, he suddenly froze with a cold dread that almost scared him. The sight hitting him like a brick wall at seeing all the sleeping bags and pillows laid everywhere on a small part of the floor.
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" He asked out loud. "And what about Cali? How is this going to work if she's wandering around at night?"
"She'll stay in her bed in the back all night long." Katie reassured him, while Snowflake tossed another pillow down for comfort. "She always does.. even when visitors are staying here."
"Yeah?.. But.. what about all her hair?.. It travels you know.." the German Shepherd added. "On me,.. on her.. on everything!"
"I just deep cleaned in here recently.." Katie returned, laying another sleeping bag out. "And we did a quick clean up ourselves just tonight.. You'll be fine."
"But,.. but,.. I don't feel sleepy!" Chase blurted aloud, then jumped up to run circles around the empty floor.
"*pant*pant* see? I could go for hours!" he huffed.
"That's why I think we should tell a story first." Katie suggested as she found a spot to sit amongst the softness.
And Chase staggered to a stop.
"We are?" He asked almost in confusion, even though his inner thoughts were more suspicious.
"Yup,.. it's actually something I do all the time to calm down at night." Katie confirmed as Chase and Snowflake drew closer to her. However Snowflake felt more inclined to lay down near her than Chase was, at the edge of the slumber party setup.
"Oh." Chase vocalized flatly,.. not sure how to read this at all.
"It'll be a lot of fun." Katie coaxed. "And probably a bit exciting."
"Really?" Chase perked up a bit, making him finally come over to lay down too.
"Sure.." Katie concluded. "Now let's see.."
"We should pick a nice relaxing one, or at least something interesting," Snowflake suggested. "But I'm good with anything."
"You could tell a story from when we pups were little." Chase suggested, seemingly quite interested in this.
"Hm.. well.." Katie mused thoughtfully, and then it hit her.
"Actually.." she said after a moment.. "I think I have a better one.. from before any of you pups came along."
"Huh?" The two pups queried, taking a moment's glance at one another before returning it to the girl.
"Before us?" Chase echoed further.
"I know.. crazy right?" Katie smirked. "But believe it or not there was some stuff that happened before Ryder first found Chase in that box.. Stuff that may have started it all, way back then.."
xxxx
Sunshine beat down on the friendly little town, giving it an even brighter look. And the gold of her hair and the blue of her eyes let everyone know how happy she was as she strode down the sidewalk. She kindly waved hello to passers by on the road, and smiled sweetly to the pedestrians she passed on her way. However as she neared the restaurant toward the edge of town, she turned to glance back at something weird she thought she'd seen when she bumped into a wall behind her that responded with a sound.
"Oof! Oh,.. sorry,.. I uh.. I didn't see you there.." Katie apologized quickly, turning around. The wall turned out to be a boy of similar height. And he wore a plain gray shirt with a paw symbol on the front, and some blue pants with a spiked brown hair cut. His complexion was a medium tan and his brown eyes maintained a soft look to them, as did his smile.
"That's alright,.. I wasn't watching out for myself, either." the boy chuckled.
"Hey,.. you're new around here aren't you?" the girl asked curiously.
"I am, actually." The boy confirmed. "But I hope to get things up and running so I can fully relocate here."
"Up and running?" Katie echoed. "Are you starting a business? My shop is just up the rise on main street, just up the road."
"You could say that.." the boy replied. "I build electronic devices and mechanical vehicles.. I'm hoping to work on refining my technology skills, before I start building stuff for other people."
"Wow,.. so you must be a pretty tech savvy guy, huh." Katie implied thoughtfully.
"Haha, well you could say that, I guess." the boy smiled. "I'm Ryder."
"Katie." the blonde girl introduced herself. "So you're the one building that structure on the cliff above the bridge?"
"Sure am,.." Ryder replied, turning to leave in the other direction. "You wanna come check it out? It's not much,.. but.. it's a start."
"Sure." Katie agreed, beginning to follow him toward the growing tower in the distance..
Well here we are again. Fresh off the press so to speak with a new chapter. And a history story to boot! A headcanon at best but fun all the same! Flashbacks are my Jam! Same with Dream sequences and visions! ;P Anyway, we hope you enjoyed this new installment. As always we can't wait to hear your thoughts on it and we'll see you next time! Thx!