welcome now to the newest chapter of my own version of '102 Dalmatians'. it still has slightly different characters than the actual movie. the only two characters from within the movie who maintained the same name in my version of the film are Oddball and the classic villainess, Cruella De Vil, herself. this entire chapter is a full two-thousand-fifty-nine words worth of storyline long. there is an author's note at the very end of the chapter. go ahead and read it. the word count on the storyline of this technically twenty-first chapter, even while listed as the twenty-fourth chapter, doesn't include said author's note at the very end, nor does it include this explanatory headnote or the disclaimer I always make a point of which as mandatory these days. speaking of which, would all of you look at that? it's already time for the obligatory disclaimer.

disclamation: I don't own '102 Dalmatians' in any way, shape, or form. I mean, I own it on DVD, but I was only seven when it first appeared in theaters, at all. so, it wouldn't even be natural for me to have owned '102 Dalmatians', at all. I also don't own either of the '101 Dalmatians' movies. I was but two or three years old when the live action remake came out, and when the original animated classic of '101 Dalmatians' came to theaters, I didn't even exist, yet. all these films are owned by the Walt Disney Movie Productions Company and by Dodie Smith.


While on her own way to the famed throughout England 'Punch and Judy' puppet show, Kimberly walked both Patch and Piper on their own leashes. She also walked Speckle Eye and Shamrock on their leashes which extended from the two boys' father, Patch's, leash. She even walked Oddball on her leash which extended from her mother, Piper's, leash. Of course, Shamrock could hardly believe all of the children he and his brother and sister had been encountering on their way to the show.

Shamrock: Wow, look at all the kids, dad.

As for their destination, little did Kim suspect that she was just about to have had another run-in with a familiar face, actually five familiar faces. The ticket lady had just given her patrons their tickets for the famed throughout England puppet show that was 'Punch and Judy'. It was Professor Lawrence Sizzle's 'Punch and Judy' puppet show at Queen Elizabeth I's Garden.

Ticket distributor lady: Enjoy the show.

Then, the next patron stepped up with an order of his own for tickets to the show.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson: One adult, three dogs and one bird, please.

Then, Spixington had the nerve to complain once again about something of which he technically had none the right to complain.

Spixington: Oi, I'm a dog, mate. Four dogs.

Of course, Raymond naturally got annoyed once again at Spixington's persistent delusion of being a dog instead of a bird, but he made the adjustment to his ticket order for the show, anyway.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson: Four dogs, I meant to say.

That was when another family suddenly showed up for the showing of Professor Lawrence Sizzle's 'Punch and Judy'. More specifically, it was family of dogs, dalmatians to be exact.

Bitsy: Oh, take a look here, guys.

Slobberton: I didn't know there were other dogs coming to the show.

Patch: Hello, everyone. We hope this doesn't count as an intrusion of any kind.

Diggit: Not at all. So, you all belong to our friend, here's, uh, crush, do you?

Piper: I guess that you could say that Kimberly is our owner. Are, uh_ are all you other dogs owned by this man, right here?

Piper gestured her head to Raymond as she asked the other dogs her question.

Bitsy: Well_

Slobberton: We're all technically rescued dogs, and he's sort of our foster owner.

Then, Spixington spoke up about the others' surprise guests.

Spixington: Blimey! I'm seeing spots!

Of course, Raymond, was busy paying for the tickets that Spixington, himself, argued with him about and did not want to hear any of the deluded blue Spix macaw's comments about any of their show's other patrons. That was, until, another person spoke up to him from behind about the 'Punch and Judy' puppet show from within the theatre.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: Hello, Raymond.

Then, Raymond quickly turned around to face his crush and blushed the same shade of red he had not blushed in quite some time since first having met her. Raymond felt the blood rush to his face quicker than a cheetah on the hunt from the Serengeti plains in Africa.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson: Kimberly!

Then, Raymond just chuckled at the thought of Kimberly supposedly seeing him in an assumingly embarrassing place that he felt no one without children could have truly enjoyed. The blond even wondered what a pretty girl such as the light brunette had even been doing there in the first place. That was that he wondered what she had been doing there, until, he focused less on his potential embarrassment in front of her and more on the fact that she had an entire family of dogs with her, more than likely for the show inside.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson (continued): Are you, uh_

Then, Raymond pointed to the theatre behind him in which the show he, Bitsy, Slobberton, Diggit, and Spixington wished to attend.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson's brain: Please let her be attending the same show as me and the dogs. Please let her be attending the same show as me and the dogs. I can't let this be an embarrassing possibility. She has to be attending this show, too, if she's here.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: Uh, yeah. I'm going in.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson's brain: Oh, thank you, lord. She has some dogs with her. I can't believe that I didn't notice any of them before. We have something in common.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson: And are these your dalmatians?

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: Yeah.

Then, Raymond, suddenly feeling more attached than before to Kimberly, also felt the need for an introduction from her dogs to his own rescues. The blond introduced his dogs to the brunette's dog family one by one. He started with the matted up Italian greyhound, Diggit.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson: This is, uh, Diggit, Bitsy, and Slobberton.

Just as everyone thought it were safe enough to introduce themselves, Oddball suddenly walked up from whatever had distracted her and joined the party. She started to yip her mightiest bark at Spixington, the blue Spix macaw.

Spixington: Ya call that a bark?

Oddball even spoke to the deluded blue Spix macaw in her own native tongue.

Oddball: Yes, I happen to think that I've a pretty mighty bark.

Of course, Spixington would not take a challenge from a mere puppy lying down.

Spixington: This is a bark.

Then, he started to bark and snarl fiercely as though he actually thought he was a rottweiler. Oddball ran from the dangerously delusional blue Spix macaw as frightenedly as a mouse from a cat. She hid on the other side of Kimberly's legs.

Spixington (continued): That's right! Go hide behind Mummy!

Of course, Oddball had embarrassed both Kimberly and her parents by running and hiding from the scary bird instead of facing Spixington like her father, Patch, would have.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: And_ Oddball_ is not gonna hurt you.

Then, the time came for Raymond to receive the change for the tickets he purchased from the ticket distributor lady.

Ticket distributor lady: Your change, sir.

Raymond, as naturally trusting as he was, only smiled at the ticket distributor lady and accepted the change she gave back to him for his overpayment of the tickets he purchased from her.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson: Oh, thank you.

Kimberly, however, looked at him as though she were trying to light him on fire for a reason or two.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: Don't you count your change, Raymond?

With that one question, Kimberly demonstrated just how trustless she truly was to Raymond. She did not suspect the ticket distributor lady of shortchanging the amount of money that she gave to Raymond in return for his payment for the tickets he purchased. The brunette only thought that the blond should have counted his change to be sure of the amount before putting it in his pocket.

Raymond 'Ray' Millerson: Well, why should I?

Suddenly just as Kimberly and her dog family were ready to head into the puppet theatre with Raymond and his rescues, the ticket distributor lady stopped her at the gates. The ticket distributor lady had gotten quite angry with Kim for what the ticket distributor lady thought the brunette had implied about the change she gave to her blond friend. She took it out on Kim, herself, though.

Ticket distributor lady: Ding-ding! Ding-ding! Everyone's gotta pay for admission, miss. No add-in's allowed.

Kimberly was appalled that the woman at ticket distribution was as willing to argue with her as the woman was. As the brunette finally paid for hers and her dalmatian family's own tickets to the show, the ticket distributor lady finally revealed just why she was so angry with Kim.

Ticket distributor lady (continued): I hope this can teach you not to accuse a ticket holder of shortchanging a patron.

With just the one comment to her as she paid for herself and her family of dalmatians, Kimberly finally understood about what the ticket distributor woman was so angry with her. Kim suddenly realized that she had gone and accidentally accused the ticket distributor lady of shortchanging Raymond in her effort to teach the blond a thing or two about being more careful who he trusted.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: I'm very sorry about what you think I implied. I had no intention of accusations.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton's psyche: Way to go, Kimberly. Another person out of whom you've managed to make into an enemy. I have got to learn to turn off my probation officer instincts whenever I'm out of the office.

As Kimberly scolded her fool's accusation from within her own psyche, the ticket distributor lady had recently started speaking to her, trying to tell her something as she stayed lost in her own head.

Ticket distributor lady: Miss. Miss. Miss!

Only after hearing the woman call out to her did Kimberly actually become aware of the ticket distributor lady trying to get the attention of the very brunette in question as she just stood there in place, thinking away to herself.

Ticket distributor lady (continued): Miss, I present you with your change, unless you're gonna try to accuse me of shortchanging you.

Kim had definitely played the very same kind of fool upon whom she had always looked down her whole life before then when the ticket distributor lady mistook her lesson to Raymond as an accusation of the woman shortchanging patrons. Needless to say, the brunette suddenly understood what it was like to be accused of doing something bad. It did not feel good.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: Oh, thank you. I guess I could've tried a different example to teach my friend a lesson about being careful who you trust. Honestly, I wish I saw my accidental accusation coming as much as you probably wish you had understood my intention with that. I guess I also probably should've tried to teach my friend about it somewhere else.

The ticket distribution lady actually held a smile on her face as she commented further on Kim's lesson to Ray about being careful who he trusted.

Ticket distributor lady: You were trying to teach your friend a lesson about being careful with trust, huh?

Then, the ticket distribution lady regained the frown on her face as she commented further to Kim's lesson to Ray about trust.

Ticket distributor lady (continued): You were right about this not being the time or place to teach someone a lesson about trust.

Kimberly tried to apologize once again to the ticket distribution lady. The brunette wanted to make sure that the ticket distribution lady did not feel accused of shortchanging her own patrons' change money.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: I really am truly, sincerely sorry if it sounded like I was accusing you of shortchanging people.

Of course, the ticket distribution lady had only no longer wanted to discuss their embarrassing little argument with the brunette in question. She actually had other patrons whose tickets to distribute, anyway. So, the ticket distribution lady only told Kimberly to move along.

Ticket distributor lady: Never mind, miss. Just keep the line moving. I got other patrons to sell tickets to, and your show's gonna start in five minutes, anyway.

Kimberly, however, still felt as though she owed the ticket distribution lady an apology for her accidental accusation.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: But there's gotta be some way I can assure you that I wasn't accusing you.

The ticket distribution lady had no longer wanted to discuss it with Kimberly anymore, though.

Ticket distributor lady: One day, you'll see that you can't find out that you actually can't know whether to trust someone or not without trusting that same someone in the first place.

Of course, the idea that Kimberly had to actually trust people to find out if she could trust said people naturally only confused the brunette to no end.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: What's that even mean?

The ticket distribution lady just left Kim with a little advice before she shooed the brunette off.

Ticket distributor lady: You can't know who you can trust without trusting the person first. Now, just get outta here and go watch the show. I've got other patrons to seat for it, ya know.

Then, Kimberly looked behind her and at the theatre in front of her. Indeed, the ticket distribution lady had other patrons to seat for the show inside. Her dogs had also gone with Raymond and his rescues from the dog shelter into the theatre. Kim actually supposed that she could have at least given the blond a stern lesson in the theatre so long as she didn't disturb the other patrons.

Kimberly 'Kim/Kimmy' Sefton: I guess I could've waited to be somewhere else for the lesson to my friend.

Kim then followed Ray and all the dogs into the theatre where the 'Punch and Judy' puppet show was, indeed, almost ready to start.


A/N: for any of my readers who find the advice from the ticket holder lady to Kim a little backwards, don't worry. I've been in that same position. I found it hard to trust without a solid trust foundation for anyone I have to learn to trust. the advice is not as backwards as it sounds, though. believe me, it's actually how you're supposed to learn to trust in this world. whether a person can be trusted or not is always up to what he/she does for or to you.