Stick Dog Slurps Spaghetti (13 page)

Stick Dog worked his way carefully to the empty cardboard boxes across the driveway. He circled wide in the darkness so Penelope would not spot him and then settled in behind a large box. He remained motionless and silent there. He watched and waited until Penelope pressed a button on her phone and pushed it into her pocket. She went back inside and shut the door.

“You guys!” Stick Dog called quietly, after setting down the bag of meatballs.

It was quiet for a moment.

Then Karen called back, “Is that you, Stick Dog?”

She was under a box.

Stick Dog smiled. “Yes.”

“Can you be ‘it'?” asked Mutt from beneath a different box.

“We forgot to pick an ‘it' again.” It was Poo-Poo.

“Is it really you, Stick Dog?” called Stripes.

“Yes, it's me. Everybody come out,” Stick Dog said.

Mutt, Karen, Stripes, and Poo-Poo emerged from their hiding places. They all had questions for him.

“How'd you get out?” asked Karen.

Poo-Poo asked, “Did you have to bite, chomp, chew, or gnaw any humans?”

“Did you bring any more spaghetti?” asked Stripes.

Mutt asked, “What's in the bag?”

“I'll answer all your questions,” Stick Dog said with a smile on his face. He was so happy to be back with his friends. “But right now let's get away from here. Let's get back to the top of the hill where we came up.”

They moved around the back corner of Tip-Top Spaghetti, along the side, and to the parking lot in front. They navigated their way across the lot, past the guardrail, and to the edge of the hill.

“Before I show you what's in the bag,” said Stick Dog as his friends gathered around him, “I have to ask Karen a question.”

“Yes, Stick Dog? What is it?”

“Why on earth did you lick those shoes?”

“There was red sauce on them,” she answered simply. “There wasn't enough to share. And it was right in front of my face. What choice did I have?”

“Weren't you scared?” asked Stick Dog.

“Scared of shoes?” asked Karen. She clearly thought the idea was preposterous. “Why would I be scared of shoes?”

Stick Dog shook his head a bit. He understood now.

“Karen,” he said kindly, “there was someone
wearing
the shoes.”

“No way. There was?”

“Yes,” Stick Dog said, and suppressed a laugh. “The big human with the puffy hat was wearing the shoes.”

Karen's eyes popped open wide with the sudden realization of what she had actually done. “Whoa,” she whispered. “I am SO brave.”

Stick Dog smiled. “You certainly are.”

His friends formed a semicircle around him, and he pushed the plastic bag before them.

“What is that, Stick Dog?” Mutt asked again. “Why did you bring that with you?”

“Well, I just felt so bad that we didn't get to play tug-of-war,” Stick Dog said. There was something mischievous in his voice—as if he was about to spring a fun surprise on the group. His friends sensed it too.

“Come on, Stick Dog!” Poo-Poo yelped.

“What is it?!”

“I just wanted to find something we could play with,” Stick Dog teased.

“What is it?!” Stripes yelped, and began to hop up and down.

Stick Dog teased some more. “Something we could share.”

Karen began spinning around in a circle. “Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!”

Stick Dog placed his front left paw on a corner of the plastic bag and tore it open with his front right paw. More than a dozen meatballs rolled out onto the ground.

“They're meatballs,” Stick Dog said.

“Meat!” Poo-Poo screamed.

“Balls!” Mutt yelled.

“Meatballs!!” Stripes yelped.

“Balls made out of meat!” Karen screamed. “Is this some kind of crazy dream!? Am I living in a fantasy world?! Where humans aren't strange?! Where I can catch my tail?! And
where balls are made out of delicious meat?!”

Stick Dog rolled three meatballs to each of his friends and kept the last two for himself.

There was no talk. And there was no hesitation. The dogs devoured the meatballs in less than a minute—the perfect dessert to their earlier spaghetti dinner.

When the meatballs were gone, they lounged on top of that hill for a few minutes. They were full—wonderfully full.

“I don't want to go all the way down that hill,” Stripes said after a little while. “Let's just stay here for the night.”

“No,” Stick Dog said. “Too many humans around here. They are finishing their meals and heading out to their cars. We should probably get back to my pipe.”

The others knew he was right. They just didn't want to make the long journey home.

“I have a plan to get to the bottom,” Karen said.

Instantly, Mutt, Poo-Poo, and Stripes all said they had plans too.

“No, no,” Stick Dog said quickly. “This time
I
have a plan.”

“What is it?” Karen asked.

“We roll.”

His friends loved that idea. Karen rolled down the hill first, giggling the whole way. Her dachshund body was the perfect shape to roll down a grass-covered hill. Stripes went next, yelping with glee the whole time.

“I'm next,” Mutt said, and positioned himself sideways at the top of the hill to begin his roll.

“Wait a minute, Mutt,” Poo-Poo said. “I forgot something.”

“What's that?”

Poo-Poo came closer and pulled something from his own fur. It was long and thin and reflected the moonlight when Poo-Poo held it at a certain angle.

“It's a screw,” Poo-Poo said, and presented it to Mutt. “I found it on the ground by that back door. Thought you'd like to have it.”

“Thank you,” Mutt said, and tucked the screw deep inside his fur behind his left shoulder blade. He looked at Poo-Poo. “I love screws. I used to have one just like it. Let's roll down together.”

And down they went.

Stick Dog did not say anything upon overhearing their conversation. Instead, he lifted his head to gaze at the black sky. The stars had multiplied tenfold since the last time he looked. They twinkled and sparkled above him.