Skitters Adventure

Reach. Grab. Gobble.  And what better sequence of event was there? Skitter No-Lastname, a huge black Labrador with an extremely large appetite, thought as he hurriedly swallowed another mouthful of slaw. His body, a large mass of black and brown, quivering in joy with each swallow.  Somewhere far away - could be as far as Mars, as far as Skitter was concerned - he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and laughter. But he really didn't care; he was in heaven. And heaven, excuse me, was a place laden with gallons of ice cream, bowls of truly delightful chicken wings and coleslaw's, candies, chocolates... and oh yeah, a pretty nice pink cake. Everything tasted much much better than cans of tuna or those foods Anita claimed was best for him. Skitter executed what was close to snort, and made to slurp some more of the ice cream on the floor. Nothing this good could could make anyone sick  The cake didn't look pretty anymore; a large chunk of it was gone and the rest had paw print on it, bits of food was strewn haphazardly all over the kitchen, the container of ice cream had been upended, and the creamy white content lay in a messy pool on the oak floor of Anita Caleb's kitchen.  And speaking about the Caleb's...  The back door burst open letting in a stream of cold air and giggling five-year old kids. The giggle stooped abruptly and movements ceased. Even Skitter descended - reluctantly - from his place in heaven, and sat on his rump, his tongue lolling happily and his body still quivering with a kind of maniacal joy.  "Uh-oh." A tiny voice sounded from among the crew standing at the doorway. Asides that, It was like everyone in the kitchen was under a mute spell. Fifteen pair of eyes traveled in different routes through the kitchen, and finally came to rest on the one responsible for the destruction. Angry little eyes. Then, as if somehow, Skitters happy bark broke the spell -  "BAD DOGGY!" Lindsy, the birthday girl yelled as she stepped forward to view the damage further. She looked around, and then a blood-curdling scream tore out of her throat.  Anita Caleb rushed in from the living room, thoughts of snakes and scorpions fueling her weak muscles and pushing her forward. She paused at the doorway too. And stared disbelievingly at what had become of almost twenty hours of back breaking labor. It looked like an alien ship had landed in the middle of her kitchen, and the occupants had, had themselves a terribly wild party.  "Oh, no!" She cried softly, "Skitter!" "He ate everything. Bad, bad Skitter."  Anita threaded through the mess to her hysterically wailing daughter. She put her arm around Lindsy's shaking shoulders. "Don't worry honey, we'll take care of this. At least he hadn't touched any of the cupcake - we could -"  Another wail. "A Cupcake isn't the same as a birthday cake. Skitter ate it all, even the candles!"  Anita shook her head, drew Lindsy in for a hug and scowled at Skitter. "We'll get another cake." She said quickly as Lindsy's cries raised by another octave. "Another everything. And you'll still have your party, okay?"  Lindsy raised tear streaked face to her mom. "Really?" "Promise." Anita replied. "Now, guys, let's all head up to the living room. Be careful of the mess, so you don't trip and fall."  Legs trooped and piled out of the kitchen. Skitter rose and made to follow.  "Not you." Anita said in her fiercest tone, a finger pointed at the dog. "You - Skitter - is banished."  Banished?!  Skitter thought in alarm as he watched the last of the kids walk out of the kitchen. Why? He'd only taken a few bites, it wasn't even as if he was filled... He looked longingly at the rest of the delicacies and considered finishing up his business. But decided against it immediately, everyone was mad enough.  With head dipped low, tail down and the typical sad-doggy look on his face, he stepped out through the opened back door, into the cold Alaska morning.  A few feet away from the rambling old house he lived, another dog whizzed past him, pushing him onto a street pole in the process.  "Hey!" He called, and broke into a run pursuing the miscreant hotly. "Where are your manners?"  The dog looked back, her feet still eating up the road with surprising speed. "None of your business, handsome."  Wrong answer. She was fast, but Skitter was fast too - when he wasn't being lazy. He built up his speed and was right in front of the runner in 6 seconds. She made to dodge and follow another part, but he blocked her. "Now, the magic word lady..."  She eyed him in a way only a dog could. "Its Koopa, not Lady. And what magic word are you talking about?" She stepped to the side. "I need to go, buddy."  "Sorry." Skitter said in the way he'd seen Anita do. "You should say "you're sorry". You hit me, I tripped and hit my head -"  "Your tough luck. That ain't any of my damn business."  Skitters eyes rounded in shock. "Language! Watch it, Lady!"  Obviously irritated now, Koopa stopped trying to run past him. "What the hell's your problem, Kitty?"  Skitter would have commented on the language again, but being called a cat, was a bigger, unforgivable offense. He stood erect, "I'm a Lab, you snotty little dog -"  "Cool. Look, Lab or whatever your name is -"  "Skitter."  "Yeah, right. I have a ride to catch. And it'll be leaving in a couple of minutes. You need to step away, so I don't miss my breakfast."  BREAKFAST!  Skitter quickly stepped out of the way, and shaking his head, broke into a run again when Koopa did.  "Is there a party somewhere?"  "No party. But there's breakfast." She turned to look at him. "Why are you still chasing me?"  "As I'm just head to head with you, It's not chasing." Skitter pointed out. Damn Lady could run like a Cheetah. "I'm running with you. We're heading to breakfast together."  That brought Koopa up short. "What?"  "Hey, don't stop. We don't want to miss that bus." He said, though terribly glad to stop running for a while. "You said breakfast, I'm going with you. That should cover the apology I'm supposed to get from you."  Koopa shook her head. "Wierd." She started moving again. Skitter followed.  They ran past houses with white picket fences, past the town's High school, the fire and police station on Main, past stores that was just turning their 'Closed' signs to 'Open'...  "Where are we meeting this bus again?" Skitter asked, his muscles were beginning to complain.  "Outside town."  Oh no, the only time he'd been out of town was - never. But, since he was banished and all...  They got to the city limit, breaths puffing. Skitter didn't really feel like having that breakfast again, but he stayed by the sign limit with Koopa.  "Just in time." Koopa said after a few minutes of waiting, and tilted her head down the road.  A rickety old Ford pickup traipsed into sight, plumes of black smoke floating behind it. Skitter blinked. "You said 'bus'."  Koopa was running again, along the road the truck would pass. "No, I said ride." She shouted. "Now run, we've gotta hop onto the back when it passes by."  "Hop? Like jump?"  But there was no time to answer. The Ford rambled over, and with the ease of someone used to hopping on moving vehicles, Koopa jumped onto the back. Skitter missed his chance. But he kept on running after the pickup, ears flattened... body poised for flight.  "JUMP!" Koopa shouted. Another car was right behind him, honking crazily.  Skitter jumped, and luckily he made it into the dark smelly space, bruising his legs and head in the process.  "Hope the breakfast we'll be having would comprise of a lot of chicken. And ice cream." He said wearily.  "That and more." Koopa was standing at the edge of the entrance. "Just hold on."  Skitter slumped between smelly clothes and closed his eyes, but he heard Koopa's voice almost immediately.  "Wake up. We're there. We go -" she hopped out of the bed of the moving truck onto the street rolling behind, " - down!"  The death of me, Skitter thought, as he braced himself too and jumped. He landed on his head, and had to scramble up and run as someone on a motorcycle almost knocked him over.  Koopa wasn't running anymore, she was probably tired from all the racing, but she still moved fast. She walked past a sign welcoming them to Hill City. Skitter had never heard of it, but he followed Koopa, seriously wishing he was back at home, snoring on his little bed.  They entered the city and walked through it, just as they'd walked out of theirs.  After another twenty minutes of part walking, part running, they got to the restaurant. Miles Meals.  Skitters pains and tiredness disappeared, he started to walk towards the entrance but someone's yelling had his tail between his legs.  "Not in there, handsome." Koopa called. She walked into the street next to the restaurant and pointed a paw at a pile of garbage bags in uncovered dumpsters.  "A dumpster?" Skitter asked incredulously. "I came all the way here to eat from a dumpster?"  Koopa jerked her head and jumped on one. "Pretty good stuff here. That eatery disposes all the previous day's leftovers here. I try to get here before it's emptied." And with that she dug in.  Skitter stood, and watched with disgust. Like, really, how could anyone eat from a garbage bag?  Other hungry looking dogs came after a while, and they all fell on the bags, eating with relish.  As if all the trouble he had gone through wasn't enough, the heavens opened a few minutes later, and a torrent of rain descended with a vengeance. The wind howled, and thunder followed lightening over and over again. Skitter huddled with the rest of the dogs under an abandoned canopy, cold searing through his fur as he longed for home.  The rain stopped in what seemed like hours later, and Koopa went back to her meal. Unperturbed by the wetness.  "How do we get back?" Skitter asked as humbly as he could manage when Koopa surfaced, belly full.  She sat next to Skitter and licked her paws. "No walking or running. Gotta conserve my energy. We'll be going with the truck picking up the garbage."  They hopped down at the city limit again. Skitter walked quietly alongside Koopa who was humming happily. He still didn't want to believe he'd actually been at the back of a truck carrying hordes and hordes of dirt. So instead of thinking, he concentrated on walking, and wishing a can of tuna might be opened for him when he got home. They rounded a corner, and the rambling old house came to view.  "I'll be stopping here, Koopa."  Koopa smiled. "Same time tomorrow?"  Skitter shook his head. "I'll pass. I'm not big on breakfast."  "Okay, see you around." She said and wandered on.  Cute, but no, she wasn't really his type. He walked towards the house, fearing Anita would remind him he was banished.  "Skitter!!!" Lindsy shouted, and ran down the porch steps, her ponytail flying behind her. "We've been looking all over for you!"  Anita walked out, a cell pressed to her ears. "He's home, Sheriff. Thank you, and sorry for bordering you."  "I saved you a very large cake." Lindsy was saying, both arms wrapped around Skitters neck.  And despite his smelly, wet fur, he was coddled and kissed.  He waged his tail happily, as he bounded up the steps with his family. Here was where he belonged, and banished or not, there was always a place for him.