Tale of a Pup: In the Dog House

[Isabelle]

Continued from “Prologue of a Dog: A Titan’s Calling” in the Nexus.

As soon as she moved passed the smoke and into the verse, she already knew she had made a gigantic mistake.

The sky was on fire!

She had never seen anything like it before in her relatively short existence. The land around her was scorched down to the rock, and what wasn’t burnt was covered in searing red lava. She had only seen the stuff in textbooks, so to see it within walking distance of her made the hairs on the back of her head stand on end.

She peered back into the portal she once came, the white landscapes just calling for her return, even the world itself knew she didn’t belong as she could swear she could feel the void beckoning her back. She briefly considered that the worlds could be worse than this, but she had an endless supply of food and materials thanks to the Omni’s gift. She literally had nothing to lose by going back and trying another portal.

However, as she turned in place to retrace her steps, she took another look at the hellish landscapes. She pictured the Mayor here, tripping on the treacherous terrain and clinging helplessly over the edge of the lava pit, quietly praying for a helpful paw to arrive.

Even if it was the slightest chance the mayor was here, she knew she couldn’t give up. He could need her help.

Resolute in her decision, she fully faced towards the hellish landscape and took the first step forward.


She made her way through the scorched earth, her shoulders risen as she quivered in fear. As she continued, she began to question her logic. If the mayor had come there, he would have turned back, like she should have. She kept herself moving, still holding onto the hope that he was out there waiting for her, but doubt and reason slowly crept their way into her mind.

But before she could make a decision otherwise, she could hear a high pitched screech that penetrated her poor little ears. Covering the sides of her head, she spun around in place to see the source.

A dragon. A frikkin dragon! A really small one, about her size. It had blood red scales     and black eyes. It peered down at her with a hungry gaze.

Her eyes widened, she spun around and started running with all her strength, trying to propel herself faster than the monster currently on her tail. But with every set of steps she sent herself forward with, she could hear the heavy flaps of the creature coming closer and closer behind, getting heavier. She shut her eyes for what would be her final moments.

BOOOM!

The ground started to shake as she tumbled to the rock floor. She could hear the creature fly away to somewhere else unknown. She’d be happy of her apparent good fortune, but that doesn’t change the fact that the earth was still shaking beneath her.

CRACK!

Suddenly, the earth opened up, giving way to the quake. She grabbed on with her front paws, hanging for dear life off the edge of a crevasse. She looked behind her, the hole in the earth was now more than a yard wide. She tried to pull herself up, but the shaking persisted, loosening her grip with each toss.

And then she fell

Into the darkness she plummeted, unknowing where she was going to land. As she fell, she could see the hole above her mysteriously close behind her. She had no time to ponder this curiosity as the air whistled passed her ears.

She shut her eyes and embraced her inevitable demise. She prayed to Omni that his words about immortality were true. She prayed that she would come back to life as he said she would. She prayed.

She would eventually land, but it was not exactly what she prayed for.

[Isabelle]

She couldn’t see at all in the darkness, but the sensation was unmistakable. Something rubber, something elastic, broke her fall. She felt herself launch into the air from the recoil, only to fall back down and land harmlessly against the malleable surface.

Her head was spinning, tossing her around like a rollercoaster partially off rails. When she finally gained a sense of mind, she felt around in the dark to feel what she had fallen on, but what her paws told her only raised much bigger questions.

Nothing around her but solid rock.

This, along with the crack above closing behind her, was yet another curiosity about the situation. She couldn’t have landed on a trampoline and then it disappeared while she was still on it. It just made no sense whatsoever!

But before she could think further on it, she felt an odd sensation around her tuckus. Something, heavy was wrapping itself around her. She placed a paw down on the rock below, and she felt the surface easily give away to the weight.

She was literally sinking into the rock.

She felt her body get pulled as the surface quickly reached her waist.

“Help! Someone! Please help me!” She screamed, her voice echoing against the walls, but no one could hear her.

Her struggling only made the process move faster, it was up to her shoulders now.

She cried out again, but she was forced to shut her mouth as the strange substance reached her muzzle. For a moment, her mouth was sealed shut, her nostrils were no longer able to take in air, she couldn’t breath. She struggled again and again, not even thinking she could be making the situation worse.

But, as sudden is it was for Isabelle to panic, she felt herself slip away from the substance, and for the second time today, she fell.

She hit the ground with a hard plop this time. She felt like she may have bruised her tush with this one, but nothing was broken at least.

In fact, this surface was soft, a little moist. In fact, she could have sworn it was dirt. As she felt around with her paw, she could feel what felt like blades of grass, tickling her fingers as they bend to her touch.

“Where am I?” She asked to no one in particular, but as if someone were listening, she got an answer.

Slowly, the area filled with light, reflecting down on the turf she had found, and it quickly became very clear. All around her was a spherical wall of crystals, all the colors of the rainbow represented in waves that seem to pulsate and move. The rocks weren’t actually moving however, they were changing color in a controlled pattern. She was inside a giant geode, a magical geode of some sort. She gasped at the sheer beauty of the barrage of color that poured down at her.

However, her attention was grabbed by something else as puzzling. She actually was sitting on dirt and grass. It was a flat surface that extend just a few feet short of the geode walls. Climbing to her feet, she walked along the radius of the land mass, and then got on her knees to get a good look off the side. It was an island.

It was an island floating in the center of a magic geode!

She couldn’t believe here incredible luck! She wandered into a dangerous land and she discovered something amazing and beautiful just by chance! Laughing gleefully, she threw herself backwards onto the soft grass and spread her arms wide, just eager to bask in her amazing discovery.

Only to discover something else, because as she peered skyward, she had noticed the rocks had taken a new form. The colors had made a visage of Isabelle’s face, almost pixelated against the Geode ceiling.

She propped herself up and cocked her head at it.

She couldn’t believe what she was going to ask, but after today, anything is possible.

“Are you, alive?” She spoke, her voice bouncing off the vacant walls of the geode.

The picture of Isabelle’s face blinked out of existence and changed into the symbol of a thumbs up.

[Isabelle]

Correction, an island floating inside a geode that is alive!

Though, despite the elation on this incredible discovery, she had to remind herself of the stakes. She was technically inside somebody right now, it might be beneficial to be polite to them. Who knows if this rock could digest things.

She got on her feet, stepped towards the middle of the island, and bowed politely in whatever direction she believed to be the thing’s face.

“Thank you for saving my life Mr. Geode.” She said, being as humble as possible.

She tilted her head so she could glance up to where the visage of her face was before. The thumbs up symbol had turned into an “Okay” hand gesture. She straightened herself out so she may face the stone better and then spoke up.

“Mr. Geode,” she began, thinking carefully of her words, “I’m a prime, which means I can grant some wishes and stuff. I’m truly grateful for you saving my life, I can give you almost anything you can possibly want! Just ask!”

She immediately regretted it, what could a rock possibly want? She began to wonder if she may have committed some sort of faux pas, she wasn’t sure of the etique behind granting wishes to a giant boulder. Would it be considered rude to grant a being stuck in one place forever this much agency?

Sorry for her ignorance audience, it may be obvious to all of you, but she is new at this.

She peered back up towards the roof of the geode, and it displayed another image. This time, it was a small cottage, sitting in the center of an island. She peeked down on the island she was sitting on right now and looked back up.

“You want to make you a house?”

They made another thumbs up symbol. She climbed to her feet and pat herself off.

“Like, do you want me to make one like what you just showed?”

She showed the emoji of a face shaking at her, then it transferred into the visage of Isabelle’s face again. She didn’t want to guess that he wanted her to make a house themed after herself because that maybe a dumb response.

But then it hit her. They wanted her to make a house for herself. They wanted her to live inside them.

Was this geode, lonely?

She wasn’t sure how could she solve the problems of a lonely rock, especially considering she had to go back to her search for the mayor eventually. She hoped a house would ease their mind though, if not for her, at least someone else could occupy it someday and give the geode the attention it deserves.

“I understand what you want from me. I shall do as you ask.”

In the corner of her eye, she saw the visage of an okay symbol, but she had already turned away from the ceiling. She walked back down the radius of the island and turned to face the center of the landmass.

She pressed her paws together, and prayed to Omni. She wished to him a home, but not just any home.

Often times when the job is slow in town hall, she’d imagine a home she could retire in. She imagined in her twilight years, moving into a cottage up in the mountains, something similiar in style to the ones from the village.

Just far away from the paperwork, the frantic life in the townhall. Just she and the mayor living together up where they could see the world below for miles. All the best fishing and bug catching spot not far away, some places to hike and just enjoy nature. She could picture that house they’d share, green roof, two stories, flowers all around it. She chuckled imagining the Mayor helping her with gardening.

She and the mayor. Together forever.


When she finally broke from the fantasy, she was on her back, a line of slobber down her chin. She didn’t know how long she had been out in lalaland. She sat up, almost too quick as it sent her head spiralling again. As her vision caught up with her mind, she gasped at what stood in front of her.

It was the house of her dreams, just sitting there in the middle of the island as she had asked! Sure it stung a bit that it wasn’t in the mountains, that it wasn’t near any fishing or bug catching spots.

And it stung way more that it didn’t have a mayor with it.

But still, it was her dream home, and she couldn’t help but smile at seeing it.

She looked up at the geode, who was doing a repeating star pattern, which she guessed was supposed to be a sign of joy. She gave them a smile before climbing to her feet and moving to check out the new home up close.

[Isabelle]

The house had everything, a fully equipped kitchen, a living room with a TV and surround sound system, a bedroom with a king sized bed and silk sheets, it was all too much for her.

But one thing that did catch her attention was a strange pod that sat in her living room. She at first thought it was just an odd placement for a shower, but at closer inspection, it had a little computer screen on it. The text “syncing” was floating on the monitor when suddenly, it went away, and a colorful logo popped up reading “Recall Services enabled.”

Suddenly, she heard a chirp come from the linings of her pocket. Reaching in, she pulled out what turned out to be her phone, left over from her old life before the Omniverse. She hadn’t realized she still had it!

The screen was flashing; it read “Recall Station synced.” Curious, she tapped into here internet app, which pulled up a strange off version of a search engine.

How was there any reception out here? She was in the middle of a lava wasteland miles underground.

Then again, nothing about today made sense.

She looked up what a “Recall Station” was.

With a recall station, you don't have to travel halfway around the world to get back to your base. As long as you've synced with the recall station once in person, you can simply get in touch via your Communicator and be warped back home. This can also be used to send items that you cannot carry. It takes ten minutes for the recall-station to lock-on to your co-ordinates, and if you move around then the timer is reset. This means that recalling while in peril is effectively impossible, unless you manage to stay in the same place for ten minutes.

Her eyes glimmered at the prospect, at what this device could mean for her and her geode friend.

She could travel far and wide looking for her mayor and be back here in a matter of minutes! That combined with the fact that she could summon vehicles that could get around, the Omniverse was her’s to travel!

She looked around the room, disbelief. This dream house could actually be a home her in the Omniverse! It’s actually doable! Omni must like his primes to live adventurous lives of luxury.

She started to giggle, just thinking about having her own private place here, all to herself! Even back home, when she wasn’t living in roach filled apartments she had to share a space with her brother just to make ends meet.

She plopped down on the coach, sighed blissfully as she held her phone to her heart. Despite her desire to having this space to herself, she did still hope to one day share it with her mayor. That was kind of a given at this point.

As she reclined her seat and tilted her head back to take advantage of the cushions a little better, she saw something else in the corner of her eye.

A writing desk.

Standing back up, she walked on over, and spotted a spiral notebook lying casually against the wood grain, and a fountain pen sitting not far beside it. Just a scenario, waiting for her to discover it. She felt a smile spread across her face.

She knew he may never read it, but it was worth it for the peace of mind. She pulled up a chair, pressed a pen to paper, and wrote a letter.




Dear Mayor,

I was taken today. I was taken by a titan named Omni. He put me in a realm of his own creation. I know it’s a tad crazy, but it’s completely honest! Though, if you are reading this, I guess you’re trapped in here with me so it’s more believable than I give credit.

I traveled from an empty plain of white and then crossed over to a wasteland of lava. I fell miles into the Earth and was rescued by a geode with a floating island in it. It seems to like having me around, so I’ve made it my new home!

It’s where I am now, writing you a letter in my new home in the Omniverse.

However, I cannot continue without a confession of guilt. I know you left for thrills and adventure, I know you left me behind. That was your choice, and, to be honest, I did not respect it.

I know you must be here with me. Omni wouldn’t just take me and not take you, too. I’m so sorry, but I fear you might be in danger. I’ve been in danger a number times in the strange world already, I can’t imagine what you might be experiencing is much better. I just want to protect you, even if that may not be your wish right now.

I just want to know you are alright, I just want to know you are safe. I want that from the bottom of my heart. I’dl do anything right now.

I really miss you.

~Isabelle

[Isabelle]

She would spend the next few hours enjoying her new home. While the silence of being in an enclosed space made it a tad eerie, it didn’t take long until the luxury of having her own house brought her to a state of bliss.

After taking a nap, she took a much needed bubble bath, and then she watched some television as her hair dried. She got to see some weird Omniverse TV for the first time. Most of the programming back home was soap operas, cartoons, the weather, so to experience the boundless creativity of endless universes was a treat to the senses. Even the commercials were absurd.

Two brothers…

After she could safely put her hair back into a bun, she prowled the house, filling cupboards with supplies that failed to come with the house, like toilet paper, tissues, tampons. She also went through her dresser and made sure all her favorite clothes were in there.

She checked in the backyard, which had a grill pit, a pool, and even a hot tub! It also had a dog house which briefly made her question what part of her psyche brought that out.

Afterwards, she took inventory of the rooms in the house. She only had a quick glance through of the bottom floor earlier, but she hadn’t checked the second floor.

Three guest bedrooms, a second bathroom, plenty of space for storage. She had checked everything. Well, everything except one final room.

She found a final flight of stairs. She couldn’t remember seeing a third floor from outside. It was hidden away behind a door that had a symbol with a book on it. Without dwelling much on it, she made her way up.

It lead to a library, set inside an octagon-shaped room. Each wall filled with books. She remembered earlier summoning a book she had never read before back in the nexus, so she figured a part of her mind may have taken that to the next level. But eight of the books were singled out, placed on pedestals, and each were lined up with one of the walls.

As she moved to the center, she could see each of the books on the pedestals had titles: “Tangled Green,” “Endless Dunes,” names emblazoned on the covers in gold lettering. She had never heard of these works of fiction.

But one jumped out at her as somewhat familiar, like she heard it from a movie or something.

“Coruscant.” She said curiously as she stepped towards the respective pedestal. She flipped open the front cover, and what she saw nearly threw her off her feet.

In the book, embedded in the paper, was a tiny screen. It displayed a large, sprawling city. She thought it was the capital back home at first, but then she noticed the strangely shaped architecture. Then she noticed the flying cars. It was some sort of scifi location with technology far beyond what she was familiar with.

Puzzled, she wondered what the screen was made of. She moved a paw over the image and laid her palm down, feeling it with the pads of her fingers.

And in the seconds that followed, she vanished from the Ashen Steppes.

What is up with those magic books? Where did it take our brave little dog? Tune in next time at Coruscant in “Tale of a Pup: MK8D Fzero Circuit”

[Isabelle]

Continued from Tale of a Pup: MK8D F Zero Circuit

Isabelle toppled over out of the recall machine. The tube was clearly made for people who are standing up when they teleport, so it just sent her sitting ass to ground.

She picked herself up, climbed to her feet. She rushed into the room, peeling off her her oil soaked clothing along the way. She stood naked in front of the body sized mirror in her room. She inspected her wounds.

The kicks she sustained barely left any marks on her. There was a little bit of swelling, she could see some redness when she looked under her fur. Otherwise, she was in far better shape than she expected.

She reached around to feel the back of her head. There was a big ol’ lump where the bullet used to be.

She wondered if Omni had given her super durability for whatever reason, if that’s why she could take a bullet like it was just a pebble. Why would Omni do that? She didn’t have any other powers she had discovered so far, did he just want her to be a survivor? Why her?

She carried these questions into the shower, where she washed the gunk she picked up from laying in the alleyway.

Why did Omni pick her?

After washing every bit of dirt, she stepped into the blower which sent air all over her body, drying her in a mere seconds. Then she threw herself on the bed.

“Maybe he just likes rooting for an underdog.” She said, giggling to herself.

Her chortles quickly turn into tiny sobs as she drifted to sleep.

[Isabelle]

When she woke the next day, she inspected her injuries again. They had already healed, except for the lump on the back of her head which was still sort of there. She wasn’t as depressed, almost like the sleep healed much more than her body. She did still feel a bit of guilt for what she had caused on the track.

She looked herself over in the mirror once more, she felt a strange mixture of surprise and non-surprise that she would just shake off a beating like that and be to near perfection the next day.

As she clothed herself, she thought about what Rovin said, about the responsibility being a prime granted her. On one hand, it was unfair to dump that sense of duty on someone who didn’t even choose this. She may not have been happy watching the mayor ride away on the train that day, but moving on from there was leagues beyond what Omni had put her through so far.

But at the same time, now that she had this power, now that she was here, it was probably best to try to harm as few secondaries as possible. In the end of the day, they were the ones dealt the short end of this stick while she got a free house, free food, free everything.

“Count your blessings.” She said, repeating her mother’s words from her childhood.

She hadn’t thought about that phrase in ages. When she was living in a dingy apartment amongst cockroaches, working as an accountant to a strip joint, that felt like a means to induce complacency amongst the poor; something to keep the poor poorer. But for once in her life, it felt relevant.

After she finished dressing, she looked herself over in the mirror. She had on a pink tank top and green short shorts, and she put on her black thick-rimmed reading glasses which laid snugly between her muzzle.

She moved out of her room and parked herself in front of her writing desk. She pulled out her journal, and composed a letter.




Dear Mayor.

I have another confession of guilt.

In my search for you, I concocted a plan to get your attention. Considering I have a hard time remembering you, I thought doing something that’ll get you to come to me would be the best course of action, so I participated in the F Zero Racing Circuit.

I admit, I started a fan debate on twitter, one that boiled into real life. I intended to pit the other racers against each other so I would get ahead. I did this with the intention to advance my own goals.

As a result, I may have hurt many people. I haven’t had the nerve to look up how severely they were hurt. I fear of possible deaths even. There was a pretty sizable pile of cars that resulted from this. To make it worse, all of them were secondaries, all of them could have been paralyzed or even gone forever.

It’s because of this that I swear an oath to the titans: I will never harm a secondary unless if it’s in self defense. I will avoid secondary deaths as much as possible. I will look out for their well being. That is now my responsibility to bear.

I hope you will come to forgive me, or at least I eventually earn your forgiveness.


With love,
Isabelle

[Isabelle]

It had been days since the big race in coruscant. She spent her time watching tv, reading books from her library, and mastering new recipes. She avoided social media, she dreaded what kind of hate was being flung her way at the very moment. Sure she wanted the attention, but she didn’t think fully of the consequences for her actions.

As she did her thing, she couldn’t help but feel something was missing. As the entertainment media blared on for hours in front of her, she couldn’t help but feel like the couch next her was so very empty. When she baked that new cookie recipe, she somehow resented that she had to eat it all herself.

Oddly enough, she had no mixed feelings about reading a book.

As she felt the feeling more and more, the more apparent it became what the problem was.

She hadn’t tried the pool yet!


She put on a green plaid bikini and ran out back with her favorite duck floatie. As soon as she stepped outside, she wondered what was the point of modesty in front of the geode, do rocks even feel lust? Do they feel it for girls?

Don’t answer that question.

Izzy took a running dive and cannonballed into the pool, the water almost felt frigid against her unaccustomed skin.

“Brrrr! Why is water always so cold when you first get in?”

She took a number of laps, it felt good to burn all that energy that had built up the past few days. Sitting around cooped up in a house all day, it couldn’t have been too healthy

Though, she’s felt healthier this past week or so than she’s ever felt in her entire adult life. Did Omni give her super healthiness? He had weird power choices.


After twenty minutes or so, she couldn’t help get that feeling again. She felt like someone else should be splashing with her.

Yeah, she wasn’t stupid, she knew it was loneliness.

She was hoping the mayor would fill that spot in her life when she found him in the Omniverse, but she wasn’t sure if he ever did. She couldn’t remember if they ever had that domestic life together that she always dreamed of.

Or maybe they did?

She vaguely had memories of him and her, living together, she could even remember them getting married, having kids, somehow.

But she could also remember him never even asking her out, she could remember crying her eyes out when he wound up with a different woman.

She didn’t know what of her memories were real, and what were just her fantasies or anxieties making crap up in her head.

When she came out of it, she found herself floating aimlessly on her duck floatie. The side of the plastic bumping against the edge of the pool. She took advantage of the location and climbed out, dried herself.

She couldn’t be with the mayor, but she need to be around people, even an apathetic stranger would be better than nobody at all.

She searched her phone for public beaches in the Omniverse. The island of Costa Del Sol came up multiple times. She was glad there were even beaches in general. After only viewing lava land and polluted future city, she almost began worrying about her options in this universe.

She looked up photos of the place as she changed. She was going to have to check into a hotel, spend a few days on this tropical beach adventure. Considering that, it was probably not best to show up straight away in a bathing suit. She put on a floral summer dress that hung just above the knees. So scandalous!

She packed a bunch of her clothing in her pockets and even packed a few essentials as well. She could summon things but best not to waste the Omnilium if she could avoid it.

With all that ready, she climbed two flights of stairs and into the library. She found the book that read “The Vasty Deeps.” She pictured Costa Del Sol in her head as she opened the pages and lay a paw on the moving video within, praying to Omni she wound up in the right place.

Would Isabelle find companionship amongst strangers? Will she actually wind up at the right place at all? Find out next time in “Tale of a Pup: Part Time at Retail” in the Vasty Deeps!

[Isabelle]

Continued from “Tale of a Pup: Part Time at Retail”

Isabelle warped into her house. The first sensation to hit her was the darkness. The second was the cold. The third, was the silence.

The still air of the home was interrupted by the sounds of banging, something distant from above. She hurried across her dream house, stumbling around her funiture heading for the first opening she could find. She climbed through a window and fell back down onto the grass below.

From this position, she could finally see it. The geode had a crack in it, running down the center of its shell. The pounding persisted, and it was obvious by now, something was breaking through.

“What can I do to save you?” Cried out Isabelle as she climbed to her feet. “What can I do to stop them?”

Suddenly, the ceiling of the rock lit up, displaying images. It displayed Isabelle praying to her house. Suddenly, the house turned into a palm sized globe and leapt into her hand.

“Well, if it would help you, I’ll try.”

She stood in front of her dream house, praying to omni, praying her home will be portable. The Omnilium emerged from her body, encapsulating the house. She tried not to let the pounding break her focus. She devoted her whole mind to the task at hand. It was the only thing she could do for him right now.

Eventually, her house shrunk down, floating in the air and landing gently in her paws. It was a tiny glass orb, a miniature of her house in the middle. She quickly pocketed it and looked up to the geode.

“What should I do next?” She yelled up.

But suddenly, she heard something break. The crack was finally big enough, moist aroma of dirt filled the air. Izzy looked up and saw a head poking through, the head and long neck of some lizard which was looking directly at her. It licked its chops.

Izzy was shivering in place, but she also knew she was a prime. It was her responsibility to protect the vulnerable secondaries, even if it would put her through trauma.

“I will fight for you, where should I go?”

Suddenly, a piece of the geode opened up into a doorway of sorts, just at the outer rim of the island. Isabelle figured she knew the plan. She’d go outside, climb up to where the monsters are, and stop them before the can make the crack worse. With a deep breath, she stepped through…

...to be greeted with a long cave, one that was leading clearly the opposite direction.

“Geode, this doesn’t lead to the lizards at all-”

But as she turned around to speak to the rock, not only has the doorway already disapear, it was pulsing a light. It was making some strange noise, something that was a kin to energy building.

“Oh no, oh no!”

Izzy took off in the opposite direction, she ran as fast as her stubby legs could take her. Then suddenly a loud explosion rang through the enclose cave, a gust of air tosses the dog off her feet, sending her flying for yards.

Her ears were damaged, but she didn’t need to hear right now. She knew it would heal. All that matter is her vision. Up ahead there wasn’t much of a cave anymore, it opened up to a giant empty hole. Not a single sign of life.


It took Isabelle a long while to make it through the caves. It was a long time to her thoughts. She had brought a piece of the geode with her, and she spent much of the hike looking at it, wondering what she could have done to change fate. She stopped when she hit a dead end, she stopped when she had to sneak around more lizard people, but much of the time, her mind was filled with regret.

When she finally made her way to the Nexus gate, she felt kind of empty. She wasn’t even sure how long it had been. She had felt many things in this journey, loneliness fear, guilt, but something about this emotion, she wouldn’t wish it on anybody.

Before she stepped through, she took one more look at the Ashen Steppes. She thought to say goodbye, but then she decided she shouldn’t even bother.

To be continued in “Tale of a Pup: Part Time at Retail”