4The Secret Life of Pups
CHAPTER 1: WHEN ALL THE TOWN'S ASLEEP…
It was a dark and stormy night…literally. And all the town was asleep, dreaming sweet dreams of romance, achieving lifelong goals or just singing at the next Splendid Bowl*. The only ones awake were Snoopy, Andy, Olaf, Roger, Gracie and Herman. They were in the Brown's backyard, pretending they were fighting off the infamous Red Baron. Gracie was sitting in Wyatt's stroller, Andy and Olaf were on boxes and Roger and Herman were watching eagerly from the sidelines as Snoopy was aboard his 'Sopwith Camel'.
"Here's the World War I Flying Ace and his crew preparing to take down their arch enemy: The Red Baron!" Snoopy explained as his imagination lead him and the crew into the sky. "We spot the Red Baron and prepare to take him down!"
From the house, Charlie Brown and Sally watched the animals messing around in the backyard, causing them both to sigh in disbelief as they returned back to bed.
"Great Scott! He's shot down my brothers' planes!" Snoopy exclaimed, swooping in to rescue the beagles. "You two okay?"
"A bit spent, but good." Andy explained.
"Ditto." Olaf agreed with a lot of panting before Snoopy's plane was shot down with bullets too.
"Hop aboard!" Gracie instructed, flying Ol' Trusty before it too was shot down with the Red Baron's bullets.
"I hate when this happens!" Roger said to Herman.
"Don't worry, men. Help is on its way." Andy explained.
"He's gonna get Snoopy's owner, isn't he?" Herman wondered.
"Nope. Here comes someone who can help." Andy said as a fuzzy, brown dog with matching spots on his golden ears and back walked towards them. He wore a hat similar to Roger's and had a blue neckerchief on his scruffy neck. "You must be new. I'm Andy Newton, this is Olaf Warren, Snoopy Brown, Herman Fitzherbert, Roger Henderson and Gracie Grandin."
"Charmed to meet you, Andy. Same with you, Olaf. You remind me of my brother Chomper." The new dog said.
"I feel offended." Olaf thought.
"No offense."
"None taken."
"Pleased to meet you, Snooper. Same with you, Herman-my-man. Roger, Roger, Roger…how do I put this? You look great with that hat!" the new dog continued his speech as the two beagles and wolf smiled.
"What about Gracie?" Andy noted.
"Of course, how can I forget my little sister?" Gracie's tail wagged happily as she pounced on the dog. "Hey Gracie, how are you, sis? Taking good care of the Grandin family?"
"Oh yes, Lex. I sure am." Gracie replied as she licked his face. Once they both got up off the ground, they gave a great big hug to each other.
"I have a brother-in-law?" Snoopy's jaw dropped.
"Oh yes-well, one of four brothers." Lex explained. "You also have four sisters-in-law."
"I do?" Snoopy asked in awe.
"I can't believe this, Gracie! You have a brother that you never told us about!" gasped Roger.
"You never asked, silly dog." Gracie giggled.
"Now, need help with your planes?" Lex asked, pulling out power tools from his hat. "Joe Mechanic."
"Oh yes, mister Lex, sir." Snoopy replied.
"Are the others here too? Bonnie, Chomper, Petunia, Dee-Dee, Kiki and Jack? Are they here too?" Gracie wondered.
"Oh yes, I dropped them off at a small café in a French village." Lex explained.
"The one I wrote to you about?"
"Oh yes, little sis."
"Is Skip here too?"
"Never far behind." A fuzzy light grey dog with sharp fangs, black ears, a yellow collar and baseball cap replied. He was Skip.
"Sweet Sparky Schulz!" Andy gasped. "He's fierce!"
"No, he's not. He's sweet as honey." Lex said.
"Indeed." Skip replied.
"So, why exactly are you all visiting?" Gracie wondered.
"Our owners are at a 'No Dogs Allowed' convention." Lex said. "The others' owners are traveling and we all hate kennels."
"Well, welcome home!" Gracie exclaimed. "Root beer and cookies for all!"
"What does that mean?" Skip asked Snoopy.
"It means we're all heading to the French Café." Snoopy replied as they all headed to the little café.
Once they got there, they were all greeted to six other Beagle-Dalmatians quaffing down root beer and feasting on cookies. "Well, here's my family." Gracie chuckled anxiously. "There's Bonnie, Chomper, my twin sister Petunia and the triplets: Dee-Dee, Kiki and Wellington Jack."
"They're party dogs!" Andy gasped.
"Just like us." Herman giggled.
"Come on, grab a cup and let's all get to know ourselves better." Lex suggested.
"Are you spayed?" Andy asked one of the female dogs-a golden furred dog with black spots, a mint green neckerchief and matching hair bow.
"No; I'm Bonnie. Do tell me though, are you neutered?" she asked with a giggle.
"Nope. The name's Andy." Andy blushed.
"Go get her, bro." Olaf rooted as a scream caught their attentions.
"Everyone out, party's over!" a woman's voice exclaimed as everyone ran out of the house. "Stupid dogs…always leaving a mess behind. It's gonna take me all day to clean this up!"
"Go back to bed, Darby." A man's voice called back. "The Brown's dog has been here before and you didn't make a fuss."
"But there were multiple dogs!"
As everyone ran out of the café, they stopped at Claudia's house and burst into laughter. "That was epic!" Bonnie exclaimed to Andy as he blushed.
"Sure was!" Andy replied.
"You must be Chomper." Olaf told a heavily overweight brown dog with black ears. "I'm Olaf."
"Indeed, I am Chomper. Pleased to meet you." Chomper replied with a fist bump.
"Has anyone ever told you you look like a walking piece of fudge?"
"Multiple times. Has anyone ever told you you look like a walking snowman?"
"Sometimes. I'm the ugliest dog ever. 'Ugly Olaf' is what they call me."
"Cool. People just call me 'Chomper'." The two then burst into laughter.
"Boys." Dee-Dee and Kiki thought. Aside from their hair bows and collars, they were identical, both being beige with black spots.
"Girls." Roger and Herman sulked.
NEXT CHAPTER: A REUNION TO REMEMBER
*: A quick nod to some of the Super Bowl references in the comics
