Post by Shadow Dearly on Dec 25, 2015 8:53:43 GMT -5
Ohhhh! I love this so much! Thank you I wonder what Shadow and Rosalina may have planned X3.
And, since it is Christmas, it's time for me to post my Secret Santa, and my Secret Santa is Paws. She said she was cool with anything, so I wrote her a story about Saffron and Pizza, preparing, well in this case spending, the holidays together. I did a little twist to it. I used the pictures of Saffron and Pizza as reference, to keep them in character as I can. I'm learning how to write the other Dalmatian characters, of other Sparky members, in character. Anyhoo, here we go.
A Holiday Never Forgotten
By: Shadow Dearly
Christmastime. A season of joyous laughter and cheer filled the air. The snow was softly falling, like teardrops, from the cloudy, white skies over the Dearly Farm. When it snowed, you can expect people and pups, or other animals, playing in the snow, having snowball fights or building snow forts.
The Christmas season is perfect to throw holiday parties. That is what one spirited and enthusiastic Dalmatian pup had in mind. This pup, of the female gender, had spots splotched all throughout her body (except for the lower half of her stomach), her left ear was completely black, whilst her right ear was white with spots splotched over. Her left hind paw, along with her right fore paw, were black. Her tail was white, with a spot and a black tail tip. This pup also wore a blue collar with a dog tag. Finally, her eyes light brown, if not auburn. Her name was Saffron. She wagged her tail, excitement filling her up. She was in the barn, looking out the window at the falling, twinkling snowflakes.
“Ohhh . . . I just love the Christmas season!” Saffron said, happily. “Something about this holiday makes this all enchanting. It also makes me want to do something. I don’t want to sit on my derriere all day!” But what could she do? There were a lot of things she can do. For instance, she loves going outside, playing sports, and well, be active. All excellent ingredients for a healthy lifestyle.
A couple of feet away was another Dalmatian puppy, a male, laying his back against the hay bales, sitting on his haunches. This pup had spots covering his ears, forelegs, chest, hips, and thighs. He wore a navy blue collar around his neck, with a dog tag in the shape of a slice of pizza—hence the puppy’s name Pizza. Pizza had brown eyes, with a blue sclera.
Now, the thing about Pizza and Saffron is this: They are dating, but Saffron is bisexual, and Pizza is okay with that. They have been friends ever since and they let their relationship blossom.
Then, Saffron turned to face Pizza and trotted over to him. “Pizza, it’s Christmastime. How about we go outside and play in the snow? We could make snow angels, have ourselves a snowball fight, feel the snow crunch beneath our paws and toes . . .” she continued to list suggestions to her mate/friend.
“You are so hyperactive, aren’t you Saffron?” Pizza asked, in a joking manner. He got up on his paws, stretched a bit, and nuzzled the female pup. “How about we get something to eat first? Pizza?”
Saffron shrugged. “And how do you expect us to get it? Call the pizzeria and the pizza delivery person see that we are dogs? Besides, I’m not really hungry. I just ate not too long ago.”
“Well, you know me and Italian food. Love it, even though I can’t make it myself.” laughed Pizza. “And I love to eat!”
“So may we play in the snow?” Saffron asked, a second time, wagging her tail fast. “I’ll keep asking until you say yes, beau.” she giggled. “Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?”
She kept on asking Pizza, but didn’t mind her enthusiastic behavior.
“Enthusiastic, aren’t we?” Pizza smirked. “All right, we can go. As long as there are no varmints-insects-roaches, scorpions, silverfish . . . I’ll be fine.” he noted.
“Are you afraid of bugs?” asked Saffron, arching an eyebrow.
“. . . No. No, I am not!” replied Pizza. “I . . . uhs . . . love bugs. My friend, Calvin, is the one deathly afraid of bugs.” he said, lying to Saffron. Truths are told, there is no Calvin and Pizza is afraid of bugs. He’s just unwilling to admit it. “But if you want to go to the swamp, then I will go too!” Pizza then said, placing a paw on his chest triumphantly.
“Well, I wasn’t planning on going to swamp today, but if you would like to, I won’t have a problem with that.” Saffron replied, smirking to Pizza. “Since you’re real brave and all . . .”
“Yes! Uh, that’s right. I’m brave! Not scared, brave!” Pizza chuckled nervously. “No way I am scared of going to the swamps, where there is musky water, alligators, snakes, water bugs, amongst other things . . .” he said, gradually going into fetal position. “Saffron, hold me . . .” Pizza said, shaking.
“How about we not go to swamps today?” Saffron asked, petting and patting Pizza’s back.
“Now, that is a good idea.” answered Pizza; it didn’t take him long to answer. Due to his fear of bugs, he avoids the swamp like the plague. Hey! You’d be in fetal position too if you’re deathly afraid of insects!
“What would you like to do instead?” Pizza then asked. There were a lot of things that he and Saffron could do together. Pizza loved to explore new places (if that place had zero bugs and wasn’t the swamp) and Saffron was an astronomical aficionado. She had numerous constellation charts and star maps. But she did enjoy finding the stars that form the Big Dipper and Ursa Major and Minor, as well as Hercules, Orion, and Leo the lion.
“Well, I would like for us to look for constellations, but it’ll probably snow overnight, so that’s out of the question.” Saffron replied, smiling, wagging her tail at Pizza. “How about we just go outside and play in the snow? That’s my first choice, and we’re pups, so we have to enjoy our time as youngsters before we’re adults.”
“Well, we can spend the holidays together, but by playing outside, I think that very much covers us spending the holidays together. Come to think of it, it’s just you and me, so we are spending the holidays together.” said Pizza, trotting over to the barn’s entrance. He stopped, placed his paws firmly on the floorboard, and turned his head to Saffron. “Ye coming?” he asked.
“Yay! Last one out gets hit with three snowballs!” Saffron laughed and rushed out of the barn in a blur. It was like she was wearing speed shoes, even though Saffron was wearing nothing on her paws. She’s quick to leave, and she’s quick to come back in. She is quick on all fours.
“HEY! WAIT FOR ME!” yelped Pizza, running after Saffron. “I don’t want to be hit by snowballs!” he called out.
“Then you better make sure you beat me, even though you won’t.” smirked Saffron, grinning. “I’m a couple of feet away from striking you with snowballs.” she laughed.
Saffron was nearly outside when Pizza looked up to the sky, and said, “Say Saffron, isn’t that a Lugia up in the sky?”
Saffron stopped in her tracks and looked up, jerking her head around, looking for the supposed Lugia. “What? What? Where?” she asked. Pizza used this as an opportunity to dash by Saffron. Saffron’s love for Pokémon had cost her the race as Pizza ran right past her.
“Victory for the Pizza!” Pizza cheered, making it outside first, and Saffron squinted her eyes at her beau. She couldn’t believe she fell for the Pokémon trick. “Oh, come on Saffron. Have some team spirit.” Pizza then said.
“Teammates don’t disdain others.” Saffron simply said. “They also don’t cheat, which is exactly what you did . . .”
“But even so, you’re still the one who gets hit by snowballs.” smirked Pizza. “So take your snowballs with gratitude.”
“I should just send you to the swamps instead.” Saffron replied, shaking her head. Pizza froze in his tracks, becoming like a statue, knowing his fear of bugs. “Wouldn’t you like that?” she then smirked.
“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh . . .” Pizza was speechless. He felt that he could melt into a puddle right then and there. “How about we begin spending the holidays together, Saffron?” he blushed.
Saffron chuckled, wagging her tail, and nodded her head fast. “That would be lovely, Pizza.” she smiled. She scooped up a pawful of snow, formed it into a ball, and chucked it to Pizza. Pizza evaded Saffron’s snowball at the last minute. “Dang it, Pizza! I had a clear shot of you and you just had to move!”
Pizza wagged his tail, and grinned triumphantly. “What can I say? I am that awesome.” he said. “I foiled your plan for the element of surprise.”
Saffron grumbled. “You’re not awesome,” she said jokingly, “I am awesome! I am a video game afficionado, I adore space so much I want to just float out to the stars. I also love the American past time—baseball.”
“Well, I have to agree with you on baseball,” Pizza replied, “it’s so fun to watch on TV. It’s more fun when we have snacks to munch on, dude.”
“I am not a dude, but a dudette.” Saffron stuck her tongue out at Pizza. “I’m a lady.”
Pizza shrugged. “Well, you know what I mean.” he said, folding his forepaws out.
Saffron scooped another pawful of snow, formed it into a ball, and chucked it to Pizza whilst he wasn’t looking. This time, it hit him, finally, on his face. Pizza yelped in surprise as Saffron formed her left forepaw into a fist and jerked it downwards, happily. “Yes! I finally got you!” she said, laughing, wagging her tail, as Pizza dusted snow from off his eyes.
“Yes . . . you got me . . .” Pizza nodded. “But that means I’ll get you back!” he yelled, scooped up some snow, made a snowball, and chucked it over to Saffron. As she was doing her victory dance, shaking her body, the snowball hit her back, causing Saffron to lose her footing and fall face-first into the snow.
She lifted her head and spit out excess snow. She then got up on her paws and glared at Pizza. “I have to admit, that was fun.” she grinned, getting an idea. “But I have an idea to make this even more fun!”
“What?” Pizza asked.
“SNOWBALL FIGHT!” Saffron laughed, launching snowballs to Pizza like she was a perpetual motion device, and Pizza was being struck by every single one of them.
It didn’t take long for Pizza to return fire. And then, to their joyous surprise, the two were having their first snowball fight of the season. Both Saffron and Pizza laughed as they hurled snowballs to each other, without a fort. If this was an actual snowball fight, the elimination type, they both would’ve lost already, but neither of them cared. Saffron and Pizza were doing this for the sake of having fun.
“I’m gonna get you!” Saffron shouted, laughing like she never laughed before.
“No, you’re not!” replied Pizza. “It is me who’ll get you!”
The two kept chucking snowballs to each other to the point (around fifty minutes) that Saffron and Pizza fell onto their backs, panting heavily. After catching their breaths, Saffron and Pizza got back up on their paws, wriggling their toes as a way to avoid getting frostbite.
“So . . . I don’t want my toes to be frozen, do you want to go back into the barn and watch some TV?” Saffron said. That was another thing about her: she was a TV junkie. If she doesn’t have anything else to do, click, she turns on the TV.
“The more you watch TV, the more chances of you being sucked into the TV!” Pizza replied, shaking his head and wiggling his toes. “My paws are getting cold. To the barn!” he said and dashed away.
“That would be so awesome, to be sucked into the TV set.” gasped Saffron, following suit. “Being able to travel through television, it’s like a dream come true. Too bad it can’t really happen to us.”
“Well, it can be possible . . .” Pizza said. “Lucky claimed he was sucked in a video game with Cruella, so if that can happen, the possibility of you and me being sucked into the TV set is also possible. But it comes with a price: There’s the chance of us being stuck forever.”
“The game, that was Barkio, I presume?” Saffron asked.
Pizza nodded.
“Enough chit-chat, let’s watch TV!” Saffron said, grabbing the remote. With a click of a button, the TV turned on. A holiday movie was playing, but Saffron’s mind was someplace else—the snowball fight she and Pizza had earlier. That was fun, but Saffron hoped that she would win, that Pizza would fall first. After a while, Saffron shook her head, and turned to Pizza. “Don’t you just love watching Christmas specials?” she asked. “It’s always so magical watching these during the holidays, do you agree? Do you feel the magic?”
Pizza’s stomach began growling. “Oh, I’m feeling something, and it’s not magic.” he said.
“Oh, please don’t tell me you’re already hungry . . .” Saffron frowned. “We’re in the middle of the movie; can’t you wait until commercial?”
“I should do what Rolly, Foody, and Autumn do and make me my own secret food stash.” said Pizza, keeping his eyes on the movie.
“Yeah, but the more you eat, the higher the risk of you becoming fat.” Saffron smirked, poking Pizza’s slim belly.
“I don’t care! I love eating!” Pizza said. “I don’t know why, I just do.”
“And I know you have minimal cooking skills, too.” Saffron nodded. “You can make the easy stuffs, like sandwiches for instance. Anything that needs the oven or a stove, no.”
“I don’t want to burn my paws . . .” Pizza exclaimed. “You know what our pets may do if they catch me near the oven?”
Saffron nodded. “The same thing that Nanny did to Lucky, when she caught him in her beautiful garden, looking for four-leaf clovers.” she noted to Pizza. “Scolding and punishing.”
The holiday movie went on, until hours later. The movie ended sadly, with the parents of the protagonist being killed in a fatal car accident, which in retrospect was an overused plot tactic, with the child protagonist being blamed over the whole thing and having to spend the rest of his life in jail. Saffron was crying her eyes out, feeling sorrowful for the boy. Pizza, on the other hand, did not believe the movie should have ended this way. “I guess not all Christmas specials have a happy ending, but I give this movie props. It wasn’t predictable.” Pizza said.
Saffron continued bawling. Pizza took her in his arms and rubbed her back. “It’s okay Saffron. It’s just a movie, one that had quite an unexpected ending.” Pizza said.
Saffron then calmed down, wiped her tears away, and sniffed. She didn’t want to make a scene with her crying. “Thank you, Pizza.” Saffron said, sighing. “It’s just that I didn’t expect that movie to end that way. Shouldn’t Christmas specials end on a happy note, rather than a sad one?”
“Hopefully, there’s a sequel that has the boy being proved innocent.” Pizza replied. “But I don’t know the name of the movie we just watched, so . . .”
“We should look up this movie sometime, but let’s go back outside! Our paws should be warm enough.” Saffron’s cheerful, merry mood came back. She got up, leaped forward, and flew to the barn’s entrance. But the force of gravity proved stronger, as she landed at the barn’s entrance, her front paws touching snow. “Brrrr . . . the snow’s cold.” Saffron said.
“You don’t say, Sherlock.” Pizza said, walking up to Saffron, smirking.
“I flew! I flew!” Saffron laughed, looking up at Pizza.
“Yeah, you were a high-flying Dalmatian, Saffron.” chuckled Pizza, congratulating Saffron over her “flight”, even though she didn’t really fly. Neither Saffron nor Pizza had magic fairy dust.
“Wouldn’t it be fun if we could actually fly?” grinned Saffron. She got back on her paws, and her excitement stood taut inside her. “Imagine: Our paws floating off the ground, where we fly, making the rest of the pups stare at us with their agape maws. We’d be the only flying pups on the farm! We’d be famous, Pizza!” Her tail wagged, like a fan, emitting a breeze to Pizza, who then stood behind her enjoying the wind fanning him.
“That is something that is best left for dreams.” Pizza said, petting his mate. “Sometimes, I have unfathomable dreams. Like for instance, I dreamt of you turning into a naga, Saffron. You had me coiled, lovingly, around your snake tail before turning back into a Dalmatian.”
Saffron giggled. “Gee, you do have weird dreams at times.” she said. “I usually dream of being able to drive a car. Of course, I’m anthropomorphic in my dreams, rather than feral . . .” She continued telling Pizza about her dreams. Pizza did the same.
After a while of talking, Saffron and Pizza placed their paws firmly on the snow. Pizza looked over to Saffron, and said, “We should definitely prepare for the holidays, now.”
Saffron wagged her tail. She had tons of ideas. She didn’t know where to begin. “Ooh, we should make our own Christmas tree! Or decorate the barn or hay bales! I am so in the Christmas spirit! We should sing Christmas carols, like Deck The Halls, Jingle Bells, or Good King Wenceslas.”
“But what about Silent Night or The First Noel?” Pizza asked.
“Shadow once told me that The First Noel makes him cry.” Saffron said. “I can see why. It’s because of the melody of the song.” She began humming the melody of the tune. She tried her best not to cry herself. It worked. “That carol does have a sweet, soft melody. It can also make you visualize the song.” Saffron said to Pizza. “So shall we get started decorating?”
“Sure. Where do our pets put the lights?” Pizza said. He sat down on the snow, not minding that it felt cold that his derriere will eventually create warmth for him.
“I believe . . . the attic?”
Pizza nodded his head, smiling. “Well then, let’s go get the Christmas lights!” he said. He then dashed away, with Saffron quickly following him, toward the Dearly farmhouse. “Come on, Saffron! Stop being a slowpoke!” he called out.
“Don’t call me a slowpoke!” Saffron yelled, at Pizza, in reply. Soon, the two pups were neck-to-neck with each other as they were getting closer to the farmhouse. “You’re the one who’s the slowpoke, Pizza!” she smirked.
“Oh, am I now? How?” Pizza asked, dubious.
“Like . . . THIS!” Saffron accelerated past Pizza, and when she was close to the doggy door, she leapt, flying through it gracefully. If Saffron and Pizza agreed on a race to the farmhouse, Saffron would have won, no doubt about it. Saffron then waited for Pizza on the other side.
“. . . You must love winning, don’t you?” Pizza asked, coming his way through the doggy door. “You beat me twice today . . .”
“How could I beat you if we never agreed to race?” Saffron asked. “Now, let’s go get the Christmas lights so we can start decorating the barn’s interior.”
She then squealed happily.
“All right, let’s go! We should also get a radio and play Christmas music, too.” Pizza wagged his tail, the Christmas spirit burning inside him, as he and Saffron made their way up the stairs, and to the attic. To their surprise, boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments and lights were seen spread around. Jackpot.
“Ooh, I was just thinking that we should have music to keep us in the Christmas spirit!” Saffron squealed. “If you want to purify your soul, and yes we do have a soul, to keep you in the Christmas spirit, listen to Christmas carols.”
“Now, the question is this: How will we carry this out to the barn?” Pizza asked, thumping a paw on a box of colorful Christmas lights. “We’ll have to do it inconspicuously, just so you know Saffron.”
Saffron and Pizza thought long and hard about it. They wished they could have the ability to teleport anywhere, or have the ability to fly. But if they wanted to be inconspicuous, they have to be unnoticed, so flying is out.
“I guess I could throw the box out the window and you could catch it . . .” Saffron said, suggesting such a rather interesting, if not completely stupid, idea.
“How about not? I don’t think I’m in the mood to be squished by a box of Christmas lights.” replied Pizza, rubbing the back of his head with a paw, chuckling nervously. “We need Christmas magic at a time like this.” he said.
“Ooh, that would be so awesome!” Saffron said, as she and Pizza started pushing the box of lights out of the attic—the only plausible solution they could think of, but an obstacle is coming their way: The stairs.
“Oh boy, we’re coming to the stairs!” Pizza called out. “Should we just push the box down or carry it on two?” Saffron pushed herself on two legs, and Pizza did the same. They held the box taut as they slowly made their way down the stairs, taking each step one at a time.
“I think this is plausible, even though the box is a bit heavy.” Saffron said. The two were almost at the bottom of the stairs, and nobody came into contact with them. They were home free. “We look weird, walking on two legs, like a human. It’s like a human walking on all fours.” she said.
“It’s the only way we can carry the box of Christmas lights,” Pizza pointed out.
“There’s the drastic way . . . pushing the box down the stairs.” replied Saffron, but then rubbed the back of her head with a paw. “Of course, we’d run the risk of the Christmas lights being scattered around, not to mention grasping the attention of our pets.”
“The ‘drastic’ way isn’t you and I being inconspicuous.” Pizza said, the two pups reaching the bottom of the staircase. Saffron and Pizza now had to push the cardboard box to the barn. So far, the coast was clear. “All right, let’s move.” Pizza said, certain enough that nobody was coming.
Using all their might, Saffron and Pizza pushed the box to the door where they came across yet another obstacle—the door was closed. The box was so big that it couldn’t fit through the doggy door. Was this the end of their plans to decorate the barn? Saffron frowned. She didn’t want her and Pizza’s decoration plans doused now. But what could she think of at the top of her head?
“Come on, Saffron. Think.” Saffron said, talking to herself. “We’ve gone this far, and we’re not about to give up!”
“Maybe we should just give up on this and find something else to celebrate the holidays.” Pizza suggested, shrugging his shoulders. “Something like a Christmas excursion, you know?”
“A holiday excursion, huh?” Saffron asked, wagging her tail fast. “That sounds like a lot of fun, but it doesn’t make sense to cease something, mid-way, without finishing it, Pizza.” she noted. “But us decorating the barn is a somewhat excursion, if you count us getting the decorations from the attic.”
Pizza smiled. “Now, all we have to do is think of a way to open the front door . . .” he said, but got an idea. “How about we get the Christmas lights out from the box, and we throw them out of the doggy door?”
“Oh! What a wonderful idea, Pizza!” Saffron said. She felt like she could do back flips. She was so enthusiastic over Pizza. Why hasn’t she thought of that before?
Getting the lights from the box, the two pups pushed the empty box to the side and leapt through the doggy door, making sure not to get tangled up by the many Christmas lights. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” she exclaimed to Pizza.
With that obstacle conquered, Saffron and Pizza trotted back over to the barn as jolly as they can be. Nothing can stop their plans for bringing Christmas cheer that is if Roger, Anita, or Nanny doesn’t catch them with the Christmas lights. It’s amazing what others conclude. When a child carries Christmas lights, the correct way with none dragging on the ground, the whole family helps decorating. However, if the same family sees their dog do it, the dog gets in trouble and has to spend the rest of the day outside as punishment. It’s the same with children and parents. Children draw on the walls and see a masterpiece. Their parents look at the same drawing and see a mess.
Nevertheless, Saffron and Pizza made it into the barn without being caught. There were other Dalmatian puppies inside the barn, they must have come whilst Saffron and Pizza were away getting the Christmas lights, so the two enlisted their help in making the barn shine with the Christmas spirit. The puppies helped Saffron and Pizza twirl Christmas lights over all the hay bales and the loft. Some hanged a wreath above the TV, but as they were decorating, only then did Pizza realize what was missing—the electrical cord.
“Saffron,” Pizza whispered to his best friend and mate. “Do you see anything missing?” he asked.
Saffron shook her head. “No, it looks marvelous. What could be missing?” she asked, but then facepawed. “Oh, my God. We don’t have an electrical cord to turn these lights on! How can you turn on Christmas lights without electricity?”
“I’ll go get it!” one female puppy, with triangular spots all around her body, said. “You can count on me!” she called out, rushing out of the barn to the farmhouse, to get a long electrical cord. Let’s just hope this pup doesn’t carry it with her maw.
Saffron and Pizza nodded to the pup. “Okay! Don’t take too long!” they said in unison.
The pup soon returned, on two legs, carrying the electrical cord with her forepaws, walking to Saffron and Pizza. “All righty, here’s the cord. Now, we can light this bad boy up!” the pup said, wagging her tail happily.
Saffron smiled. “Thank you, Elaine. If it wasn’t for you, we would have unlit lights.” she laughed at her own joke, even though it wasn’t really one. “All right, pups! Let’s have a very merry Christmas!” she then announced. “Pizza, go hook up the lights!” Saffron said, turning over to Pizza. Through thick and thin, no matter how everything could go wrong, Saffron maintained her enthusiastic personality.
“Okay, Saffron! Let this barn be christened by Christmas!” Pizza said, dragging the cord to an electrical outlet. Hey, if we didn’t have electrical outlets installed in the barn, there would be no TV. Pizza then plugged the end piece of the electrical cord into the outlet, and then plugged in the cord to the Christmas lights in. When Pizza plugged the lights in, the barn went aglow in Christmas color. Some lights were red, blue, yellow, green, and orange. And yet, the pups could still see the color of the Christmas lights rather than black-and-white.
“The magic of Christmas has shunned its light on us again.” one Dalmatian pup said, gleefully. “Like it does every year.”
“Christmas doesn’t feel complete without decorations.” another pup said. “Of course, Christmas isn’t about lights or presents. It’s about spending time with friends and family.” he added.
“Some forget the true meaning of Christmas,” a male pup shrugged, “a lot seems to believe that the holiday is about gimme this, and gimme that. And then they complain of getting the wrong present. It’s the thought that counts!”
“But this looks so beautiful!” Saffron wagged her tail, simply mesmerized at how gorgeous and beautiful the barn looked, now that it was decorated and all Christmas-y. “I say that we did a job well done, you all.”
“So beautiful that you may cry?” smirked Pizza. Saffron shook her head, touched, but not on the verge of crying, like she did when she watched that sad Christmas film. Why did she watch that film? Maybe she didn’t know it would end on a sad note.
“No, my eyes are dry this time. The barn looks all wonderful, with the Christmas magic wrapped around it. Wow, I’ve been saying ‘Christmas’ a lot, haven’t I?” Saffron asked.
“You did . . . so much so, I’ve lost count.” answered Pizza. “But nevertheless, I’m getting hungry. I think Roger left a piece of pizza in the fridge. God, I love pizza and many other Italian food, that I really not skilled at making. I really need to expand my culinary skills, and learn how to really cook. I may burn my paws, but at least I’d be learning!”
But as Pizza was talking, a cockroach appeared and scattered about the barn. When it came into Pizza’s view, he yelped and zipped up the hay bales. “Ew, roach. Ew, roach. Ew, roach. Get it away from me! Get. It. Away. From. Me.” he whimpered. His fear of bugs was showing.
“Here comes Saffron to the rescue . . .” Saffron sighed and laid her left forepaw for the roach. The roach twitched its antennae and scattered on Saffron’s forepaw.
“May I squish the roach?” a pup asked, grinning, raising a paw. “That roach deserves its demise for frightening Pizza.” he exclaimed.
Saffron squinted her eyes at the pup, unfazed at the situation. “No, you may not. Roaches, like us, are living creatures. I feel that the roach here may have a good life if we spare it.” she said. She then looked outside, fearing that the roach may die out in the snow, so she let the roach go in front of a crack on the wall. The roach disappeared, unharmed.
“Is . . . is . . . the r-roach g-gone?” Pizza was shaking. “And no, I wasn’t scared of the roach, I just . . . felt . . . like getting up here . . .”
“Yeah, sure, right . . .” a pup, with polka-dotted spots, rolled her eyes. “You really need to get over this stupid phobia of yours. Lots of fricking pups are scared of something, and they get over it. It’s simple as that . . .” she sighed.
“For the last time, I am not afraid of bugs!” Pizza lied. “If I could, I would keep one as a pet!”
The polka-dotted pup smirked. “I’d like to see you try. For all I know, you’d shriek like a girl at the first touch!” she laughed, tauntingly. “Pups who are afraid of bugs are stupid.” she scoffed.
Saffron glared at the pup. “That is enough!” she shouted. “This is Christmas. The best time of the year. So I’d appreciate it if you don’t dumb down my holiday mood.”
The pup shrugged. “Fine, whatever . . .” she said.
“Doesn’t this look great?” Pizza asked, wagging his tail. He felt proud of himself for his help in decorating the barn. “I say we decorated the barn before Christmas.”
“I heard that some humans are becoming politically correct,” one pup said, “they complain about nativity scenes, that the county orders the removal of the nativity scene. I find it wrong.”
“Oh, just stop it with the politically correctness garbage.” groaned a familiar star-spotted Dalmatian pup. It was Shadow, leaning against the barn doors, upright, with one hind leg over the other. “This is the Christmas season. A time of love, and all things holy. And if humans want to be politically correct, and remove Santa Claus or Santa Paws, then it’s their own selfish being.” He continued ranting, until he caught his breath.
Shadow then took a couple of steps forward and examined the work the pups have done. “Sorry for being late for the barn decoration.” he said. “I was with Rosalina, and we were underneath the mistletoe.” The star-spotted Dalmatian then grinned.
Saffron giggled. “Did you and Rosie kiss each other?”
Shadow blushed, deep, as red as a tomato. By the look of Shadow blushing, Saffron knew that he and Rosalina kissed. It’s a Christmas tradition. No matter if you’re straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, if you’re underneath the mistletoe with someone, you have to give them a kiss. “Yeah . . . we kissed . . . for ten minutes.” Shadow admitted.
“Ten minutes?!” Pizza shouted, surprised, amazed. “What, were you trying to set a world record?” he asked, gleefully.
“Well, Rosalina and I could’ve gone for twenty, but we were told that we were hogging the mistletoe.” Shadow answered Pizza. “And I must say, you pups did a bang-up, marvelous job decorating the barn!” he then wagged his tail. “Oh, it looks like I’m home! We have snow, Christmas trees and lights, apple cider, hot chocolate, snowball fights, and many more!”
Saffron smiled, wagging her tail, feeling all warm inside. “This is the best, well going to be the best, Christmas ever!” she exclaimed. “All of us are here, around the Christmas lights, adoring them, for we will do the same thing next year!”
Pizza smiled and nodded his head, agreeing with Saffron. “And next year, we’ll make our decorations even bigger. We could have decorated the TV, but I think the bows would interfere with the TV signal, and Lucky wouldn’t enjoy that.” he said.
“Come on, let’s go play outside!” one pup announced.
So the pups played outside, in the snow, every one of them having fun, knowing that the same thing will happen again next Christmas.
And, since it is Christmas, it's time for me to post my Secret Santa, and my Secret Santa is Paws. She said she was cool with anything, so I wrote her a story about Saffron and Pizza, preparing, well in this case spending, the holidays together. I did a little twist to it. I used the pictures of Saffron and Pizza as reference, to keep them in character as I can. I'm learning how to write the other Dalmatian characters, of other Sparky members, in character. Anyhoo, here we go.
A Holiday Never Forgotten
By: Shadow Dearly
Christmastime. A season of joyous laughter and cheer filled the air. The snow was softly falling, like teardrops, from the cloudy, white skies over the Dearly Farm. When it snowed, you can expect people and pups, or other animals, playing in the snow, having snowball fights or building snow forts.
The Christmas season is perfect to throw holiday parties. That is what one spirited and enthusiastic Dalmatian pup had in mind. This pup, of the female gender, had spots splotched all throughout her body (except for the lower half of her stomach), her left ear was completely black, whilst her right ear was white with spots splotched over. Her left hind paw, along with her right fore paw, were black. Her tail was white, with a spot and a black tail tip. This pup also wore a blue collar with a dog tag. Finally, her eyes light brown, if not auburn. Her name was Saffron. She wagged her tail, excitement filling her up. She was in the barn, looking out the window at the falling, twinkling snowflakes.
“Ohhh . . . I just love the Christmas season!” Saffron said, happily. “Something about this holiday makes this all enchanting. It also makes me want to do something. I don’t want to sit on my derriere all day!” But what could she do? There were a lot of things she can do. For instance, she loves going outside, playing sports, and well, be active. All excellent ingredients for a healthy lifestyle.
A couple of feet away was another Dalmatian puppy, a male, laying his back against the hay bales, sitting on his haunches. This pup had spots covering his ears, forelegs, chest, hips, and thighs. He wore a navy blue collar around his neck, with a dog tag in the shape of a slice of pizza—hence the puppy’s name Pizza. Pizza had brown eyes, with a blue sclera.
Now, the thing about Pizza and Saffron is this: They are dating, but Saffron is bisexual, and Pizza is okay with that. They have been friends ever since and they let their relationship blossom.
Then, Saffron turned to face Pizza and trotted over to him. “Pizza, it’s Christmastime. How about we go outside and play in the snow? We could make snow angels, have ourselves a snowball fight, feel the snow crunch beneath our paws and toes . . .” she continued to list suggestions to her mate/friend.
“You are so hyperactive, aren’t you Saffron?” Pizza asked, in a joking manner. He got up on his paws, stretched a bit, and nuzzled the female pup. “How about we get something to eat first? Pizza?”
Saffron shrugged. “And how do you expect us to get it? Call the pizzeria and the pizza delivery person see that we are dogs? Besides, I’m not really hungry. I just ate not too long ago.”
“Well, you know me and Italian food. Love it, even though I can’t make it myself.” laughed Pizza. “And I love to eat!”
“So may we play in the snow?” Saffron asked, a second time, wagging her tail fast. “I’ll keep asking until you say yes, beau.” she giggled. “Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?”
She kept on asking Pizza, but didn’t mind her enthusiastic behavior.
“Enthusiastic, aren’t we?” Pizza smirked. “All right, we can go. As long as there are no varmints-insects-roaches, scorpions, silverfish . . . I’ll be fine.” he noted.
“Are you afraid of bugs?” asked Saffron, arching an eyebrow.
“. . . No. No, I am not!” replied Pizza. “I . . . uhs . . . love bugs. My friend, Calvin, is the one deathly afraid of bugs.” he said, lying to Saffron. Truths are told, there is no Calvin and Pizza is afraid of bugs. He’s just unwilling to admit it. “But if you want to go to the swamp, then I will go too!” Pizza then said, placing a paw on his chest triumphantly.
“Well, I wasn’t planning on going to swamp today, but if you would like to, I won’t have a problem with that.” Saffron replied, smirking to Pizza. “Since you’re real brave and all . . .”
“Yes! Uh, that’s right. I’m brave! Not scared, brave!” Pizza chuckled nervously. “No way I am scared of going to the swamps, where there is musky water, alligators, snakes, water bugs, amongst other things . . .” he said, gradually going into fetal position. “Saffron, hold me . . .” Pizza said, shaking.
“How about we not go to swamps today?” Saffron asked, petting and patting Pizza’s back.
“Now, that is a good idea.” answered Pizza; it didn’t take him long to answer. Due to his fear of bugs, he avoids the swamp like the plague. Hey! You’d be in fetal position too if you’re deathly afraid of insects!
“What would you like to do instead?” Pizza then asked. There were a lot of things that he and Saffron could do together. Pizza loved to explore new places (if that place had zero bugs and wasn’t the swamp) and Saffron was an astronomical aficionado. She had numerous constellation charts and star maps. But she did enjoy finding the stars that form the Big Dipper and Ursa Major and Minor, as well as Hercules, Orion, and Leo the lion.
“Well, I would like for us to look for constellations, but it’ll probably snow overnight, so that’s out of the question.” Saffron replied, smiling, wagging her tail at Pizza. “How about we just go outside and play in the snow? That’s my first choice, and we’re pups, so we have to enjoy our time as youngsters before we’re adults.”
“Well, we can spend the holidays together, but by playing outside, I think that very much covers us spending the holidays together. Come to think of it, it’s just you and me, so we are spending the holidays together.” said Pizza, trotting over to the barn’s entrance. He stopped, placed his paws firmly on the floorboard, and turned his head to Saffron. “Ye coming?” he asked.
“Yay! Last one out gets hit with three snowballs!” Saffron laughed and rushed out of the barn in a blur. It was like she was wearing speed shoes, even though Saffron was wearing nothing on her paws. She’s quick to leave, and she’s quick to come back in. She is quick on all fours.
“HEY! WAIT FOR ME!” yelped Pizza, running after Saffron. “I don’t want to be hit by snowballs!” he called out.
“Then you better make sure you beat me, even though you won’t.” smirked Saffron, grinning. “I’m a couple of feet away from striking you with snowballs.” she laughed.
Saffron was nearly outside when Pizza looked up to the sky, and said, “Say Saffron, isn’t that a Lugia up in the sky?”
Saffron stopped in her tracks and looked up, jerking her head around, looking for the supposed Lugia. “What? What? Where?” she asked. Pizza used this as an opportunity to dash by Saffron. Saffron’s love for Pokémon had cost her the race as Pizza ran right past her.
“Victory for the Pizza!” Pizza cheered, making it outside first, and Saffron squinted her eyes at her beau. She couldn’t believe she fell for the Pokémon trick. “Oh, come on Saffron. Have some team spirit.” Pizza then said.
“Teammates don’t disdain others.” Saffron simply said. “They also don’t cheat, which is exactly what you did . . .”
“But even so, you’re still the one who gets hit by snowballs.” smirked Pizza. “So take your snowballs with gratitude.”
“I should just send you to the swamps instead.” Saffron replied, shaking her head. Pizza froze in his tracks, becoming like a statue, knowing his fear of bugs. “Wouldn’t you like that?” she then smirked.
“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh . . .” Pizza was speechless. He felt that he could melt into a puddle right then and there. “How about we begin spending the holidays together, Saffron?” he blushed.
Saffron chuckled, wagging her tail, and nodded her head fast. “That would be lovely, Pizza.” she smiled. She scooped up a pawful of snow, formed it into a ball, and chucked it to Pizza. Pizza evaded Saffron’s snowball at the last minute. “Dang it, Pizza! I had a clear shot of you and you just had to move!”
Pizza wagged his tail, and grinned triumphantly. “What can I say? I am that awesome.” he said. “I foiled your plan for the element of surprise.”
Saffron grumbled. “You’re not awesome,” she said jokingly, “I am awesome! I am a video game afficionado, I adore space so much I want to just float out to the stars. I also love the American past time—baseball.”
“Well, I have to agree with you on baseball,” Pizza replied, “it’s so fun to watch on TV. It’s more fun when we have snacks to munch on, dude.”
“I am not a dude, but a dudette.” Saffron stuck her tongue out at Pizza. “I’m a lady.”
Pizza shrugged. “Well, you know what I mean.” he said, folding his forepaws out.
Saffron scooped another pawful of snow, formed it into a ball, and chucked it to Pizza whilst he wasn’t looking. This time, it hit him, finally, on his face. Pizza yelped in surprise as Saffron formed her left forepaw into a fist and jerked it downwards, happily. “Yes! I finally got you!” she said, laughing, wagging her tail, as Pizza dusted snow from off his eyes.
“Yes . . . you got me . . .” Pizza nodded. “But that means I’ll get you back!” he yelled, scooped up some snow, made a snowball, and chucked it over to Saffron. As she was doing her victory dance, shaking her body, the snowball hit her back, causing Saffron to lose her footing and fall face-first into the snow.
She lifted her head and spit out excess snow. She then got up on her paws and glared at Pizza. “I have to admit, that was fun.” she grinned, getting an idea. “But I have an idea to make this even more fun!”
“What?” Pizza asked.
“SNOWBALL FIGHT!” Saffron laughed, launching snowballs to Pizza like she was a perpetual motion device, and Pizza was being struck by every single one of them.
It didn’t take long for Pizza to return fire. And then, to their joyous surprise, the two were having their first snowball fight of the season. Both Saffron and Pizza laughed as they hurled snowballs to each other, without a fort. If this was an actual snowball fight, the elimination type, they both would’ve lost already, but neither of them cared. Saffron and Pizza were doing this for the sake of having fun.
“I’m gonna get you!” Saffron shouted, laughing like she never laughed before.
“No, you’re not!” replied Pizza. “It is me who’ll get you!”
The two kept chucking snowballs to each other to the point (around fifty minutes) that Saffron and Pizza fell onto their backs, panting heavily. After catching their breaths, Saffron and Pizza got back up on their paws, wriggling their toes as a way to avoid getting frostbite.
“So . . . I don’t want my toes to be frozen, do you want to go back into the barn and watch some TV?” Saffron said. That was another thing about her: she was a TV junkie. If she doesn’t have anything else to do, click, she turns on the TV.
“The more you watch TV, the more chances of you being sucked into the TV!” Pizza replied, shaking his head and wiggling his toes. “My paws are getting cold. To the barn!” he said and dashed away.
“That would be so awesome, to be sucked into the TV set.” gasped Saffron, following suit. “Being able to travel through television, it’s like a dream come true. Too bad it can’t really happen to us.”
“Well, it can be possible . . .” Pizza said. “Lucky claimed he was sucked in a video game with Cruella, so if that can happen, the possibility of you and me being sucked into the TV set is also possible. But it comes with a price: There’s the chance of us being stuck forever.”
“The game, that was Barkio, I presume?” Saffron asked.
Pizza nodded.
“Enough chit-chat, let’s watch TV!” Saffron said, grabbing the remote. With a click of a button, the TV turned on. A holiday movie was playing, but Saffron’s mind was someplace else—the snowball fight she and Pizza had earlier. That was fun, but Saffron hoped that she would win, that Pizza would fall first. After a while, Saffron shook her head, and turned to Pizza. “Don’t you just love watching Christmas specials?” she asked. “It’s always so magical watching these during the holidays, do you agree? Do you feel the magic?”
Pizza’s stomach began growling. “Oh, I’m feeling something, and it’s not magic.” he said.
“Oh, please don’t tell me you’re already hungry . . .” Saffron frowned. “We’re in the middle of the movie; can’t you wait until commercial?”
“I should do what Rolly, Foody, and Autumn do and make me my own secret food stash.” said Pizza, keeping his eyes on the movie.
“Yeah, but the more you eat, the higher the risk of you becoming fat.” Saffron smirked, poking Pizza’s slim belly.
“I don’t care! I love eating!” Pizza said. “I don’t know why, I just do.”
“And I know you have minimal cooking skills, too.” Saffron nodded. “You can make the easy stuffs, like sandwiches for instance. Anything that needs the oven or a stove, no.”
“I don’t want to burn my paws . . .” Pizza exclaimed. “You know what our pets may do if they catch me near the oven?”
Saffron nodded. “The same thing that Nanny did to Lucky, when she caught him in her beautiful garden, looking for four-leaf clovers.” she noted to Pizza. “Scolding and punishing.”
The holiday movie went on, until hours later. The movie ended sadly, with the parents of the protagonist being killed in a fatal car accident, which in retrospect was an overused plot tactic, with the child protagonist being blamed over the whole thing and having to spend the rest of his life in jail. Saffron was crying her eyes out, feeling sorrowful for the boy. Pizza, on the other hand, did not believe the movie should have ended this way. “I guess not all Christmas specials have a happy ending, but I give this movie props. It wasn’t predictable.” Pizza said.
Saffron continued bawling. Pizza took her in his arms and rubbed her back. “It’s okay Saffron. It’s just a movie, one that had quite an unexpected ending.” Pizza said.
Saffron then calmed down, wiped her tears away, and sniffed. She didn’t want to make a scene with her crying. “Thank you, Pizza.” Saffron said, sighing. “It’s just that I didn’t expect that movie to end that way. Shouldn’t Christmas specials end on a happy note, rather than a sad one?”
“Hopefully, there’s a sequel that has the boy being proved innocent.” Pizza replied. “But I don’t know the name of the movie we just watched, so . . .”
“We should look up this movie sometime, but let’s go back outside! Our paws should be warm enough.” Saffron’s cheerful, merry mood came back. She got up, leaped forward, and flew to the barn’s entrance. But the force of gravity proved stronger, as she landed at the barn’s entrance, her front paws touching snow. “Brrrr . . . the snow’s cold.” Saffron said.
“You don’t say, Sherlock.” Pizza said, walking up to Saffron, smirking.
“I flew! I flew!” Saffron laughed, looking up at Pizza.
“Yeah, you were a high-flying Dalmatian, Saffron.” chuckled Pizza, congratulating Saffron over her “flight”, even though she didn’t really fly. Neither Saffron nor Pizza had magic fairy dust.
“Wouldn’t it be fun if we could actually fly?” grinned Saffron. She got back on her paws, and her excitement stood taut inside her. “Imagine: Our paws floating off the ground, where we fly, making the rest of the pups stare at us with their agape maws. We’d be the only flying pups on the farm! We’d be famous, Pizza!” Her tail wagged, like a fan, emitting a breeze to Pizza, who then stood behind her enjoying the wind fanning him.
“That is something that is best left for dreams.” Pizza said, petting his mate. “Sometimes, I have unfathomable dreams. Like for instance, I dreamt of you turning into a naga, Saffron. You had me coiled, lovingly, around your snake tail before turning back into a Dalmatian.”
Saffron giggled. “Gee, you do have weird dreams at times.” she said. “I usually dream of being able to drive a car. Of course, I’m anthropomorphic in my dreams, rather than feral . . .” She continued telling Pizza about her dreams. Pizza did the same.
After a while of talking, Saffron and Pizza placed their paws firmly on the snow. Pizza looked over to Saffron, and said, “We should definitely prepare for the holidays, now.”
Saffron wagged her tail. She had tons of ideas. She didn’t know where to begin. “Ooh, we should make our own Christmas tree! Or decorate the barn or hay bales! I am so in the Christmas spirit! We should sing Christmas carols, like Deck The Halls, Jingle Bells, or Good King Wenceslas.”
“But what about Silent Night or The First Noel?” Pizza asked.
“Shadow once told me that The First Noel makes him cry.” Saffron said. “I can see why. It’s because of the melody of the song.” She began humming the melody of the tune. She tried her best not to cry herself. It worked. “That carol does have a sweet, soft melody. It can also make you visualize the song.” Saffron said to Pizza. “So shall we get started decorating?”
“Sure. Where do our pets put the lights?” Pizza said. He sat down on the snow, not minding that it felt cold that his derriere will eventually create warmth for him.
“I believe . . . the attic?”
Pizza nodded his head, smiling. “Well then, let’s go get the Christmas lights!” he said. He then dashed away, with Saffron quickly following him, toward the Dearly farmhouse. “Come on, Saffron! Stop being a slowpoke!” he called out.
“Don’t call me a slowpoke!” Saffron yelled, at Pizza, in reply. Soon, the two pups were neck-to-neck with each other as they were getting closer to the farmhouse. “You’re the one who’s the slowpoke, Pizza!” she smirked.
“Oh, am I now? How?” Pizza asked, dubious.
“Like . . . THIS!” Saffron accelerated past Pizza, and when she was close to the doggy door, she leapt, flying through it gracefully. If Saffron and Pizza agreed on a race to the farmhouse, Saffron would have won, no doubt about it. Saffron then waited for Pizza on the other side.
“. . . You must love winning, don’t you?” Pizza asked, coming his way through the doggy door. “You beat me twice today . . .”
“How could I beat you if we never agreed to race?” Saffron asked. “Now, let’s go get the Christmas lights so we can start decorating the barn’s interior.”
She then squealed happily.
“All right, let’s go! We should also get a radio and play Christmas music, too.” Pizza wagged his tail, the Christmas spirit burning inside him, as he and Saffron made their way up the stairs, and to the attic. To their surprise, boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments and lights were seen spread around. Jackpot.
“Ooh, I was just thinking that we should have music to keep us in the Christmas spirit!” Saffron squealed. “If you want to purify your soul, and yes we do have a soul, to keep you in the Christmas spirit, listen to Christmas carols.”
“Now, the question is this: How will we carry this out to the barn?” Pizza asked, thumping a paw on a box of colorful Christmas lights. “We’ll have to do it inconspicuously, just so you know Saffron.”
Saffron and Pizza thought long and hard about it. They wished they could have the ability to teleport anywhere, or have the ability to fly. But if they wanted to be inconspicuous, they have to be unnoticed, so flying is out.
“I guess I could throw the box out the window and you could catch it . . .” Saffron said, suggesting such a rather interesting, if not completely stupid, idea.
“How about not? I don’t think I’m in the mood to be squished by a box of Christmas lights.” replied Pizza, rubbing the back of his head with a paw, chuckling nervously. “We need Christmas magic at a time like this.” he said.
“Ooh, that would be so awesome!” Saffron said, as she and Pizza started pushing the box of lights out of the attic—the only plausible solution they could think of, but an obstacle is coming their way: The stairs.
“Oh boy, we’re coming to the stairs!” Pizza called out. “Should we just push the box down or carry it on two?” Saffron pushed herself on two legs, and Pizza did the same. They held the box taut as they slowly made their way down the stairs, taking each step one at a time.
“I think this is plausible, even though the box is a bit heavy.” Saffron said. The two were almost at the bottom of the stairs, and nobody came into contact with them. They were home free. “We look weird, walking on two legs, like a human. It’s like a human walking on all fours.” she said.
“It’s the only way we can carry the box of Christmas lights,” Pizza pointed out.
“There’s the drastic way . . . pushing the box down the stairs.” replied Saffron, but then rubbed the back of her head with a paw. “Of course, we’d run the risk of the Christmas lights being scattered around, not to mention grasping the attention of our pets.”
“The ‘drastic’ way isn’t you and I being inconspicuous.” Pizza said, the two pups reaching the bottom of the staircase. Saffron and Pizza now had to push the cardboard box to the barn. So far, the coast was clear. “All right, let’s move.” Pizza said, certain enough that nobody was coming.
Using all their might, Saffron and Pizza pushed the box to the door where they came across yet another obstacle—the door was closed. The box was so big that it couldn’t fit through the doggy door. Was this the end of their plans to decorate the barn? Saffron frowned. She didn’t want her and Pizza’s decoration plans doused now. But what could she think of at the top of her head?
“Come on, Saffron. Think.” Saffron said, talking to herself. “We’ve gone this far, and we’re not about to give up!”
“Maybe we should just give up on this and find something else to celebrate the holidays.” Pizza suggested, shrugging his shoulders. “Something like a Christmas excursion, you know?”
“A holiday excursion, huh?” Saffron asked, wagging her tail fast. “That sounds like a lot of fun, but it doesn’t make sense to cease something, mid-way, without finishing it, Pizza.” she noted. “But us decorating the barn is a somewhat excursion, if you count us getting the decorations from the attic.”
Pizza smiled. “Now, all we have to do is think of a way to open the front door . . .” he said, but got an idea. “How about we get the Christmas lights out from the box, and we throw them out of the doggy door?”
“Oh! What a wonderful idea, Pizza!” Saffron said. She felt like she could do back flips. She was so enthusiastic over Pizza. Why hasn’t she thought of that before?
Getting the lights from the box, the two pups pushed the empty box to the side and leapt through the doggy door, making sure not to get tangled up by the many Christmas lights. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” she exclaimed to Pizza.
With that obstacle conquered, Saffron and Pizza trotted back over to the barn as jolly as they can be. Nothing can stop their plans for bringing Christmas cheer that is if Roger, Anita, or Nanny doesn’t catch them with the Christmas lights. It’s amazing what others conclude. When a child carries Christmas lights, the correct way with none dragging on the ground, the whole family helps decorating. However, if the same family sees their dog do it, the dog gets in trouble and has to spend the rest of the day outside as punishment. It’s the same with children and parents. Children draw on the walls and see a masterpiece. Their parents look at the same drawing and see a mess.
Nevertheless, Saffron and Pizza made it into the barn without being caught. There were other Dalmatian puppies inside the barn, they must have come whilst Saffron and Pizza were away getting the Christmas lights, so the two enlisted their help in making the barn shine with the Christmas spirit. The puppies helped Saffron and Pizza twirl Christmas lights over all the hay bales and the loft. Some hanged a wreath above the TV, but as they were decorating, only then did Pizza realize what was missing—the electrical cord.
“Saffron,” Pizza whispered to his best friend and mate. “Do you see anything missing?” he asked.
Saffron shook her head. “No, it looks marvelous. What could be missing?” she asked, but then facepawed. “Oh, my God. We don’t have an electrical cord to turn these lights on! How can you turn on Christmas lights without electricity?”
“I’ll go get it!” one female puppy, with triangular spots all around her body, said. “You can count on me!” she called out, rushing out of the barn to the farmhouse, to get a long electrical cord. Let’s just hope this pup doesn’t carry it with her maw.
Saffron and Pizza nodded to the pup. “Okay! Don’t take too long!” they said in unison.
The pup soon returned, on two legs, carrying the electrical cord with her forepaws, walking to Saffron and Pizza. “All righty, here’s the cord. Now, we can light this bad boy up!” the pup said, wagging her tail happily.
Saffron smiled. “Thank you, Elaine. If it wasn’t for you, we would have unlit lights.” she laughed at her own joke, even though it wasn’t really one. “All right, pups! Let’s have a very merry Christmas!” she then announced. “Pizza, go hook up the lights!” Saffron said, turning over to Pizza. Through thick and thin, no matter how everything could go wrong, Saffron maintained her enthusiastic personality.
“Okay, Saffron! Let this barn be christened by Christmas!” Pizza said, dragging the cord to an electrical outlet. Hey, if we didn’t have electrical outlets installed in the barn, there would be no TV. Pizza then plugged the end piece of the electrical cord into the outlet, and then plugged in the cord to the Christmas lights in. When Pizza plugged the lights in, the barn went aglow in Christmas color. Some lights were red, blue, yellow, green, and orange. And yet, the pups could still see the color of the Christmas lights rather than black-and-white.
“The magic of Christmas has shunned its light on us again.” one Dalmatian pup said, gleefully. “Like it does every year.”
“Christmas doesn’t feel complete without decorations.” another pup said. “Of course, Christmas isn’t about lights or presents. It’s about spending time with friends and family.” he added.
“Some forget the true meaning of Christmas,” a male pup shrugged, “a lot seems to believe that the holiday is about gimme this, and gimme that. And then they complain of getting the wrong present. It’s the thought that counts!”
“But this looks so beautiful!” Saffron wagged her tail, simply mesmerized at how gorgeous and beautiful the barn looked, now that it was decorated and all Christmas-y. “I say that we did a job well done, you all.”
“So beautiful that you may cry?” smirked Pizza. Saffron shook her head, touched, but not on the verge of crying, like she did when she watched that sad Christmas film. Why did she watch that film? Maybe she didn’t know it would end on a sad note.
“No, my eyes are dry this time. The barn looks all wonderful, with the Christmas magic wrapped around it. Wow, I’ve been saying ‘Christmas’ a lot, haven’t I?” Saffron asked.
“You did . . . so much so, I’ve lost count.” answered Pizza. “But nevertheless, I’m getting hungry. I think Roger left a piece of pizza in the fridge. God, I love pizza and many other Italian food, that I really not skilled at making. I really need to expand my culinary skills, and learn how to really cook. I may burn my paws, but at least I’d be learning!”
But as Pizza was talking, a cockroach appeared and scattered about the barn. When it came into Pizza’s view, he yelped and zipped up the hay bales. “Ew, roach. Ew, roach. Ew, roach. Get it away from me! Get. It. Away. From. Me.” he whimpered. His fear of bugs was showing.
“Here comes Saffron to the rescue . . .” Saffron sighed and laid her left forepaw for the roach. The roach twitched its antennae and scattered on Saffron’s forepaw.
“May I squish the roach?” a pup asked, grinning, raising a paw. “That roach deserves its demise for frightening Pizza.” he exclaimed.
Saffron squinted her eyes at the pup, unfazed at the situation. “No, you may not. Roaches, like us, are living creatures. I feel that the roach here may have a good life if we spare it.” she said. She then looked outside, fearing that the roach may die out in the snow, so she let the roach go in front of a crack on the wall. The roach disappeared, unharmed.
“Is . . . is . . . the r-roach g-gone?” Pizza was shaking. “And no, I wasn’t scared of the roach, I just . . . felt . . . like getting up here . . .”
“Yeah, sure, right . . .” a pup, with polka-dotted spots, rolled her eyes. “You really need to get over this stupid phobia of yours. Lots of fricking pups are scared of something, and they get over it. It’s simple as that . . .” she sighed.
“For the last time, I am not afraid of bugs!” Pizza lied. “If I could, I would keep one as a pet!”
The polka-dotted pup smirked. “I’d like to see you try. For all I know, you’d shriek like a girl at the first touch!” she laughed, tauntingly. “Pups who are afraid of bugs are stupid.” she scoffed.
Saffron glared at the pup. “That is enough!” she shouted. “This is Christmas. The best time of the year. So I’d appreciate it if you don’t dumb down my holiday mood.”
The pup shrugged. “Fine, whatever . . .” she said.
“Doesn’t this look great?” Pizza asked, wagging his tail. He felt proud of himself for his help in decorating the barn. “I say we decorated the barn before Christmas.”
“I heard that some humans are becoming politically correct,” one pup said, “they complain about nativity scenes, that the county orders the removal of the nativity scene. I find it wrong.”
“Oh, just stop it with the politically correctness garbage.” groaned a familiar star-spotted Dalmatian pup. It was Shadow, leaning against the barn doors, upright, with one hind leg over the other. “This is the Christmas season. A time of love, and all things holy. And if humans want to be politically correct, and remove Santa Claus or Santa Paws, then it’s their own selfish being.” He continued ranting, until he caught his breath.
Shadow then took a couple of steps forward and examined the work the pups have done. “Sorry for being late for the barn decoration.” he said. “I was with Rosalina, and we were underneath the mistletoe.” The star-spotted Dalmatian then grinned.
Saffron giggled. “Did you and Rosie kiss each other?”
Shadow blushed, deep, as red as a tomato. By the look of Shadow blushing, Saffron knew that he and Rosalina kissed. It’s a Christmas tradition. No matter if you’re straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, if you’re underneath the mistletoe with someone, you have to give them a kiss. “Yeah . . . we kissed . . . for ten minutes.” Shadow admitted.
“Ten minutes?!” Pizza shouted, surprised, amazed. “What, were you trying to set a world record?” he asked, gleefully.
“Well, Rosalina and I could’ve gone for twenty, but we were told that we were hogging the mistletoe.” Shadow answered Pizza. “And I must say, you pups did a bang-up, marvelous job decorating the barn!” he then wagged his tail. “Oh, it looks like I’m home! We have snow, Christmas trees and lights, apple cider, hot chocolate, snowball fights, and many more!”
Saffron smiled, wagging her tail, feeling all warm inside. “This is the best, well going to be the best, Christmas ever!” she exclaimed. “All of us are here, around the Christmas lights, adoring them, for we will do the same thing next year!”
Pizza smiled and nodded his head, agreeing with Saffron. “And next year, we’ll make our decorations even bigger. We could have decorated the TV, but I think the bows would interfere with the TV signal, and Lucky wouldn’t enjoy that.” he said.
“Come on, let’s go play outside!” one pup announced.
So the pups played outside, in the snow, every one of them having fun, knowing that the same thing will happen again next Christmas.