Stick Dog Slurps Spaghetti (6 page)

“Kind of grayish-yellowish-whitish,” Karen answered. “And really bright. Like it was glowing or something.”

“Did it have stripes?” asked Stripes.

“Not that I remember, I'm sorry to say,” said Karen. “It had, like, faded irregular-shaped spots or something, I think. Remember, I only got a quick glimpse.”

“Maybe it has stripes on the other side,” offered Mutt.

This idea lifted Stripes's spirits considerably.

Mutt, Karen, Stripes, and Poo-Poo stared at that cloud and waited for the hot-air balloon to emerge.

And waited.

Then it happened.

The edge of a circle appeared as the cloud slowly slid aside. It was just as Karen had described: grayish-yellowish-whitish, bright, and marked with faded, irregular spots of several sizes.

Stick Dog watched and listened.

“Karen!” yelped Poo-Poo.

“What?”

“That's not a balloon!” he exclaimed.

“What is it then?”

Mutt, Poo-Poo, and Stripes all screamed the answer at the same time.

“It's the MOON!”

Then they all started laughing.

Karen shook her head and stuck her chest out in defiance. She said, “Maybe it's a hot-air balloon that's
shaped
like the moon.”

Stick Dog decided to step in then.

“It's the moon, Karen,” he said definitively but kindly. “It's an honest mistake.”

Karen hung her head. “That's really embarrassing.”

“You know what might make you feel better?” asked Stick Dog.

“What?”

“If you shared
your
plan with us.”

“What plan?” Karen asked. She was still quite dejected. Her head hung low; her tail didn't wag at all. It just drooped.

“Your plan to get to the top of the hill.”

“Oh, right,” she said, and lifted her head. She seemed suddenly happier. “It's a pretty nifty plan! And totally feasible. I know it will work easily.”

“Before you tell us,” Stick Dog suggested, “let's move away from this place. That darn moon is taunting us. It just looks so much like a balloon. Why don't we get out of here?”

“I'm with you,” Karen said gladly—and then took a brief second to scowl at the moon high in the sky.

“What about my plan?” asked Mutt. “What about searching for a hot-air balloon? There's bound to be one soon.”

“We'll keep an eye out,” Stick Dog said quickly. “Don't worry. As soon as we see one, we'll put your plan into action.”

“Sounds good.”

“Where are we going, Stick Dog?” asked Poo-Poo.

“Let's just move to that next little flat area,” Stick Dog said casually. He nodded his head toward another plateau farther up the hill. And before anyone could question his motives, he started walking toward the new spot.

Without thinking about it, Mutt, Stripes, Poo-Poo, and Karen followed after him.

“This looks like a good spot,” Stick Dog said, and settled into a comfortable listening position. He casually glanced up the hill to see how far from the top they were.

They were pretty close.

After the others got comfortable, Karen provided the details of her own plan.

“Okay,” she said, and paced slowly in front of her pals. “We need three things—and three things only.”

She stopped and tapped her front left paw against the grass-covered ground three times. She said, “We need a huge skillet, a bonfire, and five buckets of cold water.”

“Sounds interesting so far,” Poo-Poo commented.

Stripes added, “Yes, it does.”

Mutt turned his head left and right and said, “No hot-air balloons yet. But I'll keep looking.”

Stick Dog nodded at all these comments but did not say anything himself.

“My plan is so simple,” Karen said with substantial pride in her voice. “First, we need to build a huge bonfire at the bottom of the hill. It needs to be super-big. Second, we place the giant skillet on top of the bonfire and let it get super-hot. Finally, we each climb into the skillet one at a time.”

“Is getting ourselves cooked part of the plan, Karen?” Poo-Poo asked sincerely.

“No, no. That would be ridiculous. Let's try to stay serious here,” Karen responded. “My plan is far more practical, logical, and reasonable than that.”

“Go on,” encouraged Stick Dog. He wanted to keep the process moving. They were nearly to the top of the hill—although he didn't think his friends knew that. Being so close made Stick Dog want to get there even more.

With any luck, the Tip-Top Spaghetti Restaurant would be there. And with even more luck, they might be able to get their paws on some more of that spaghetti.

“Well, after we each climb into the skillet,” Karen continued, “we sit down. In no time, the searing heat from that skillet will start to
burn us like crazy. It will totally toast our tail ends. The scorching heat will make us jump as high and as far away as possible. We'll jump all the way to the top of the hill!
Ba-bam
! Game over! Brilliant plan, right?”

“It is brilliant,” Mutt confirmed. He seemed genuinely impressed. “But what about the buckets of water? How do they come into play?”

“Oh, right. The buckets,” Karen remembered. “Those are at the top of the hill. When we shoot out of the flaming-hot, sizzling skillet and land at the top, the buckets of cold water will be there to soak our burning butts in.”

Mutt, Stripes, and Poo-Poo all agreed that this made perfectly good sense.

“Karen, I understand the bonfire and the skillet,” Stick Dog said. “I just don't get the buckets.”

“Umm, they're to soak our burning butts in. Pretty obvious, Stick Dog. I mean, really. Try to pay attention.”

“Right. Umm, I will,” said Stick Dog. “I know what they're used
for
. I just don't understand how they get to the top of the hill.”

Karen looked at Stick Dog like she thought his brain had turned into a chewed-up Frisbee. She said, “We carry them up to the top before we come down and climb into the skillet. Not too complicated.”

Stick Dog smiled a bit to himself. It was
pretty dark, so Karen didn't see him.

He said, “But if we carry them to the hilltop, won't we already be up there? We'll have reached our goal. We won't even need the skillet or the bonfire. Right?”

“Oh, Stick Dog, Stick Dog,” Karen said slowly, and shook her head. “Where's the
style
in that? Where's the
flair
? Where's the
excitement
?”

“You mean the excitement of burning ourselves, flying through the air, and smashing back down to the ground? That excitement?”

“Exactly.”

Stick Dog nodded his head. “Okay. Got it.”

“I'm glad,” Karen said. You could hear the relief in her voice. She was happy Stick Dog finally understood.

Stick Dog asked, “So all we need is a skillet, some buckets of water, and a bonfire, right?”

“Right.”

Stick Dog looked around on the ground with great intent. He turned in every direction. His eyes scanned the ground all around. “I don't see any of those things here,” he said after a minute or so of serious searching. “Let's check over that little ridge up there.”

Karen, obviously happy that Stick Dog had adopted her plan, was all too willing to follow him up the hill. Poo-Poo, Mutt, and Stripes came after.

Now, as you can probably guess, the ridge was not really a ridge at all. It was actually the top edge of the hill. And in less than a minute, they were there. They stood right next to a guardrail at the edge of a parking lot.

Again, Stick Dog scanned the surrounding area to the left and to the right.

“Gosh darn it,” he said. “Still no buckets, skillet, or bonfire anywhere.”

Karen stood with Mutt, Stripes, and Poo-Poo close to the guardrail. They all watched
Stick Dog. They pointed at him and giggled as quietly as they could.

Stick Dog looked up.

“What?” he asked. “What's so funny?”

They all pointed at the ground and down the hillside. They shook so hard with laughter, you could barely tell where they pointed.

“We're at the top!” yelped Poo-Poo.

“What?!”

“The top of the hill!” Stripes laughed.

Mutt had tears in his eyes. “We made it, Stick Dog. We already made it!”

Karen hopped up and down. She had to catch her breath from laughing so hard at Stick Dog. When she did, she said loudly, “We reached the top! And you're up here looking for a big skillet, buckets of cold water, and a bonfire!”

Stick Dog snapped his head all around. He hurried a few steps to the edge of the hill and looked down. His eyes were opened wide, his eyebrows were raised high, and his mouth hung open.