“That’s terrific,” said Stick Dog, happy to leave Poo-Poo’s strategy behind. “What is your plan all about?”
“I think we should build a house,” Karen said simply.
Even though Stick Dog didn’t look forward to an explanation, which was bound to be both complicated and lengthy, he asked politely, “Why?”
“Because houses must come with candy,” Karen said. “Just look around—everyone who comes out of a house has a bunch of candy. They’re bringing it from inside! So, if we build a house, then we’ll have access to lots of candy!”
“Makes sense,” Stripes said.
Poo-Poo said, “I’m in.”
“I’m ready,” Mutt agreed. He then began shaking a little bit. He aimed, obviously, to dislodge something they could use from his fur. “I think I have a screwdriver in here somewhere.”
“Great! That would be useful,” Karen said.
Mutt’s suggestion seemed to prompt Karen to think of other things she might need. She began looking around. This concerned Stick Dog a great deal. The litany of things necessary to build a house would take a long time to think of and name. He tried to find a way out of this.
Thankfully, Karen herself provided it.
“We’re definitely going to need some wooden boards. Maybe we can tear apart this fence with the grapevines all over it,” Karen suggested and glanced over at it. When she did, her eyes focused more on the grapevine than the wooden slats. She tilted her head a little sideways. Without turning to him, Karen asked, “Stick Dog, when was the last time I looked in there for grapes?”
“Oh, it’s been a while.”
“I LOVE grapes!” exclaimed Karen. “I bet some new ones have grown since then!”
And with that, Karen stopped thinking about building a house that came with its own supply of candy and, instead, began pawing through the grapevines again.
Mutt stopped shaking in an attempt to find a screwdriver. He did pick up a short piece of yellow rope that had sprung out from his fur. He plopped down on his belly and began to chew on it with tremendous satisfaction.
It was now Stripes’s turn. Stick Dog didn’t even need to ask if she had a plan. She just started speaking.
“We’re going to go back to one of those glorious food-finding days in our past,” Stripes began. “Remember when we got those frankfurters?”
Stripes had to stop then. Poo-Poo was suddenly super-excited.
“Back in time!? Time travel?!” he asked enthusiastically. “Is that what you’re talking about?! I’m all for it. Let’s do it!”
“No, not time travel,” Stripes said. You could tell she didn’t like having her food-finding plan interrupted.
“No time travel? That’s a bummer,” Poo-Poo sighed. But then he got all excited again. “I’ve always wanted to go back in time! That would be awesome!”
“Where would you travel back to, Poo-Poo?” Karen called as she continued to search for grapes. She was close enough to hear them all.
“Way back to the days when the Earth was ruled by the great Poodlesaurus Rexes,” Poo-Poo answered without pausing for a single second. He had obviously thought about this before.
Mutt allowed the ragged piece of yellow rope to drop from his mouth momentarily. He was curious. “What’s a Poodlesaurus Rex?”
“Well, there were dinosaurs all over the place fifty or sixty years ago,” Poo-Poo began to explain. “And the dinosaurs were all destroyed by the powerful and mighty Poodlesaurus Rexes. We ruled the Earth for months and months after that.”
“What do you mean ‘we’?” asked Stripes.
“Well, you know, my ancestors if you want to get technical about it,” Poo-Poo answered.
“What did they look like?” asked Mutt.
Poo-Poo sat back and stretched his front paws in a giant arc above his head. “Just imagine me twenty times bigger with claws instead of paws.”
Nobody said anything. It was difficult to tell if they were believing Poo-Poo’s version of natural history—or considering what a Poodlesaurus Rex might actually look like.
“Anyway, that’s why I wanted to time travel in Stripes’s plan,” Poo-Poo concluded. “I wanted to go back and join the ruling class of my Poodlesaurus Rex ancestors.”
There was an extended, almost awkward, pause then. Poo-Poo’s eyes were blank and distant. It was as if he could see himself twenty times bigger marauding across the great suburban landscape.
Karen poked her head out of the vines and asked, “Do you think there were ever any dachshund-a-saurs?”
Poo-Poo shook his head and grinned. “I don’t think so,” he said. “That would be pretty silly-looking, let’s be honest.”
Karen seemed disappointed, but then she saw a ladybug on one of the grapevine leaves and immediately focused on that instead.
And Stick Dog? Well, Stick Dog didn’t know what to say at all. He didn’t want to ask Poo-Poo any more questions. He didn’t want to squash his ideas about time travel and Poodlesaurus Rexes either. But he did want to get some more of that candy.
Thankfully, Stripes knew just what to say.
“Yeah. Well, anyway,” she said. “Since my plan doesn’t involve time travel, maybe I should just tell you what it does involve.”
“Great idea!” Stick Dog said immediately and with a good bit of enthusiasm.
“Like I said,” Stripes continued. “We’re going back to one of those great food-finding days of our past. Remember the frankfurter man with the cart? What was his name? Was it Patsy Puffenstuff?”
“No, it was Prickle Pop,” Karen called without ever taking her eyes off the ladybug.
Poo-Poo joined the conversation. “I think it was Piddly-Pants.”
“Nope,” Mutt chimed in. He coughed a little as he spit the rope from his mouth to speak. Some of the loose threads were stuck in his teeth. “It was Pumpkin-Head.”
Stick Dog lowered his head. He stared at the grass between his front paws. He inhaled and exhaled slowly and evenly three times. Upon raising his head after this breathing exercise, he calmly said, “Peter. His name was Peter.”
“That’s what I meant,” said Stripes. “Well, we scared Peter away because he thought he saw a ghost. I think we should do the same kind of thing again—only this time on purpose. We find some sheets, act like ghosts, and everybody out here tonight will run away screaming. They’ll drop their bags and buckets! Candy will be scattered everywhere! We’ll be eating all night!”
Stick Dog looked over his shoulder toward the street. He considered it very good fortune when he saw three ghosts—three small humans dressed in ghost costumes, that is—several houses away. Stick Dog motioned Stripes to come stand next to him.
“What is it?” Stripes asked as she approached. “Don’t you like my plan, Stick Dog?”
“I absolutely love your plan,” Stick Dog answered emphatically. He then pointed at the three ghosts. “It’s just that I don’t like when your plan happens.”
Stripes eyed the ghosts. “Why?”
“Because this is the one night out of the whole year when humans won’t be afraid of ghosts.” Stick Dog sighed and shook his head. “There are ghosts and witches and other scary things all over the place.”
Stripes asked, “So my plan is excellent every night of the year except for this one?”
Stick Dog nodded his head.
“So it’s not a bad plan? Just bad timing?”
Stick Dog nodded again.
Stripes shrugged her shoulders and sat down. “What can I do?”
Stick Dog was disappointed but not altogether surprised that his friends’ plans hadn’t worked out. But now that he knew what candy tasted like, he was determined to figure out a way to get some more.
“Let’s track the witches,” he suggested, and stepped over to the fence. The ladybug had flown away and Karen was deep in the vines again looking for grapes. Stick Dog pulled gently on her left hind leg as he continued. “We know the witches aren’t dangerous now. Maybe if we observe their behavior, we’ll think of something.”
Karen looked up at Stick Dog after she was completely untangled from the vines and back with her friends.
“No grapes,” she sighed.
“Maybe next time,” Stick Dog said, and smiled. “Come on.”