All five dogs watched in silence as the car with Stick Cat, Edith, Goose, and Tiffany inside disappeared in the distance. The car’s red taillights grew dimmer and dimmer until they were gone.
It was then—and only then—that Stick Dog turned to Mutt, Poo-Poo, and Karen. He asked, “What are you guys doing here? I thought I asked you to stay safely hidden at the guardrail.”
“It’s true, Stick Dog,” Karen answered. “You did.”
“Then why are you here?”
“It’s Mutt’s fault,” Poo-Poo tried to explain. “He was fascinated with the moon.”
“It’s really pretty tonight,” Mutt explained. “Just look at it. It’s just a thin slice in the sky—and it has a pale-white glow. Kind of a silver hue. Can you see it, Stick Dog? It’s such a unique color.”
Stick Dog couldn’t be mad at Mutt. He loved Mutt’s sensitive side. He was the only one of the group who would take time to stop, observe, and ponder the moon’s color.
“It is lovely,” Stick Dog answered after observing the moon for several seconds. “I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen that exact color before.”
“That’s why I pointed it out,” Mutt said. He seemed gratified that Stick Dog shared his sentiment.
“Thanks for showing me,” Stick Dog said. Then he inhaled calmly and added, “But what does the moon’s amazing color have to do with you guys running over to the car and joining me and Stripes? It was pretty dangerous.”
“Good question, Stick Dog,” Poo-Poo said. Then he scratched himself behind his right ear. “It was Karen’s idea.”
Stick Dog turned to Karen.
“You see, Stick Dog,” Karen explained. “Mutt was so intrigued and fascinated by the moon’s color, I just wanted to help him. He couldn’t stop staring at it and talking about it. I’m very helpful, you know.”
“Yes, I know,” Stick Dog said. It looked like he was hoping to get his answer sometime soon. “So how does running to us at the car help Mutt look at the moon?”
“It’s really pretty darn simple,” Karen replied. “We ran here to get closer to the moon. When you get closer to something, it gets bigger and you can see it better.”
“So, umm,” Stick Dog said, and then stopped himself. He wanted to get the words just right. “So, did traveling halfway across the parking lot—What is that? Thirty or forty feet?—help you see the moon better, Mutt?”
“Yes, very much.”
Stick Dog squeezed his lips together. Then he asked, “It appeared much larger, did it?”
“Much.”
“It was about double the size,” Poo-Poo chimed in. He had, by now, scratched away the itch behind his right ear.
Karen added, “Maybe even triple.”
Now that they had provided Stick Dog with a clear and understandable explanation, his friends had some questions for him.
“Did you get any pizza?” asked Poo-Poo.
Mutt asked, “Was that really Stick Cat?”
“Will I ever catch my tail again?” asked Karen.
Stick Dog answered Karen first.
“I have no doubt that you will catch your tail again one day.”
Karen then began chasing her tail.
“Regarding your other questions,” Stick Dog continued, “I have good news and bad news and great news.”
“Let’s have the bad news first,” Mutt requested.
“Okay,” Stick Dog said. “We’re not going to get any pizza tonight. The restaurant just closed. I heard the male human with the long neck—I think his name is Goose—talk about it with the female human. Her name is Tiffany. And the sign on the door says ‘CLOSED’ now.”
There was disappointment on their faces.
“That’s double-bad news,” Karen said. She had already stopped chasing her tail. She hadn’t caught it. “What’s the good news?”
“It was indeed Stick Cat.”
Stripes jumped joyfully up in the air, spun halfway around at the top of her arc, and landed to face her friends. She had been staring after the car this whole time.
“It was Stick Cat!” she exclaimed. “I saw my soul mate!”
“What’s the great news?” asked Poo-Poo.
“There’s going to be a buffet at Picasso Park tomorrow night!” Stick Dog said. “Goose and Tiffany talked about it.”
He thought his friends would be thrilled at this news, so Stick Dog was surprised when they didn’t react at all. Then he figured out why.
He asked, “Do you all know what a buffet is?”
They nodded, but Stick Dog wasn’t so sure they actually knew.
“Okay,” Stick Dog said. “Mutt, what is a buffet?”
“It’s a floppy hat worn by humans of German descent,” Mutt answered quickly, and with great confidence.
“I believe you’re thinking of a ‘beret.’ And I think it’s French,” Stick Dog replied kindly. “How about you, Poo-Poo? What’s a buffet?”
“It’s an arrangement of flowers that humans give to their smooch-kiss partners,” Poo-Poo answered.
“Don’t be gross,” Stripes commented.
Stick Dog smiled. “That’s a bouquet, I think,” he said. “Stripes, do you have a guess?”
“It’s not a guess. It’s a fact,” Stripes said with sheer confidence. “It’s a gorgeous dance that involves lots of spinning on the tips of your paws. Like this.”
Stripes then spun around once on the tips of her paws.
“That’s ballet,” Stick Dog said, and then noticed Stripes’s disappointment at being wrong. So, he said, “That was absolutely elegant.”
Stripes smiled and spun around again. She felt better already.
Finally, Stick Dog turned to Karen. “What’s a buffet?”
“It’s a little creature with pointy ears dressed in a red-and-green leotard,” Karen answered. For further explanation, she added, “They help Santa at the North Pole.”
Stick Dog hesitated for a moment before saying, “That’s, umm, an elf.”
“Same difference,” Karen said. She didn’t seem bothered at all that she was wrong.
Stick Dog explained, “A buffet is a whole bunch of different types of food.”
“Food?!” Mutt asked in disbelief.
“Different types?!” yelped Stripes.
“A whole bunch?!” screamed Karen.
Poo-Poo just drooled.
“Yes. All of it’s true,” Stick Dog said, smiling at his friends’ reactions. “The two humans that were in that car are getting married. And there’s going to be a party or something at Picasso Park. That’s where the buffet will be tomorrow evening.”
“I know where Picasso Park is!” Karen exclaimed. She was super-excited. Her whole body shook with happy energy. “I can lead us there!”
“Oh. Umm. Great, Karen,” Stick Dog said. “But we’ve all been to Picasso Park hundreds of times. We go there almost every day.”
“Oh, right!” Karen screamed. This fact didn’t seem to dampen her enthusiasm.
Stick Dog added, “But you can lead the way if we happen to forget.”
“I’m on it!” Karen yelled. Then she stopped shaking, pivoted to the left, and got ready to run. “Follow me to Picasso Park, everyone!”
Stripes, Poo-Poo, and Mutt all lined up behind Karen.
“Wait, wait,” Stick Dog said. He was pleased that his friends were excited, but he needed them to calm down and pay better attention. “The buffet is tomorrow night. Not tonight. Remember?”
“Oh, yeah,” Stripes said. Her shoulders slumped a little. “Tomorrow night.”
Stick Dog decided to lift her spirits back up. He looked at her and asked a single question.
“Do you remember who is going to be there?”
“Who?”
“Stick Cat.”
“My soul mate!”