Canines and Chaos

Chapter 2 Part 1

Author's note - I write really long chapters and take forever to edit them and if I keep going like that I'll never manage to publish anything on here. Instead, I'm going to break my chapters into smaller bits.  However, if you're reading this, keep in mind that I write on google docs and each part of a chapter will be a page's worth in docs. This means I'm not going to make one part super pretty and neat because the parts aren't meant to stand alone, they're meant to make up an entire chapter. 

Chapter 1

 

Rosi beamed at Nick and Alex. After nearly an hour of arguing, they actually had a skeleton of a plan. Logically, it might work - they had totalled up the number of volunteers and then found the total possible hours a day in which people could be doing work. Then, they divided out tasks based on the basic needs of a dog and the number of dogs. Rosi was thrilled to have some kind of organization - and Nick seemed quite pleased as well. Alex, quite recovered from her frustration with the Animal Shelter, leaned back against the wall, resting. Rosi knew how she felt - the plan was exciting, but it had been a stressful hour between impending doom for the kennel, clashing ideas, and compromises. Also, the plan was only half the battle - they still had to carry it out.

“Let’s go give this information to the secretary. She can let all the workers know what their hours are,” suggested Rosi.

“That seems like a lot of effort,” groaned Nick.

“I’ve got a better idea - let’s raid my stock of ice cream,” Alex chimed in.

“Aha!” exclaimed Nick. “Now I’ll know where it is.”

“No indeed! Rosi can stay here with you and make sure that you don’t follow me,” Alex shot back.

“I must admit, ice cream sounds better than walking down to the front desk, but we should still do something productive. Nick and I can walk down and grab a couple puppies - it would be good to let them out of their cages for a little while, and that way he'll still be with me and not following you,” answered Rosi. Alex nodded, looking pleased with the suggestion and Nick stood up and began walking towards the kennels by way of answer. As Alex slipped off to her secret freezer, Nick and Rosi strolled merrily along the halls together. Neither was in any hurry, and both were happy to get to know the other better. Rosi happily noted the lack of awkward silences, and contentedly kept up her side of the conversation. Nick was too busy waiting for her to go the wrong way in the unfamiliar building to consciously evaluate the conversation, but he would later think back to the ease of the conversation with pleasure. While being new to the building, Rosi was smart enough to anticipate some of her friend’s jibes and stayed a step behind him the whole way. If he wanted to catch her making a mistake and going the wrong way, he’d only do it if he went the same way first - therefore giving her ammunition with which to retaliate.

By the time they arrived at the rows of cages, Nick had given up with his first method of teasing and was busy dreaming up a  new method. Rosi opened a cage and climbed in to grab a puppy. However, she forgot about the fact that the cages are built in a way that allows certain dogs to go from one to another. Despite plenty of chasing and coercing, they always ran to a different part of the cage before she could catch up. When she finally emerged, hair everywhere, and without even one dog, she looked up to see Nick standing over her, cool and unruffled and holding the leashes of four puppies. Rosi sighed, knowing that Nick was sure to tease her about this in a hundred ways, and yet too curious to avoid asking. “How on earth did you do that?”

A devilish grin spread across Nick’s face. “Open the gate and they run out - go in after them and they run away. Simple, really. I’m surprised you didn’t think of it immediately.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”