Chapter Seven

As the rising sun shone through the attic window, Pongo and Perdita lay together in a bed made from an open suitcase, their heads gently resting up against one another. Pongo was the first to stir in the morning light, yawning widely as his eyes fluttered. Perdita woke up a moment later, stretching first her forelegs and then her hind legs. Perdita lightly licked her mate's nose, "I'm surprised I slept as well as I did." Pongo nuzzled her in response, "Me too. I guess we were exhausted after everything we went through yesterday." Perdita nodded. The couple stood upright and opened the trapdoor, and then climbed down the ladder to the upstairs hallway.

In the kitchen, Doug and Delilah were fiddling with two large gadgets. One of them resembled a large fire hose attached to large bags of dog food, while the other was a large plastic slide with several stacks of dog bowls on top. "Kibble hose good to go, Dear!" Doug said. "Bowl flinger primed and ready to fire at will!" Delilah responded. Doug walked over to his mate, "How about a kiss for good luck?" he said while wiggling his eyebrows. Delilah rolled her eyes in a chagrin but loving manner, "Oh all right!" The two Dalmatian parents rubbed their noses together for a moment. Delilah then turned her head and looked upward, "Well, back to business." Doug then turned his head in a similar manner, and the two shouted out, "BREAKFAST TIME!"

From upstairs, a faint rumbling began. Within seconds, it grew louder and louder. Suddenly, at the top of the staircase, the puppies appeared and began rushing downstairs, all of them repeatedly shouting "BREAKFAST!" The puppies streamed into the dining room and took their places at the dinner table, each canine having their own personal bowl. As the pups munched on their morning meal, Pongo and Perdita entered the room and seated themselves at the head of the table next to Doug and Delilah.

Eyeing the machines used moments earlier; Pongo said, "I must say, these contraptions are more efficient than just dumping bags of kibble into a trough manually." Perdita nodded in agreement, "Is there anything you don't have gadgets for in this time?" Doug and Delilah chuckled, with Delilah responding, "Not quite everything, but certainly enough to make our lives easier." Doug nodded, "Especially without a human around." Pongo and Perdita shook their heads lightly, with Perdita saying, "Even with all these gizmos, I just couldn't imagine not having a pet in our home." Doug and Delilah shrugged, as if to say "to each their own."

While the adults chatted, Dylan and Dolly were enjoying their breakfast along with their many younger siblings. Glancing across the table, Dylan spotted a full bowl with an empty seat behind it. Looking over to Dolly, "Have you seen Dawkins since yesterday?" Dolly shook her head, "Nope, my guess is he's still holed up in his room trying to solve our little problem." Dylan rolled his eyes, "I admire his work ethic but he still needs to eat." Getting up from his sitting position, Dylan walked around the table, grabbed the unattended bowl in his mouth and carried it towards the stairs.

Dylan entered the pups' room, the bowl still clenched in his teeth. Looking up, he spotted the cubby belonging to Dawkins. The curtain was closed, but he could hear electronic beeps and indistinct mumbling coming from inside. Dylan placed the bowl on the ground, "Dawkins, I brought you breakfast!" There was no response. "Dawkins!" he exclaimed at a higher volume. His patience wearing thin, Dylan shouted, 'DAWKINS! IT'S TIME TO EAT!" There was still no response. Rolling his eyes, Dylan grabbed the bowl again and carefully climbed the ladder up the wall.

Inside his little wall cubby, Dawkins was acting like a pup possessed. All three walls of the box were covered in equations written in marker, as were the floor, ceiling and curtain. The pup's eyes were red with strain, and large bags below them indicated a severe lack of sleep. Dawkins was hunched over his tablet, typing away relentlessly and muttering to himself incoherently.

Dylan poked his head through the curtain, and his eyes went wide at the sight. After shaking off his surprise, he set the bowl down and approached his younger brother. "Uh, bro," Dylan said hesitantly, "are you feeling alright?" Dawkins did not respond, obliviously continuing to type and mutter. His concern overpowering his reluctance, Dylan reached out and placed his paw on Dawkins' shoulder. Alerted by Dylan's touch, Dawkins shouted and knocked over the tablet. Equally taken aback, Dylan anxiously backed away into the corner and accidentally tipped over the dog bowl. After a moment of excited panting, Dawkins rubbed his eyes and looked around the room in a disoriented fashion.

Looking behind him, Dawkins finally saw Dylan. "Oh, Dylan, nice to see you," Dawkins said in a raspy, exhausted voice, "I've been making some progress on our little temporal travesty!" Dylan responded somewhat timidly, "You have? How so?" Dawkins giggled in a slightly maniacal tone, "Oh, the science is a bit complicated to lay dogs, but trust me when I say I can totally have this fixed by the end of the week!" Dylan was nonplussed by this claim, "If you say so, but you still need to eat." Dawkins tilted his head before he spotted the spilled kibble on the floor. The giggling resumed, "Oh yes, a healthy brain requires a healthy body." Dawkins shoved a paw-ful of kibble into his mouth before returning his attention to the tablet. Dylan shook his head and rolled his eyes before departing the cubby.

Downstairs in the living room, Doug and Delilah stood at the front door. Doug wore his fire fighter's helmet, while Delilah carried a medical bag in her mouth. "How about one last hug for your old man?" Doug said as he reached out with his forelegs. Right on cue, the pups leaped onto him and formed one of their signature puppy piles. Across the room, Pongo and Perdita giggled, relating to Doug's self-inflicted predicament. Delilah rolled her eyes in bemusement while chuckling to herself. Placing the bag down, Delilah spoke, "Okay, is there anything left to deal with before we go to work?"

From the top of the stairs, Dylan and Dolly shook their heads. "Nope, we've got the whole day planned out," Dylan said with confidence. Dolly chimed in, "Dylan and I will show 'uncle' and 'aunt' around Camden and get them acquainted with how we do things around here," using air quotes when referring to her two relatives. Dylan nodded in agreement, "At least for as long as they stay here with us." Pleased with the answer, Delilah dragged Doug out from under the crushing weight of their other 97 children. Chuckling as he got back up to his feet, Doug said, "Sounds good to me, and we'll be back home tonight as usual." With that, the pups returned to the living room while the parents heading out the door and down the street.

Dylan walked down the stairs, while Dolly slid down the bannister and shouted 'BOW WOKKA WOW!' to Dylan's visible chagrin. Pongo was fairly impressed by Dolly's bit of acrobatics, while Perdita seemed slightly put-off by the sight. Approaching their older relatives, Dylan asked, "Who's ready for a flawlessly planned excursion into the world of the 21st century?" True to form, Dolly interjected, "And who wants to skip the boring itinerary and just wing it?" Pongo and Perdita exchanged glances, then Perdita spoke up, "Well, so far, 'winging it' only got us chased by the authorities, so I think we should follow Dylan's plan today." Pongo nodded, while Dylan smugly smirked at an annoyed Dolly. "Off we go!" Dylan proudly proclaimed as he led the others out the front door.

Author's Note: Hello, all. Thank you very much for the positive feedback on this story (my first ever actually). To address any concerns, I am definitely continuing this story and have every intention of finishing it. As for the elephant in the room, I will not be addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in this story. The way I see it, in times like this, we all could use an escape from real world problems (especially true for Americans like myself).