"Hu, turn on montage music," Tiny ordered. Woofing and wagging his tail, the black and white dog went over to the stereo system. He rose up on his hind legs and pressed the play button with his black nose. Music filled the house as Tiny whipped out a piece of paper and markers. Within ten minutes, he had battle plans drawn up. Standing up, he declared, "Operation Home Alone is a go."
Time to get to work.
Running down into the basement, Tiny found most of the stuff he needed. His dad's grilling tools. His mom's iron. A blowtorch. Mel and Buddy's bowling balls. Paint cans. String. An old fan. A bag filled with feathers. The brand new wagon he bought earlier that day. Broken ornaments that were no longer used. Tar. A bucket. The young pup took it all.
Kneeling down on the floor in front of the stairs, Tiny took all of his miniature toy vehicles and set them up all over the floor. Taking the bucket full of ice cold water, he dumped it on the front steps before going back inside. Then he took his dad's BBQ starter, turned on and already glowing a bright red, and hooked it over the doorknob of the front door.
Next up was the basement. Starting at the bottom of the stairs, Tiny started coating the steps in tar. On the tenth step, he very carefully placed a piece of cardboard down. A rusty old nail was glued with the point sticking up. Coating the rest of the steps in tar, Tiny left the basement.
Filling the bucket again with ice cold water, Tiny went outside to the outdoor basement stairs. He gave them the same treatment he had given the front steps. The young pup also took Hu outside, making him wait in his doghouse. Taking some rope he had tied up somewhere in the attic and tossed through the window, he dragged it up into his treehouse and tied it to the tree.
Back inside again, Tiny filled the empty bucket with some steaks he had gotten out of the freezer. He carried the bucket upstairs and set it inside his brothers' bedroom by an open window. He then put their bowling balls into his little red wagon and tied strings to the stair railing and paint cans. Setting up a tripwire, he headed back down just as Pepe the tarantula crawled by.
Taking the feathers and putting them in front of the old fan, Tiny rigged it up with string. He then took plastic wrap and covered it with glue. Placing firewood into the fireplace and the broken ornaments in front of an open window by the Christmas tree, he made his way to the kitchen. Putting up the blowtorch and iron, the young basset hound puppy took a moment to take a breather. At that moment, the clock rang out. It was nine. The battle was about to begin. Grabbing Leonard's potato gun, Tiny ran over to the back door.
"This is it," Tiny declared, "Don't get scared now."
