"That should be everything," Chloe declared, dumping some broken glass into a recycling bin. Picking up his miniature toy cars, Tiny looked up. The young basset hound puppy and the gray tabby cat had spent the last hour and a half cleaning up the mess in his house. Glancing over at the clock hanging on the wall, he saw that it was eleven thirty. In another half hour it would be midnight. Standing up, he dated off his pants and yipped, "Thank you for helping me Chloe."
"No problem Tiny," Chloe replied. Putting away the broom and mop in the closet where she had found them, the tabby cat padded over to the basset hound pup. Gently ruffling the fur on his head, she asked softly, "Are you gonna be okay here by yourself tonight?"
"Yeah. I've been alone for the last two days. I think I can handle one more night by myself," Tiny answered. Hugging his neighbor, he looked up at her with round eyes as he asked, "You are coming over tomorrow for Christmas though, right?" Smiling softly, the feline nodded her head. A smile on his own face, Tiny pointed out, "Have a merry Christmas Chloe."
"You too Tiny. Now, get ready for bed. If you're not asleep by midnight, Santa might just fly right over your house tonight," Chloe responded. Hugging him one more time, the tabby opened the front door. Hu walked in, carrying the last steak in his mouth. His tail wagged nonstop. Both pup and cat smiled at that before Chloe left for the night. In the meantime, Tiny headed upstairs to get ready for bed.
Dressed in his pajamas and a bathrobe, Tiny was back downstairs. Putting the milk jug back into the refrigerator, the kid took the glass he poured and a plate of cookies out into the living room. He made sure to put it on a shelf so Hu wouldn't try to get them during the night. Luckily, the black and white dog looked pretty tuckered out from everything that happened in the last two hours. Patting his dog on the head, Tiny murmured, "Come on, it's time for bed Hu."
And for the first time since he had accidentally been left home alone, Tiny had a peaceful night's sleep.
