The Mysticals: Fly

Chapter Eight: The Dogs

Their next destination was the park. There were a bunch of dogs. "Trust me," said Eris, "this isn't a chore. These dogs are wild dogs. They are for you to tame. Have fun. Don't talk to me until you can get the dog to sit and roll over on command. Use those treats."

Avelle was appalled at what Eris was asking them to do. Tame wild dogs. In a few hours. With no supervision or training.

Avelle was ecstatic when she heard Eris's voice again. Eris said: "Oh, by the way, they aren't dogs. They're hellhounds."

Avelle was no longer glad.

Avelle walked over to the dog food. Each of the competitors was given a tiny hellhound. Avelle filled her cup with a mix of the red, orange and brown hellhound food.

Not knowing what to do, Avelle tossed a red piece of food to the hellhound. The baby hellhound yipped and crawled closer to her. Avelle's palms were shaking as she reached out to pet it.

This is it, she thought, it's gonna bite off my hand now.

She felt the dog's face get closer to her hand, she felt its mouth touch her hand. She braced herself. And she felt it, but the dog didn't bite her. It was gently licking her hand. Avelle looked at the other competitors. Their dogs weren't as happy with them. Their dogs looked as if they would bite them.

But what made Avelle's different? Avelle wasn't sure. She knew that she had fed the dog a piece of food. Specifically, red food. No one else had done that. Was the red food making the dog like her?

Working on a hunch, Avelle gave the dog another piece of red food. The dog leaped on her, licking her face. She gave it another piece of red food. It was smiling and yipping and yapping as if they had known each other for years. Did the red food make the dog trust the feeder?

Avelle wondered what the other foods did. Carefully, she handed the dog a piece of orange food.

Quickly and eagerly, the dog devoured the food. Avelle prayed that the food wasn't poisoned or something.

The dog looked at her. It's face vaguely resembled the Lenny face, with its wide eyes and round nose.

"I have the strange urge to name you Lenny," said Avelle, "Ok, Len. Roll over?"

Lenny rolled over. Avelle was shocked. The orange food made the dog obey. As wonderful as the sensation was of passing, she had the vague feeling that something was wrong.

"Eris!" stammered Avelle, "I did something. And I won't be continuing."

Eris came over. "Oh?"

"I don't like this," blurted Avelle, "This feels wrong. This dog is supposed to be wild or tamed by the right type of person, not a bunch of kids with magic treats. You spelled the treats, didn't you? The red ones make the hellhounds loyal, the orange makes them obedient. What does the brown one do?"

"Oh, the brown one is normal," said Eris. "And you are right. They should be tamed properly. Or wild. Well, you guys are really underqualified." With a sweep of her broom, the dogs were gone. Safe. "Thank you for telling me this, Avelle. Now, plot coupons for everyone!"

A wave of relief washed over the crowd. Some like-minded people were relieved that they weren't harming any animals. Others were just happy to get a free plot coupon.

Jimmy was the only one who wasn't happy. Jimmy was devastated. Why though? Well, Jimmy wasn't feeding the dog, so he was taming his dog "the old fashion way". That way involved beating the dog. Jimmy was enjoying himself and probably would have continued to enjoy himself if it weren't for Avelle speaking up and Eris for zapping the dogs away.