"He's okay! He's okay! Max is okay!" Gidget yipped. Her fluffy white tail would not stop wagging. It actually hit Tiberius in the face a few times. That didn't bother the hawk though. He simply moved aside so he couldn't get whacked anymore. Peering around her, he could see Max and the other dog, a massive mutt, swimming towards the boardwalk on the shore. Snowball, in the meantime, was resting on a floating wooden board.
"We did it!" Gidget exclaimed. Before Tiberius could react, he was pulled into a hug. Wagging her tail as she hugged her best friend, Gidget mumbled gratefully, "Thank you so much for helping me." A purr rumbling deep within his throat, the old red tailed hawk returned the embrace. "No problem bestie," he whispered softly to the fluffy white Pomeranian.
"They made it to shore!" Mel declared, bouncing up and down in place. Letting Tiberius go, Gidget turned around. Looking over her shoulder, the hawk could see Max and the mutt on shore, panting from their swim and near death experience. In the water, Snowball was swimming towards them. As far as everyone could see, the trio were okay. Tired, but okay.
This called for a celebration.
"Max!" Gidget barked. Her tail was wagging so fast that she was shaking. Spinning around in circles, she continued calling out Max's name. The rest of the search party cheered for him as well. Sweetpea fluttered about, performing somersaults and aerial flips over everyone's heads. Tipping his head back, Pops howled something strange. No one could make sense of what he said. The Flushed Pets cheered for their boss Snowball.
The purr in his throat growing by the second, Tiberius glanced over to his right. At the same time, Chloe looked to her left. The hawk was astonished to see she was smiling. Teeth and everything. What was really surprising was the gray tabby cat was smiling at him! All day she had been a constant pain in his neck and now here she was smiling at him without a care in the world. No hate, only happiness. Purring, Tiberius smiled back at Chloe before returning his attention to a delighted Gidget. Seeing her happy was the highlight of the hawk's day. Looking around, it was at that moment he noticed that the tattooed pig and bearded dragon from earlier were missing. A moment later, a taxi pulled up in front of Max, Snowball and the mutt. Everyone watched as Max turned to the animals on the bridge high above.
"Good news guys!" Max shouted as loudly as he could, "We have a ride home!"
YOU ARE READING
The Story of Tiberius
FanfictionThe true story behind the fearsome yet lonely red tailed hawk from The Secret Life of Pets.