The Wounds We Heal

Chapter forty-three: Jungle Gym!

Racing after the runaway plate, he feared he wouldn't catch it before the end of the building came. But then it wedged in a crack in the sidewalk and he tried to avoid hitting it. Instead, he got tripped up anyway and tumbled over himself, stiffening up as he landed.

Oh,.. not again. he groaned.

"Oh goodness, Chase!" Maggie gasped, having heard the skid from the crash. "Are you ok?!"

"What, no.. I'm fine." Chase insisted, sounding oddly convincing this time.

"Really." he insisted, even as she tried to recover him.

Snowflake walked over curiously and sat next to Maggie.

"Hi Chase, I saw you talk to your friend, then ran off to get the plate. Are you- wait," Snowflake commented, before seeing how Chase was standing. Her eyes narrowed.

"Chase? Did you crash again?.. Actually, is your shoulder okay? You look,.. uncomfortable."

He immediately heaved himself over off his side to stand up.

"Why do you say that?" Chase wondered, a bit more forwardly than he had wanted it to sound.

"Hey now, easy tiger." Maggie hushed, patting him on the back. His skeptical gaze, traveled between his two friends, then he realized something about them.

"Oh, hey Snowflake, this is Maggie Prescott, a friend of mine. Maggie, this is Snowflake."

"Hello." Maggie smiled at the husky, and Chase immediately took this opportunity to slip away. So he could grab the plate and take it back to the bowl to finish his task.

"Hello, nice to meet you. How do you know Chase?" Snowflake replied, wagging her tail.

"Know him?" Maggie scoffed. "Honey, I practically helped raise him in his first years. Me and Billy anyway. He's my brother."

"How 'bout you?" She asked a moment later.

The husky pup blinked with wide eyes.

"Billy has a sister? He didn't mention that when he came to visit at The Lookout. Anyways, I joined the PAW Patrol years ago and became their tracking pup. So I got to know Chase, Ryder and the pups over time. Hey, where did Chase go?!" Snowflake responded, before turning back to where the German Shepherd had been.

xxxx

Chase stepped his paws up to the counter, balancing the two dishes carefully. So he was just barely able to get them up there safely. But when he did so, he didn't open his mouth enough to clear the rim of the bowl. And his canine teeth pulled it to the edge where it fell onto his head, while the plate slid down his back and rolled away again. But no sooner had it nearly reached the door, did a foot nose right under it and popped it up into the hand that was ready to catch it.

"Thank you for the help, Chase-but,.. you didn't have to bring your dishes in to me." Mr. Porter smiled, coming over to Chase as he tipped the bowl up off his eyes.

"Oh it's ok, Mr. Porter." Chase replied, as the restaurant owner came and took the bowl off his head. "Always glad to do it."

"I know." Mr. Porter chuckled lightly, as he set the dishes in a tote with some other ones. "But you pups already do so much and.."

"Chase? What are you doing in here?" Snowflake interrupted, standing by the doorway. "I looked for you and couldn't find you. Why did you vanish?"

"Uhh to finish being helpful?" Chase replied, standing back from Mr. Porter and the dirty dishes.
"Okay. Well we better get to the fun zone. Maggie can come too if she wants," Snowflake suggested. "And don't worry, I returned my dishes when you went running off after the plate, past Maggie."