Playtime with Percy; Before Playtime

Friday; Cash Chase

May 31, 2002

It was noon in Asheville, Balfour at the town's skateboarding rink. The temperature was warm, normal to say the least. Near the skateboard rinks, to the right was a small coffee cafe, called "Sparky's Cafe", about the size of a cabin. Barely any skaters or people at the cafe though. A few others walked down the streets, staring at the empty rink. The rink and cafe were near the center of Balfour, a small suburban city in North Carolina. The only people who were actually at the cafe and rink were a few couples outside of the cafe sitting on the benches and two blond-haired boys in the bowl of the skating rink. There weren't many shops or buildings near the rink and cafe, only to the north there were a few streets with other, more popular cafes and shops.

Temperatures started to drop. The couple and two boys started to leave. It was about 6:15, and the skies started to become covered with a thin blanket of clouds. Just before the two boys were about to cross the street, and as the couple walked the sidewalk, he skated across the street in a blur.

The Boys were startled at first since that thing was so fast, but when the one with the blue shirt turned to see who that was, he waved softly. The other boy did too, finding out who that was.

The man who skated across the street at lightning speed, well, wasn't exactly a man. It wasn't even a person in general. It was 6 and 1 ⁄ 2 feet tall, with a larger skateboard than the ones you see in stores, and had a black background with drawings of fire on it. He was also exceptionally furry, and instead of feet for feet, there were paws. Same for his hands too, but they were more human-hand like. He had large fluffy ears in the shape of poodle ears. Around his hands were black fingerless gloves and black Wristbands with small white decorative spikes on them. His eyes were a deep and endless gray. A red collar with the letter P on it was tied around his neck. He had a red and black backpack on his back, holding a walkie-talkie and some important pieces of paper.

So, why all the animal features? Was this just a man in an overly-sized poodle costume? There once was, but right now, inside that costume was a bunch of metal gears, wires, mechanical bones, and a battery. That's right, that 6-foot white poodle walking on two legs is an animatronic. The white Poodle knew too, and had a name.

His name was Percy Poodle.

Percy aimed for the skating rink. He dug his feet into the skateboard and braced for impact as he leaped with the skateboard onto a rail. Percy wasn't programmed to learn to skate, but after tutorials from skating professionals and practice, he eventually learned the basics. And some tricks. Once off the rail, he turned his head towards the streets in front of the rink, hopping onto the sidewalk and turning left. As Percy rode along the sidewalk, he heard a crrrrr- sound coming from the backpack. Percy turned the backpack to his front and unzipped the zipper. He grabbed the walkie talkie and with his skateboard, he swiftly crossed the street onto a sidewalk with a strip mall. A bit too swiftly.

At the same second he turned the backpack back to his back, two women the same height were unaware that a 6-foot animatronic poodle was coming after them. Percy saw them out of the corner of his eye, and yelled at the two women to move. The Girls shoved themselves against a glass pane in front of one of the stores. Percy went into a bit of a zig-zag at that point- he kept trying to dodge incoming men and kids and women. He nearly lost where he was meant to be going. At the edge of the strip mall sidewalk, he heard the crrrr- sound again. This time he answered the walkie-talkie.

"Percy?! Are you there?! At the Square?! Me and Rowan have been waiting for you for like, nearly 15 minutes! Over." A voice popped up on the walkie-talkie. It sounded a bit deep and had a clown accent to it.

"15 minutes isn't that long. And yes, I'm on my way, I just nearly sent a few people a playdate with Jesus. Over." Percy replied calmly. He took a turn to the left again, but this time more focused on getting to the town square.