The Role Swap

Dude

'Okay. Charon, we're gonna do some sprints. You ready?' Beth asked. She stood with Charon on the tourney field. In her hand, she had a chronometer. Charon wanted to nod, but she heard a bark. She looked behind her and she saw a small dog running towards her. She ran as hard as she could. 'Oh! Ah! No, wait!' Beth pressed the button of the chronometer without knowing that Charon ran in fear. 'Sweet.' Charon ran over the tourney field. 'No! Ah!' Beth frowned. Charon ran past the tourney field. 'Charon? Charon!' Beth saw the dog. Was Charon afraid of dogs? Beth didn't know. She followed her to the forest.

Charon climbed into a tree. The dog followed her. 'No, stop!' Beth saw her. 'Charon!' 'Beth? Beth?' Charon yelled in fear. 'Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!' Beth tried to calm her down a little bit. 'Beth, help me! This thing is a killer! He's gonna chase me down and rip out my throat. This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!' 'Hey, who told you that?' 'My mother!' Beth frowned. 'Cruella?' Charon nodded. 'She's a dog expert. A dog yellerer.' Beth picked up the dog. Charon's eyes widened. 'Why are you holding him? He's gonna attack you!' 'Charon, you've never actually met a dog, have you?' 'Of course not!' 'Dude, meet Charon. Charon, this is Dude. He's the campus mutt.' Charon carefully climbed out of the tree. She looked at Dude. 'He doesn't look like a vicious, rabid pack animal.' Beth gave Dude to her. 'Jeez. You're a good boy, aren't you? You're a good boy.'

'I guess you guys have it pretty rough on the island, ' Beth said, although it sounded more like a question. Charon smiled sadly. 'Yeah. Let's just say we don't get a lot of belly rubs.' 'Good girl. I mean, you're a good runner. You're... you're fast, you know.' Charon smiled. 'Oh. Yeah. Thank you.' 'Yeah. Listen, I'm gonna give you guys some space, yeah? You guys get to know each other and just, you know, come find me when you're done, okay?' Charon nodded. 'Okay.' 'I'll see you later.' 'See you out there.' Charon sat down with Dude on her lap. Dude licked her hand. 'Hi. Hi. Oh! Thank you.' Beth looked at them once before she left. She smiled.