Red In The Morning

Chapter 1

Shuan stretched his arms as the sun shone through the window of the barn. The light traced up the hay to where his body had previously been in slumber, but the morning had finally dawned with the rise of the orange sun.

There was an old saying that red in the morning was a warning for the day, but Shaun ignored that fact and slowly sat up, shaking himself awake.

He looked over to his fellow sheepmates, seeing them too start to wiggle and stretch awake too.

"Baaaa..." he mumbled and climbed down the ladder from where his bed was, the quilt all tangled up in itself and needing to be remade.

He saw his little cousin Timmy blink his big eyes awake, before suddenly letting out a wail of tears.

The sheep all jumped, fully alert now as they hurried to the baby lamb, his mother patting him on the back to calm her upset son.

Shaun grabbed Timmy's teddy, handing it to him, and the baby lamb only tossed it away. The sheep all gasped at that gesture, and Timmy squirmed in his mother's arms.

The sheep all gazed at the iritated toddler sheep, but they froze when they heard Bitzer's whistle blowing from away in the distance.

Shaun watched as his flock began to leave the barn, and was about to himself, when he noticed Timmy was still upset.

The mother sheep only sighed, exasperated, and Shaun held out his hooves, as if to indicate that he wanted to help with the uneasy infant.

Timmy's mother gasped, before giving a sweet smile, and handed her baby lamb to his cousin, Shaun.

Shaun sat Timmy on his lap, bopping him up and down, but Timmy was having none of that. He pushed off of Shaun and hurried to the exit of the barn. Shaun tried to chase after him, but as he jumped in the air, about to pin Timmy down, the little lamb ducked and Shaun found himself colliding into someone else.

Bitzer, to be certain.

Shaun froze up, looking at his friend in an uncomfortable position, and Bitzer grew red in the face.

His whistle suddenly blasted into Shaun's ears, and the skinny sheep jumped off of Bitzer. Shaun turned this way and that, looking for where Timmy had disappeared to.

Bitzer herded the flock into the grassy field, and they all obeyed... except for two.

Timmy and Shaun.

When Bitzer had checked off each sheep on his checkboard, he stopped shocked when he noticed that two where missing.

He tensed up, looking all around, and began to bite his paws' claws in anxiety.

Timmy's mother approached Bitzer, tapping him on the shoulder and yelling, "Baaa!"

The dog knew she was asking where the heck was her infant, and he honestly couldn't tell her.

He shrugged his shoulders, exasperated and her eyes widended when she realized this.

The news spread quickly around the farm, and everyone was searching for the missing sheep.

Shaun all this time had finally caught Timmy, the two quite a distance away from their home.

Timmy was wailing, his small stomach growling, and Shaun rolled his eyes. The two were in the town, abourt half an hour from their farm.

Shaun went to an open metal bin, and pulled out half a sandwhich.

Timmy squeed in delight, as Shaun handed it to him with no qualms.

The infant lamb gobbled it down, and rubbed his belly statisfied after it. He suddenly let out a huge burp, which alarmed the passerbyers.

Shaun froze up when he realized the townsfolk were staring awestruck at the two of them. He laughed awkwardly, and grabbed his little cousin around the waist, tucking him under his arm as he tried to find the directions back to the farm.

In the meantime, Bitzer had remembered that he was a dog, and had understandedly decided to use his greatest tool, his nose.

And it was lucky too, that he had such a big nose, as scents and odors travelled far into the distance.

He had to get the two back before the farmer came looking for them. And he didn't want to face his master with the prospet of missing farmlife.

He got on his all fours and began sniffing the trail of Shaun and Timmy.

Shaun however, didn't have a great sense of smell. When he came to a crossroad, he wasn't sure which way he should go.

He placed his cousin down to the ground, and Timmy only huffed, fed up.

The baby lamb plopped on his butt and refused to move.

Shaun eventually decided to go eeeny meeny miney moe, and chose the road that his hoof landed on in the song.

He took Timmy's hoof and pulled the lamb towards the wrong direction, Timmy realizing this as he struggled to get loose.

He bleeted upset, pointing the other way, and Shaun sighed, annoyed.

"Woof! Woof!"

He recognized that bark, and turned greatfully around, spotting his best friend Bitzer.

"Baa!" Shaun answered, and ran to give Bitzer a realived hug.

The two embraced, and Timmy started laughing at them, closing his eyes and rolling around in hysterics.

Shaun and Bitzer let go of each other, with angry embarrassed expressions, and Shaun went and picked up his baby cousin.

Bitzer nodded at the two, and directed them back the correct way to the farm. Shaun was realived and Timmy gleeful.

He squirmed in Shaun's grip, before the older sheep decided to let Timmy go, but kept a close eye in case Timmy made a dash for it for some bizarre reason.

Shaun smiled at his friend Bitzer, and the dog nodded back.

It wasn't until they reached the farm, that they noticed the descent in the mood and atmosphere of their home.

It was when Bitzer stiffened, his ears perking up and his mouth opening, that Shaun knew something was up.

Bitzer suddenly ran forward on all fours, and saw the farm animals all surrounding something in the distance.

He pushed through them, blowing his whistle until he tumbled forward on something big and heavy.

His eyes widened as he gasped in horror.

It was his master, the farmer... laying there with no pulse.

...dead.