Sorbet for the Feelings

Bane stood sniffing at the bottom corner of the door searching for the last bit of the Davis’ scent. The family left for school and work and he wouldn’t see them again until the afternoon. As he heard the car start up and drive off, he knew they were gone.

He wandered over to the sofa and was confronted by Luna, somehow occupying the entire space with her 9 pound body. “Don’t you even think about it, Bane. This sofa is mine and you know I’ll go to blows for it,” Luna snapped, her hackles up. Luna was completely oblivious to the fact that Bane outweighed her by a factor of 10. And truth is, she could probably take him in a fight if it ever came to that. 

Pickles was no friendlier. Hissing, she arched her back as Bane approached. Bane learned the hard way that it meant he should give Pickles some space.

Bane hated it when the family left. He wasn’t able to let it go the way that Luna did. He wasn’t sure that Pickles ever cared if they were around. But when they left, it ate at him the entire time they were gone. He wouldn’t rest until they returned.

He paced back and forth across the living room before giving up and heading into Tommy’s room. Tommy had a nice bed. But it wasn’t so nice that Luna defended it for herself.

Entering the room, Bane’s ears perked and his tail wagged. His nose caught the scent of something. He couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but he could tell for sure that it was human food. Tommy must have snuck it in and it’s probably hidden somewhere. It was going to be a good day.

Bane tried to play it cool. He knew that when he got excited, he tended to knock things over. His family blamed his puppy energy and his breed. He was a mix of Pit bull and Great Dane. He had overly long limbs and hadn’t quite figured out how they fit in space yet. 

 If he knocked things over, the ruckus would put Luna on alert. Luna was bossy. Even for a Chihuahua. She would immediately decide the mission was hers and Bane would become her faceless brawn. He’d be lucky to get any of the spoils. No. He had to keep things quiet. At least until he knew what he was dealing with and he could make an informed judgment on whether there was enough to share. 

Bane wasn’t great at keeping his cool. In fact, he was downright terrible at it. The more he tried to act like nothing was going on, the more exaggerated and ridiculous his “nonchalant” actions became. Nobody was in the room to witness his act, but it didn’t stop him from playing coy in the most suspicious way imaginable. 

Walking around, staring at the ceiling, he behaved as though he had just fallen into the room. He pretended that he was completely new to his surroundings. How he expected to find the food this way is anyone’s guess. He sniffed around in the air as he walked, but was more focused on the show than finding the food at this point.  

He failed to look where he was going. Despite his best intentions, he knocked over Tommy’s floor lamp, causing it to crash to the floor in a loud thud.

Sure enough, it got Luna right off the sofa. Even Pickles followed. They found Bane standing in shock, unsure of how to get out of the situation he’d just created.

“Again, Bane?” Luna shrilled. “You know we’re all going to get it for this.”

Pickles just rolled her eyes and hopped up onto the bed, stealing Bane’s original idea.

Bane tried to run through options in his head. Does he admit to what he smelled? Would it help the situation? But his original fears told him to hold back. As he looked back over at Luna growing increasingly impatient, he panicked and admitted it, “I’m pretty sure Tommy snuck food into his room again and it’s buried in here somewhere.”

“Impossible,” Luna scoffed. “You know he hasn’t done that since he was grounded a few months ago. He hasn’t been allowed to bring food in here since that whole ant debacle.”

Pickles peered out from the pillows and stuffed animals that now absorbed her. “Clearly there’s been a gradual erosion of the rules brought about by Ms. Davis’ inability to maintain steady discipline. It’s textbook. I could have told you that this day was coming 2 weeks ago when I first saw Tommy bring a glass of water over to his nightstand while Ms. Davis witnessed the whole thing and said nothing. She was giving him the green light to further disobey her.” 

“Whatever,” Luna dismissed. Luna was a dog of action and had no time for Pickles’ intellectualizing. “If there’s something in here, let’s get to work on finding it. I’ll dig underneath the bed. Bane, you sniff around the perimeter of the room. Try not to knock anything else over. Pickles, you cats can jump well. You cover the high parts. Get up on the shelves. Tommy seems to think his mom can’t find stuff up there.”

The trio set forth to search the room. Bane and Pickles knew better than to question Luna’s directives. This went on for longer than usual. Fifteen minutes later, they still hadn’t found anything. It seemed as if they had scoured every inch of space.

Luna was the first to give up hope. “Bane, I should know by now that I shouldn’t listen to you. My judgment was clouded by visions of chips. They’d be Doritos this time. I could almost taste them. But it’s as though you never had a useful moment in your entire life.”

Pickles was equally frustrated, but not quite ready to give up. “If all three of us smelled food upon entry to the room, certainly the probability remains that it’s held within these walls.”

Bane never wanted to involve Luna and Pickles in this search. But now that they were involved, he felt an obligation to provide the reward they expected. “It’s here. I know it. Tommy just got better at hiding stuff. We need to think harder.”

But thinking harder wasn’t Bane’s strong suit. He laid on the floor, giant head between his paws and stared at nothing. “This is what a dog looks like when he’s deep in thought,” he thought to himself. Luna and Pickles, well aware that this would end up going nowhere, did their best to come up with their own solutions.

Surprisingly, it was Bane who first spoke up. “That big box over there! I’ve seen Tommy pull it apart!” He looked over at the dresser. “If we can figure out how to do what he does, maybe we’ll find the food!”

Luna was conflicted. Her instinct was to ignore any words that came out of Bane’s mouth. But he was right. They had ruled out every other option and it was the only thing left. But how? “Since you’re the guy with the big ideas, how about you figure out how we get into that thing?” was all she said out loud.

Pickles stepped in. “The box has metal devices attached to it in sets of two. I’ve observed Tommy using those devices to maneuver the sub boxes. While we lack his manual dexterity, I do believe that with some careful consideration, we can find a way to compensate.”

Without hesitation, Luna insisted, “Bane. Grab those things with your teeth and back up. See if that works.”

Bane jumped onto his hind legs, ready to start with the top drawer. The overstuffed drawer offered resistance. 

“Are you even pulling?” Luna questioned impatiently. Bane regrouped before hopping back up and tugging harder.

“I… wouldn’t…” Pickles began as the entire dresser came crashing down, narrowly missing Bane as he reflexively jumped out of the way.

“Great!” Luna shouted, unaware that her impulsive commands were responsible for the mess they had made. “What are we supposed to do now? All of the metal things are on the floor under the box. We’ll never get in.” And she was right. Getting into the dresser would be impossible now.

“I … I …I am so sorry you guys. I should have been more careful. I know. I ruin everything,” Bane whimpered. His tail went between his legs. And his ears went back against his head. He sat, looking only at the floor.

Luna gave Bane one last glare over her shoulder before she headed back to the living room in a huff. “So much for nothing,” she muttered under her breath. Pickles followed close behind.

Still sulking, Bane looked over the mess that had been made of the bedroom. He knew he’d be in trouble when the family got back home. But there was nothing he could do now.

Hopping onto the bed, hoping that he might fall asleep and pass some time before he answered to Tommy, and worse, to Ms. Davis, he noticed that the smell was stronger. The human food. It was nearby. Bane dug through the covers and jostled stuffed animals around with his snout. And there it was. A half eaten bag of Cheetos, right behind Ms. Bigsby, Tommy’s large golden teddy bear.

Bane didn’t call Luna. He didn’t tell Pickles. He dumped the bag of Cheetos across the bed and he immediately devoured every last one. All by himself. It was the perfect day after all.