CADPIG'S DILEMMABy SannabelleIt's another fine day at the Dearly Farm. The camera angle zooms in and over the farm house, then over the barn yard where 101 Dalmatians are romping and frolicking in the warm summer sun. Swooping down into the barn yard the camera sweeps through the playful, yapping puppies and into the barn. A quick turn and out past Princess and Duchess, over the pig sty and out toward the rolling countryside. Speeding over the landscape, we soon see a group of Dalmatians sitting peacefully on the top of a small knoll. Slowing steadily the camera stops and we see Cadpig sitting in meditative position, with Lucky, Rolly, and Spot around her attempting to do the same. Lucky and Spot have it almost perfect, but as soon as Rolly crosses his paws he looses his balance and falls over. Cadpig raises her face to the sun, eyes closed in trance and chants, "Feel the birds.... Be the birds... Love the birds." "Cadpig, I'm a Chicken, I AM A BIRD!" Spot calls out. "Now, now, Spot. Don't disturb the metaphysical mind waves. " Cadpig looks over at her chicken friend and counsels. Rolly lifts himself up and whines, "Aww Cadpig. This is stupid. Let's stop mediating." "Meditating." Lucky interrupts, correcting his brother. Clearly exasperated Rolly quips, "Whatever. I'm hungry. I'm gonna go find something to eat." Rolly runs off, and Cadpig sighs as the mood is broken. Lucky, Spot and Cadpig give up their attempt at communing with nature, get up and begin to walk back to the barn. * * * Back on the farm, Cadpig, Lucky and Spot round the corner of the barn and run into Perdita who had been looking for her two lost children and adopted chicken. Perdita looked relieved and said, "So there you two are." "Is everything alright Mom?" Cadpig and Lucky asked, concern in their voices. "Oh everything is fine." Perdy put them at ease, " I was looking for you to ask if you are entering the Disc catching contest? Spot, Lucky and Cadpig all chirped up a strong, "Yep!" Spot and Lucky both looked at Cadpig surprised that she spoke up too. Even Perdita looked surprised. Lucky beat both of them to the question on each of their minds, "Cadpig? You're entering?" "Yep!" She answered perkily and Lucky laughed and responded hastily, "I hope you're prepared to loose Caddy!" Perdita barked and scolded in most dangerous tone, "LUCKY!" Realizing too late that his mother was still there Lucky apologized sheepishly, "Sorry Mother." "It's not me you should apologize too." Perdy barked and ordered, "Now apologize to your sister." "Sorry Cadpig." Lucky said to the ground, then looked up at Cadpig who was enjoying the whole thing. She patted Lucky on the head with her fore paw and said, "Oh that's alright Lucky." Then she leaned close to Lucky's ear and whispered, "I don't get mad. I get even." Then she bounced away laughing and giggling to herself. Lucky however, looked very much deflated from Cadpig's final statement. Perdita walks off mumbling to herself, "I must go talk to your father about that 'Competitive' Gene of his." Spot turns and runs off to catch up with Cadpig. * * * The next scene opens and we see Cadpig sitting anxiously near the food trough. Seeing no one around and lunch time near Cadpig thinks to herself, "I might actually get some food today, I'm first!" Nanny walks past the trough and says, "Hello Cadpig girl. First in line I see." Cadpig gives a quick bark in the affirmative. Nanny laughs and hops up on the old bicycle frame. Strapping the helmet on she begins to peddle. The wheels and pulleys begin to move and when the chow tower bell begins to ring, puppies come running in from everywhere and they *crush* Cadpig flat. Rolly bounds in and steps on Cadpig who gives out a weak squeak. "I'm Hungry! Move!" Rolly shouts. Cadpig snaps back to her normal form with a 'Pop' and shouts, "I was here first!" Rolly, not one to let anyone get between him and food counters, "Yeah? Well, I'm hungry!" Cadpig bars her teeth, clearly agitated and screams, "YOU'RE ALWAYS HUNGRY! IT'S NO WONDER YOU'RE LATERAL AXIS IS GREATER THAN YOUR LONGETUDINAL AXIS!" "Are you calling me fat?" Rolly asks sharply. "All I want is for you all to, SAVE SOME FOOD FOR THE LITTLE GUYS!" Cadpig yells getting in Rolly's face. Lucky interjects calmly, "There's only one little guy... you!" Cadpig turns toward Lucky ready to give him a piece of her mind when she notices the others clearing away from the trough, leaving it empty. Cadpig sank down and moaned, "I didn't get any food AGAIN!" Jewel walked passed Cadpig who was whimpering on the ground and jeered, "Well if you'd do more eating and less talking, you might just get something to eat." Cadpig growls but Jewel just walks away ignoring her. * * * The next day rises bright and early and we return to the farm to find the pups are having a race. By the race end to everyone's surprise we find Mooch and Cadpig are tied for the lead. Panting a little Mooch turns his head and jeers at Cadpig, "Prepare to lose shortstuff." Cadpig is unfazed by Mooches snide remark and begins calmly, "Mooch." Then she shows her pointy teeth in a fearsome grin and continues loudly, "I DON'T THINK SO!" Mooch recoils slightly but just as quick regains his composure and barks back, "Big talk, for a runt." Cadpig glares at the bigger farm dog, about to snap out a witty retort when Mooch puts out one paw, and trips her up. Cadpig tumbles to the ground in a cloud of dust. The other pups racing behind the two leaders trample over her. Bruised and beaten, Cadpig gets up and boy does she look mad. "He CHEATED!" She barked and growled menacingly, "That's not fair!" With fire in her eyes she scrapes her claws across the dirt and shouts, "Mooch! Prepare to become sausage links CHEATER!" "Whoa now C, c, Cadpig." Spot said stepping in front of her friend and trying to calm her down, "What is it you say? 'L, l, let's not resort to violence." Cadpig slowly begins to calm down some, but she turns to her mom who is sitting nearby and whines, "Mom! He cheated!" Perdita looked over at her smallest pup and replied, "Well if you had concentrated more on winning instead of trading barbs with Mooch, you might have beat him. I can't do anything now. Mooch won." Cadpig sighs, her ears drooping to the side of her head and looks dejected at the lack of support. "I almost won." She thought to herself. The other pups and dogs moved off, but Spot interrupted Cadpig's thoughts, "W, w, what's with you Cadpig? Why do you have this burning desire to win all of a sudden? It's n, n, not like you." Cadpig looked up at the chicken thoughtfully and paused a moment before standing up. Still not saying anything she begins to walk over towards her favorite spot; a small hillock with a nice soft patch of grass and clover to lie in and meditate. Spot follows along at her side. Lying down in the warm sun on the soft grass, Cadpig sighs and begins to explain herself out loud, "I just don't know what it is Spot. There's a part of me that longs to be competitive. To prove that I'm more than a runt. That I'm an equal to," She shrugs her head over her shoulder towards the farm and continues, "them." "B, b, but you've never needed brawn to get ahead." Spot pointed out, "You've always used your brain." "Yes, I know." Cadpig relents, "But unless I can show them I can match them physically, it doesn't matter if I use my brain or not, I'm always looked at as the runt." "W, w, well I don't look at you as a runt." Spot says quickly and Cadpig turns her head to look at the chicken. "I look at you as a friend." She finishes sincerely. Cadpig smiles, "Thanks Spot." * * * The next day, Roger is out in the barn yard throwing Frisbees for the dogs to catch. Each dog waits his or her turn for the chance to catch it. All of them are jumping around and yapping excitedly. Hearing all the commotion, Spot wanders through the sea of barking spots to find Lucky, Rolly and Cadpig all waiting for their turn. "Watch the master and learn my friends." Lucky barks out confidently. "Here ya go Lucky!" Roger calls out then sends a nice level throw out across the barnyard. Lucky takes off like a shot and gets in the glide path of the flying disk. He crouches low then springs into the air. His jump is an inch or so too high and the disk slams into his chest. "Yargh!" Lucky cries as the impact spins him around in a backward somersault and he lands on his back on the ground. The Frisbee landed a few feet away on its edge and commenced to roll down and clunk Lucky in the tail as a final insult. "Awww man!" Lucky moaned, "I woulda had it if it weren't for the thermal variations over the well pump." Rolly, Cadpig and Spot ran over to where Lucky lay. "What's up with that…Master?" Rolly giggled sarcastically. Cadpig and Spot giggled a little to. "Aww shut up." Lucky said, "It hit a thermal and dropped on me." "Sure it did." The three others said in chorus. "I'd like to see you do better." Lucky challenged. "You just watch me." Rolly answered confidently then began to bark wildly at Roger to throw him the disk. Seeing the pudgy pup barking at him Roger shrugged his shoulders and said, "I see ya Rolly Polly. You sure you wanna try this?" Rolly barked back twice. "Ok." Roger said smiling then gave the disk a somewhat softer throw. Rolly began running right away on an angular course to intercept the Frisbee. Just before he came even with the disk, Rolly leapt into the air. Rolly's bulky form cleared a foot off the ground, but it was well short of the height of the disk. Tumbling to the ground, Rolly could do nothing but pant and catch his breath. Now Lucky, Cadpig and Spot ran over to Rolly's side, but the rotund little puppy squelched their comments, "I know, I know." He said, "I shoulda known better than to open my big mouth for anything but food." The four puppies smiled. As Lucky helped Rolly up, Cadpig turned to Spot, "Now's my chance to show 'em." "Sh, sh, sh, show 'em what?" Spot asked, but her words fell on deaf ears for Cadpig was already running towards Roger and barking loudly. "Ok Cadpig!" Roger said laughing, "Go long!" Then he threw the disk. Cadpig did a quick 180 and with her speed, began to overtake and pass the Frisbee disk. Her brothers and sisters and even her parents looked on in awe at her speed. Skidding to a stop she crouched then sprang up into the air. Flapping her ears to provide additional lift she met the Frisbee head on. As it got within reach, she lunged out with her teeth and grabbed the disk. However, her body weight wasn't enough to stop the disk's momentum. Instead she only slowed it a little and it carried her along with it to crash against the side of the barn. Plastered against the side of the barn her mouth hanging open in a silent, "Ouch" the Frisbee falls from her mouth and she begins to slide slowly down the wall to the ground. All the puppies, Pongo and Perdita and Roger are all there as she hits the ground and whimpers a weak, "ouch." Seeing everyone around her who all saw her failure, she fell onto her belly, put her paws over her head and began to whimper. Perdita leaned down to lick her youngest pup. While doing so she said quietly, "You know, your father is very good at catching Frisbees. I'm sure he'd give you some pointers if you asked." Cadpig looked up at her mom and Pongo stepped forward and said to her proudly, "Yeah Caddy that was a swell catch. I know you'll be as good as I am when you get bigger." Pongo thought he had said the right thing, but he'll never truly understand girl dogs. Cadpig covered her head again and began crying anew, "I never do anything right! I'm too small!" Roger, unsure of what is really going on reaches in to pick up the crying puppy. Stroking her head and looking her over he can't see anything wrong and says, "That was quite a hit you took lil girl. I don't see anything wrong, but I think, just to be sure, I'll call Dr. Whittaker out to have a look at you too." All the puppies looked on as Roger took Cadpig away and into the house. Pongo and Perdy followed. Lucky was the first to speak, "Wow! What a catch! Did you see her run?" "I sure did." Tripod said in awe, "She timed that perfectly." "I think dad's right." Patch added, "When she gets bigger, she'll be real good at disk catching." The other pups nodded in agreement. Spot stepped out in front of all three and spread her wings wide and said, "Well then maybe you should take the t, t, t, time and tell her that" Lucky, Patch, Tripod and the rest gave a collective, "Huh?" * * * Inside the house, Roger was telling Anita what happened. "It was amazing... she was excellent... like Pongo...until...when she got it in her mouth, it didn't fall, it just kept going until she hit the wall..." Roger trailed off, staring at Cadpig with Pongo and Perdy at his feet. Cadpig was lying in-between Perdita's paws, looking crestfallen. Pongo was siting beside her, looking sad and lovingly at his youngest pup. Perdita was licking her daughter's ear soothingly. Cadpig got up slowly and went to the window. "Cadpig, sweetie, it wasn't your fault." Perdita said, exchanging a worried glance with Pongo. Cadpig merely whimpered. Pongo got up and stood beside his daughter. "Oh, Cadpig, you've got to stop worrying about what just happened. You'll be an excellent Frisbee catcher with practice." Pongo encouraged and watched her for a sign of hope. Cadpig just sighed, and turned away, saying, "It's just that all week I've been trying to prove to the others I'm not just a runt...and I've been unsuccessful at every attempt." She sighed again, then added, "I just want to be seen as something more than a runt." She gave a last huge sigh, and headed out of the house before Pongo or Perdita could say anything. As Cadpig's head begins to pass through the doggy door, Perdita gets up and looks at Pongo, looking almost as sad as Cadpig herself and bemoans, "Ooh, Pongo, we have to do something." Her ears droop as she gently nudged her husband's muzzle for comfort. "Ah, Perdita. This will work itself out." Pongo said soothingly, licking his wife, but silently he thought, "I hope." * * * Cadpig flopped down at her favorite spot, and looked back sadly toward the barn and house. She closed her eyes, flopped down, and began to cry softly. Her journey in self-pity is interrupted as her sensitive ears hear the sound of a car engine running quickly up the road towards the farm. Cadpig sniffles and looks up as she sees a car comes down the dirt driveway half expecting it to be Cruella. Instead it is an old Winnebago camper van. "Oh, great, the vet...." She rolls her eyes and states flatly, "Nothing's hurt... except maybe my pride." She grudgingly gets up and walks back towards the house. Her head is hung so low the tips of her ears are scraping the ground. She walks through the kitchen and into the living room, only to be immediately scooped up by Dr. Whittaker. The veterinarian gave Cadpig a thorough check-up and finally set her down again. "Well," Dr. Whittaker said, "She seems to be fine." She pauses for a moment, looks up from Cadpig to Roger and Anita standing nearby and continued her prognosis, "Just remember, a pup as small as her really shouldn't…" She never got to finish as she was interrupted by Cadpig's sharp bark. Cadpig glared up angrily at the vet, leapt off the table, dashed through the kitchen and out the doggy door. Tears streaming steadily down her cheeks, Cadpig didn't stop running until she found a patch of soft grass where she flopped down in anguish. "See," She said to herself miserably, "No one thinks I can do anything right. Not mom, not dad, not Lucky, not Mooch, Not even the vet!" She looked up just in time to her friends. They had been waiting outside of the kitchen door, listening to the doctor and their pets. When Cadpig ran out of the house crying, they immediately became concerned and ran to follow her. "C, c, c, c, Cadpig? Are you alright?" Spot asked, concern evident in her voice. Cadpig looked up. "Wha?" She said dazedly, " I'm ok, I guess." Spot cocked her head questioningly at the Dalmatian. "You don't look ok." She observed. Cadpig sighed and rolled over onto her back, staring at the clouds tears still streaming down her furry cheeks. Rolly and Lucky just stood nearby quietly not saying a word. Their luck so far at saying the right thing had not been very good thus far. So they let Spot do the talking. Cadpig," Spot continued, sitting down on the clover patch, "If you want to be a better Frisbee catcher, ask your dad for pointers!" Cadpig wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks, turned, looked at her chicken friend and lamented, "Oh, Spot, I don't need pointers, I need to be bigger, and I need some practice." Spot slowly sat down beside her best friend, deep in thought. After several moments silence, she spoke, "You know, Cadpig," she said thoughtfully, "If you had lots of practice, you'd be awesome at catching disks. Maybe, if you practiced with your dad everyday, you'd get better and learn how to land properly. I could throw the Frisbees, for ya, cause I don't think Roger would be willing to do it every day." Cadpig sat and looked at Spot for what seemed to be a long time. She was obviously thinking about something and none of the others wanted to interrupt that process. Just as Spot was about to offer more advice Cadpig suddenly bounded up and hugged her. "Spot!" She said, finally releasing her grip, "You're a genius!" She stopped at Lucky and Rolly and gave each of them a hug too. Then she bounded off toward the house to tell her Father, leaving her friends in a confused stupor. "Well," said Spot, shaking her head, "She certainly took to that Idea well." * * * The next day, Cadpig, Spot, and Pongo stood under a shady tree. In the background, all the other pups are watching, interested to see how she does. Spot was holding a Frisbee not made out of plastic, so when Cadpig catches it won't carry her and she won't hit the wall. In Spot's other hand, she held a normal Frisbee for Pongo to use. "Ok, Caddy," Pongo said, " Your catch was really good. However, if you want to be more impressive, I'll teach you a few tricks. What d'ya say?" "YESS!" said Cadpig, pumping her fore-paw down. "Ok," Pongo continued, smiling at her enthusiasm, "The first one is the vault. Hmmm, we'll need Roger for this." He looks around, and seeing Roger, grabs the plastic Frisbee from Spot and runs up to him barking excitedly. "What is it, boy?" Roger asks playfully. Seeing the Frisbee in Pongo's mouth, Roger understands what his dog wants and takes it. "Oh, all right. Here ya go!" Roger throws the Frisbee straight into the air above his head, and leans back. Pongo barks, runs forward, and jumps on Roger's chest. He quickly vaults into the air, grabs the Frisbee in his mouth, and lands on the ground next to Roger. "Good catch, boy!" Roger tussles the fur on Pongo's head, and takes the Frisbee. "Now, Cadpig," Pongo barks to his daughter, "This one is hard..." Cadpig is not listening however, for she is running towards Roger, barking wildly. Roger grins, picks up her Frisbee, and throws it. Anita, hearing all the barking, steps through the kitchen door and out next to Roger just as he threw Cadpig's Frisbee. Cadpig rockets after it as it's thrown, but instead of jumping up onto Roger as Pongo had shown her, she notices that her disk has drifted to the left and makes her vault off an unsuspecting Anita. "Argh! Cadpig!" Anita exclaims as the pup jumps from her chest. Cadpig leaps from Anita, and vaults *onto* the passing Frisbee. As before, it does not fall, but Cadpig rides on top of it, her ears blowing back in the wind. She yips happily and smiles as rides the Frisbee by her audience. The Frisbee finally glides to a halt in front of Pongo, Perdita, Spot, Roger, Anita, Lucky, Rolly, Mooch, Tripod, Patch and Two-Tone. Cadpig leaps off and grins. The audience stares in bewilderment, and after a moment's silence breaks out into loud, raucous applause. Cadpig walked toward Spot, Lucky, Rolly, Two-Tone, and Tripod. Two- Tone was wearing a look of disgust and envy. Tripod's mouth was hanging open. Rolly's eyes were bulging. Lucky looked stunned, and Spot was standing with her wings spread apart in joy. "Cadpig, that was fantastic!" Spot said, hugging her friend. Cadpig embraced her back and thanked her, then turned to Lucky. "Now what do you think about your *little* sister, Hmmm?" Cadpig asked, grinning widely. "I - think - that - was - amazing! Cadpig, you were brilliant!" Lucky said, giving Caddy a high five. "Wow, Cadpig, that musta took TONS of practice!" Tripod said, giving his little sister a pat on the back. Cadpig smiled, and she and the other four puppies and Spot the chicken began to talk excitedly. For the first time, Tripod acted like he was enjoyed himself in their company. Lucky told them all a joke, and even though it wasn't really that funny they all laughed. All the dogs on the farm began to congregate around their little sister. They were all caught up in the joy and enthusiasm of the days events and the talk had turned from Cadpig's impressive Frisbee catching skills to the pup's dreams, hopes and fears. They even began to talk about the secret crush she had when a loud clap of thunder startled them back to reality. "Wow. We'd better get back inside." Jewel said, starring at the black, menacing clouds in the sky above them. "I'll say..." Dipstick agreed wearily just as the rain began to fall and the wind gusted through. Nanny came rushing out of the house to the puppies in her raincoat, carrying one for Roger and Anita with her. "You all better get inside. All of you, into the barn!" She shooed at them all motherly while she handed the extra rain coats to Roger and Anita. Pongo and Perdy echoed her words with their own ordering barks to their puppies. The puppies scurried off and into the barn at a run. Anita, Roger and Nanny ran for the back porch off the kitchen. Pongo and Perdy waited for the last pup to vanish into the barn, then they too ran back towards the house. Not far from the house a bolt of lightning hit the ground. "Gosh," Anita said, shuddering at the cool breeze brought on by the summer storm, "We'd better get inside." Roger opened the door and they all entered the house and shut the door behind them. Perdita gave a worried glance to Pongo, who shrugged it off. "If the weather gets any worse, we'll go to the barn." He said, "But right now, you and I need some rest." Perdita looked lovingly at him, and the two adult Dalmatians headed into the living room to lay down on their dog beds and wait out the storm together with their pets. Another bolt of lightening flashed across the sky followed by a loud clap of thunder and the lights in the old farm house went out. "YELP!" cried someone as the thunder shook the house and darkness descended upon the room. Anita and Perdita both giggled as their mates practically jumped into each of their laps. Almost in unison they said, "Oh Roger." "Oh Pongo." The End. |
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