SWNOVELS Chapter Part 11
(Kurai)
After whatever in the heck that was yesterday… Arashi is still hanging around, rather close to my mom. I’m sort of annoyed, now. I wanted him to come home so I could have a father, but he’s mostly just interested in my mom right now.
Well, just two challenges remain before Christmas! I wake up nice and early. Arashi isn’t even awake yet! He’s snuggled up with my mom.
I walk past him and he wakes up. He yawns and blinks sleepily. Hmmm, rough night, dad? He wouldn’t stay off my mom last night and she just allowed it. How weird. I’m not so sure I like this new change of heart anymore.
“The beautiful Kurai,” Arashi says, grinning.
“Hi, dad,” I say.
“My apologies if I kept you up last night,” Arashi says. “I maaaay have gotten a little carried away.”
“Yeah,” I say.
“You aren’t so happy to see me anymore? Hmmm, if only I could make it up to you,” Arashi says.
“Well, I’m going to go hang out with Cheese. I don’t care,” I say with a huff. Secretly, I do care. I’m annoyed.
“You can’t. I ate Cheese,” Arashi says, grinning evilly.
“WHAT?!” I scream.
“Just kidding,” Arashi says. “I know better than to eat other animals.”
Cheese appears from around the corner. Was she in on the joke??? I rush to greet her. She laughs as I lick her so hard she falls over.
“Oh thank goodness you’re alive, Cheese!” I exclaim.
“Hah hah hah! Are you ready for day 11?!” Cheese asks.
“Yes, please!” I say.
“Okay, day 11 is 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a-milking, 7 swans a-swimming, 6 geese a-laying, fiiiiiiive goooldeeeennn riiiiiings! Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree!” Cheese sings.
Man, that song keeps getting longer! Luckily, tomorrow is the last day. Imagine if the song KEPT going! Can you even imagine having to memorize the entire list?!
“Okay, pipers piping…would sandpipers fit that description?” I ask.
“Uhhhh, sure. It’d be nice and easy for you that way,” Cheese says and shrugs her shoulders.
Sandpipers aren’t very large. I hear a lot of them live in beachside houses. They are a sandy orange color with white bellies. As to how I’m going to get all the way to the beach…uhhh…
“What ever happened to the corgis?” Arashi asks.
“What do you think happened to them?” I ask, casually licking my fluffy fur.
“Kurai! What’s fun at the beach without a beach ball? Well, looks like I’ve got one!” Foxy exclaims, pointing a paw at me.
“Hah hah! Roll me away!” I exclaim.
WHEEEE! Off to the beach I go! The beach is much, much, further away. The trip out to the beach is going to take quite awhile. At the very least, Foxy is having a lot of fun.
Christmas is nearly here, I can almost taste it! In a way, I already have. The ten days I’ve already eaten were mostly tasty. Eating the metallic golden rings? Not so much.
At last, after a looooong time of rolling, we made it to the beach! The sun sets faster this time of year so it’s already getting late. In the little houses scattered about the seashore lives the sea birds. I just need to find and swallow eleven sandpipers.
“Hmmm, I see plenty of seagulls,” Foxy comments.
“Yeah, but a seagull isn’t a piper…unless they have pipes and are playing them?” I suggest.
“Not a chance,” Foxy replies.
As I examine the situation further, I begin to single out the sandpipers from amongst all the other sea birds. Foxy watches me carefully in case I need help. It’s kind of hard being stealthy as, not only do I have pure black fur in the snowy wonderland, but my stubby legs have trouble balancing under the weight of my chubby belly. I’m not one to quit, so I move as carefully as I can.
Closer and closer I stalk. The birds begin to holler, wondering why I’m in such a threatening pose. Wah-bam! I pounce on my first sandpiper and swallow it down. The others begin to run swiftly away. Why not fly? They have wings!
I continue the hunt, trying to keep up with my fleeing prey. One after another, the pipers’ piping is interrupted by me gobbling them. Catching them gets harder and harder, of course. Now that the sea birds are aware that I am a threat, the bigger ones are swooping and pecking me.
“Nice going, Kurai,” a pelican says with a wink.
“Thanks!” I say.
Well, all the bigger sea birds aside from the pelican. She watches me enviously. Pelicans are well known to swallow things whole and I bet she often daydreams about swallowing up the noisy little birds. Perhaps I have provided some entertainment with my stunt.
Ahhh, but now I have eaten ten sandpipers. Where is that eleventh one I had seen earlier? As I am looking around in confusion, the pelican approaches. She opens her bill and practically hands me my eleventh sandpiper.
“Good riddance. Those blasted pipers have been piping whenever I try to sleep,” the pelican says. “You’re a hero!”
“Hah hah, thanks!” I say, swallowing the sandpiper.
There we go, second to last task complete! Eleven pipers are piping in my belly! The pelican pats my back with a wing before strutting away. Foxy then takes over, rolling me back up the slope away from the beach.
“That was fun! Just one more day and the challenge will be complete!” I say.
“And apparently you’re a hero, too! At least, the pelican seems to think so,” Foxy comments.
“I know, right?” I reply.
We arrive home and, much to my surprise, Arashi ISN’T atop my mother. Instead, he’s warming up some bread rolls and buns in the kitchen. Mmmm… Despite having swallowed 11 sandpipers, the smell of warm bread makes me drool. Arashi turns to face me and smiles.
“Heya, Kurai! Your mother put me to work today,” Arashi says.
“Those bread rolls smell soooooo good!” I exclaim, wagging my tail.
“Mmm yeah!” Foxy agrees.
“Oh! You’ve returned!” my mom says, noticing me.
“Where’s Cheese?” I ask.
“I ate her,” Arashi lies again and bursts out laughing.
“That’s not funny!” I complain.
“I’m here, don’t worry!” Cheese says.
“Look! Eleven pipers piping!” I say, motioning towards my belly with my nose.
“Congrats, Kurai!” Cheese cheers.
(Suisen)
What a night! Man, I sure hope my daughter doesn’t hate me! I gave her what she wanted, a “father”, even though that’s NOT her father. In a way, I got what I wanted, as well.
Well, I woke up late and Kurai was already gone. She’s off to her usual murder… Well, Arashi is still here! He greets me with a lick when I arise.
“Good morning, Arashi,” I say, returning the favor.
“Aside from that mouse, we have the place all to ourselves again~!” Arashi says. “We could do anything!”
“Oh, I know EXACTLY what I want to do today!” I say, laughing teasingly.
“Oooohhhh!” Arashi says.
“Let’s cook some bread rolls!” I say.
“Oh. Not what I was expecting, but…sure. Why not?” Arashi says.
“First things first, we need to make some dough,” I instruct.
“Okay, teach me how to do that,” Arashi says, realizing he’s not going to get the other thing that he literally got all night.
If he’s willing to learn, I’ll teach him. Hey, that actually gives me an idea… Maybe a bakery would hire me! Carefully, I list some ingredients and he fetches them. Dogs do love fetch, after all.
Carefully, we add the ingredients together. Then? We each stick a paw into the bowl and mix the dough. Mix it around…mush it, flip it, mix it around a bit more…try not to sample the raw dough while folding it… Ah, the secret ingredient, a bit of fur!
“Mmm, now what?” Arashi asks.
“We set it aside so the yeast can feast,” I say.
“What?! But, I thought WE were gonna eat it! Why should the yeast eat it?!” Arashi asks.
“The bread won’t rise otherwise,” I explain.
“Fine…what should we do in the meantime?” Arashi asks.
Wow, he really wants it, doesn’t he? I sigh and stare at him. I’mma kick him out soon if he can’t control himself. He closes his mouth and sits straight, not wanting to look too eager.
“Maybe a quick round…” I say, teasingly flicking him with my tail.
“Okay! Thanks!” Arashi exclaims.
We may have put buns in the oven as well as the bread rolls. Anyhow, many hours later, the rolled dough was baked to perfection. I let Arashi handle it from there and took a break. Apparently Kurai came home while I was resting. Also, the whole time we were baking, Cheese was hanging around and making random comments (she did leave when we needed some privacy).
“Oh! You’ve returned!” I exclaim when I walk into the kitchen and see Kurai with Arashi.
“Where’s Cheese?” Kurai asks.
“I ate her,” Arashi jokes with a laugh.
“That’s not funny!” Kurai whines in response.
“I’m here, don’t worry!” Cheese says, entering the kitchen.
“Look! Eleven pipers piping!” Kurai says and thrusts her head at her stomach.
“Congrats, Kurai!” Cheese cheers.
“Ugh… At least tomorrow is the final day… I have had enough of this nonsense… It’s not cute OR funny!” I exclaim.