PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XX Part I

Sparky sighed, pretending to wipe sweat from his brow. By now, he had a huge bundle of twigs and sticks carried like a football under his left arm. He felt a crick in his back from bending down so many times in a row and arched his body to clear the stiffness before the strain intensified. He could feel sparks flying from his spine as the muscles stopped feeling so sore.

Sparky turned towards his companion, Rover, then towards the midday sky. They had been pulled from school nearly the exact same time as yesterday, and they weren't going to be leaving Coco's anytime soon from the looks of things. "I just hope Mitt's right in assuming he's coming after us, and not any other dog..." he said to himself, idly.

Rover's tail wagged once as he picked up a particularly large piece of branch, stowing it in his right paw before turning to the husky. "Is this one too big?" he asked.

"Don't worry, we can chop it in half. Good find Rover," Sparky said, shutting his eyes and smiling pridefully.

Rover just gave the barest hint of a smirk, almost blushing from the praise.

"Let's get back to Coco's. It's been a little while; I don't want Mitt getting mad we've been gone for too long."

And just as suddenly, the smirk left the terrier's face, to be replaced by a fearful frown.

"Or... we can stay out here more?" Sparky said, sweating from the change in Rover's mood.

"No, I want to go back. It's... really scary out here actually." Rover rubbed the back of his head, scratching at the base of one of his pointed ears as he turned to Sparky. "Even if we're..." he paused, letting loose a half-hearted chuckle and gestured towards the estate, "right outside of it."

The husky frowned and shut his eyes. "... I'm sorry. I thought you'd enjoy a walk. It's stupid for us to be doing this anyways, we're-"

Sparky's eyes jolted open, only to be met with Rover's paw waving about for attention right in front of his muzzle.

"No, captain, it's fine... I needed the time to think."

Sparky frowned, letting his body adopt some slack, but ensuring not to drop the firewood. "I'm sorry," he sighed.

Rover stood still for a moment. It was only then that Sparky heard the whooshing of his tail and realized the terrier was letting it wag.

"I mean-" the husky groaned, clenching his fists and finding the courage to say what was on his mind. "I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark. I had a bunch of reasons not to tell anyone else, but, I didn't realize I was betraying your trust. I'm really, really sorry."

Rover smiled, chuckling lightheartedly. "I-It's okay! I'm just uh..." Rover's ears sagged, and his face grew with worry; for once, it seemed like he held back on his words, leaving his mouth ajar.

Sparky crossed his left arm over to his right, placing his paw on the bundle of sticks as he re-adjusted them. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Rover began, forcing a smile, "it's fine, I'm just- I understand why you didn't tell me."

Sparky frowned, a tear growing in the corner of his eyes.

"I mean, I'm just so stupid half the time. I have to try really hard to not just constantly blab about everything." He looked up to his friend, mouthing something before continuing, "And like, most of the time I'm fine, but I just annoy people with the stuff I talk about. I lost a bunch of friends in elementary because I just wouldn't shut up about all the cool stuff there is to do! Like, when I figured out how to use phones, I'd call my friends in the middle of the night just to talk to them about how dumb class was, or something!" Rover said, throwing his paws up in exasperation at his old self.

Sparky let a single bead of sweat run down his forehead but politely smiled and waited for the rambling to come to a natural end.

"Oh, oh! But, like, I met this cool dog the other day when we were doing the school thing! He's like, really smart and stuff, but he doesn't like talking, yeah?" Rover's paws painted a picture of his enthusiasm as they swished their way about in the air, his features glowing with sudden energy. "And I kept on bugging him, but, it kinda worked? I dunno he just kinda listened to me for a while at lunch."

"Heh, that's great Rover."

"Yeah! He already ate his lunch, and didn't have any money, so I just found him going through the trash. It was kinda cool not having the janitor come over and tell us to stop." Rover sighed, putting his paws on his hips in fond remembrance of the freedom he felt. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and Sparky could practically feel Rover's heart wringing itself of joy. "O-Oh sorry," he tittered, "I d-did it again..." He let his arms sink to his side as his gaze fell towards the floor and away from Sparky. "I'm just trying to say that I like talking... a lot. I'm really sorry for being annoying, and I'm really trying to calm down with it, but... it just feels like I can't do it."

"Rover..." Sparky muttered, his voice sounded raspy and pained like he was tired.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" the terrier exclaimed, immediately apologizing after hearing his captain's voice, "I know I'm being stupid and sad about all this stuff..." He shifted his eyes about, craning his head downward so he could avoid Sparky's undoubtedly judging gaze. "I don't want to stop being friends with you Sparky, I'm super sorry I'm even bringing this up. I... I just wish I was more like you; you have so many trophies, you're so nice to people, and you're really smart! You don't say the dumb stuff that I do..."

Rover squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't believe he had said all that, and both the fear of telling his captain how he felt and the fear of rambling about it endlessly hit him at once. He violently shook as a gust of wind picked up, and he slowly levelled his gaze to meet the husky's. He reflected on how silent the dog had been and scrunched his face in preparation for the disappointing reassurance he'd surely receive.

"I'm sorry for being so annoying."