Puppy Padding

Running From The Past

Despite what Marshall often wondered about himself, he knew he was very far from stupid. He had been, ever since puppy school, a terribly smart pup. He couldn't help it. He had a gift when it came to books, and between his mother, a shared love of science. He understood the laws of science better than anyone, and had inherited his father's vat imagination, allowing him to create the impossible by understanding the possible. He had  keen understanding of the line in between.

Even if those laws didn't always agree with him.

None of the other pups knew how smart Marshall was. This was mainly because...he was smart enough to know he was insecure. He knew that, if anything, no one liked a know it all. And besides, how could they believe him? A pup of his ability, tripping and crashing, turning every object into a weapon of dread. What would he break next? Something the pups valued and cherished? He couldn't bear that!

So he kept his gift to himself, a comfort around him. He hadn't needed to use it yet, really. But there was a curse behind every blessing, a string always attached.  His intelligence had never really gotten him anywhere anyway. What was the point of possessing such a strong mind when it only seemed to get him in trouble?

Thus his nightmares. It was this gift that forced him to realize the sad truth- he needed diapers.

He was also, fortunately, smart enough to delete the order from Ryder's pup-pad when they came. No evidence. Hopefully.

Part of being clumsy also meant being forgetful...at times.

'He was standing on that stage again. AGAIN, he wondered how he'd gotten into this mess. His puppy-school classmates stared at him, judging, by the looks on their faces, that they expected nothing grand of him, nothing but another mess-up, another slip, trip, tumble into humiliation. While making jokes about it usually cooled thing down with the pups, it only made him more of a laughing stock at school.

He swallowed, and forced himself to start. "The laws of science. They're actually true. I can trust them." here was the part he looked Her right in the eye. "I can rely on them."

"Who cares?" She was always so loud. That was her only gift- the loudest mouth in pup-kind. Sure enough, there was laughter. Even for all his creativity and intelligence, Marshall couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why they all laughed along with her, when they could be standing together, bringing her down.

No one wanted to stand with him, though. Because he was the pup who was getting bullied. The ONLY pup in this school getting bullied. By ALL of them. It drove him nuts. 

He forced himself to continue, although he knew how this dream would go, and knew it always ended a little differently.

"Prepare to behold a death-defying feat!" He raised his paw to gesture to a large red ball be lowered from the ceiling. Obviously not taking him seriously, his classmates laughed some more. A boy near the back shouted; "Yeah, let's see it! Do us all a favor!"

Marshall eyed him. His creativity mixing with his smart made the little Dalmatian a force to be reckoned with. But, even he wasn't perfect and could think of no reason why he was the target of everyone in school. He knew why bullies did what they did. But what good did that do if knowing that didn't stop them?

He climbed up onto a three-step platform. "I trust these laws one hundred percent. So much so, that I'm willing to risk my very life to demonstrate." This ball was very heavy. If it hit him, he'd be knocked backwards into the stack of decorative blocks behind him, spelling out "Anything is PAW-sible! Tails of success! Cuddle Buddies dog-training rules!"

They weren't particularly heavy, but they were made of sturdy material. And Marshall knew himself well enough to know that a fall backwards into them and ultimately onto the floor would certainly HURT.