Megalophobia

Chapter 1

It was a sunny mid-September day and the PAW Patrol just got back from rescuing Alex down from a tree he climbed while trying to free his kite. As usual, Chase and Skye were needed, with some help from Marshall at the end. Ryder and the pups were glad to be back at the lookout. Well, mostly Skye was. Her, Chase, and Ryder had to use a gravel road to get to Alex quicker. Down this gravel road was a line of H-frame transmission poles that had wires going overhead above the road. Skye wasn't a fan of H-frame transmission poles and never was since she went out for a jog down the same gravel road and saw the same tall structure for the first time in a few months. Ever since the tall structure was right in front of her, she started to hyperventilate and jogged all the way back home. She realized that she had megalophobia, which was the fear of big objects. She tried to conquer her fear by going back down the same road but didn't get very far. So the next time she went down the gravel road, she took the long way around instead of following Chase and Ryder. The two noticed this and wondered why she did that. After a few minutes of winding down, Ryder went down to Skye's puphouse to see her. To his surprise she wasn't there. He was about to go to Chase's puphouse to ask where she was but instead found Skye.

"Hey, Skye?" He asked.

Ryder's voice made Skye jump and drop something that he was holding and turned around to see who it was that spoke to her. She was relieved to find out that it was Ryder.

"Oh. It's only you, Ryder." The cockapoo said in a relieved manner.

"Um, What are you doing in Chase's puphouse?" The ten-year-old asked in confusion.

"Uh, nothing!" She quickly answered, forcing a smile and standing up straight.

"Well, can I see you for a second?" He asked.

"Oh, sure, Ryder." She replied, stepping out of the German Shepherd's puphouse and followed Ryder into the observatory. Ryder then turned to face the cockapoo.

"What did you want to talk about, Ryder?" Skye asked.

"I've seen you stop following me and start to go your own way once we get on that gravel road right before we go past those tall transmission poles, why is that?" He asked curiously.

Skye could feel her body tense up after hearing that question. She knew Ryder would start to question her about that sooner or later. She started to make up excuses..

"Well, uh, you see, Ryder," She stammered. "Once we get to that point of the road, I, uh, prefer to go the rest of the way on my own. You know, for peace and quiet." She explained, hoping that he would believe it.

"That's it? You wanted peace and quiet?" He asked again. Skye only nodded, hoping that Ryder would believe her.

"Well, okay then. But I prefer it if we get there as a group. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Now remember, Skye, I'm always here if you need someone to talk to."

"I know." She said before backing up into the elevator. As she got into the elevator, the glass doors shut and down it went.

'Phew! That was a close one. I can't let Ryder or anyone else know why I've been avoiding those transmission poles.' She thought to herself.

When the elevator reached the bottom, the glass doors opened and Skye was met with an unamused Chase.

"Can I help you?" Skye asked casually. Chase only laughed a little.

"I need to see you in my puphouse. I need to show you something." He said firmly as he made his way to his puphouse. Skye followed timidly behind.

'Oh no.' She thought.

She knew Chase had found out what she had done and was willing to address it.