Walk The Dog

The stylus ran back and forth across the screen as Dan rubbed the datsun’s stomach. The dog wagged its tail, its large, round eyes staring at Dan lovingly. Then, the food icon popped up in the corner as Bruiser’s face appeared. The boxer wagged its tail as Dan touched the stylus to the food icon. Bruiser bounded to the red food dish and quickly ate. Before Dan could check on the datsun, a hard object whapped him in the head.

Dan put looked up from his Nintendo DS to see a bubble-gum chewing girl his age holding the weapon, a yo-yo, and laughing at him. He slammed the DS shut before standing, saying, “What are you doing?”

“Sorry. I was just trying to walk the dog,” she said, attempting to stop her laughter.

“Look, loser-face, you don’t even have a dog.” He held up his DS. “I have six.”

The girl laughed even harder at him, now pointing her finger at his face.

“Who plays with a Game Boy at the park? Why don’t you go home and sit on your couch?”

Dan glared at her, using the most imperious glare he knew. “First, this is not a Game Boy. This is a Nintendo DS, the number-one-selling-system of last year, far past the Wii, X-Box 360, and Playstation 3. And as for the park, everyone has a right to be at the park. And, I am not here to babysit my cousins, making thirty bucks. What are you doing here?”

The girl smiled, something menacing in her glance as she blew a large, pink bubble. It popped, and she gathered it back in her mouth. “I’m here because my parents are helping lead the protest on the other side of the park.”

Dan’s mind was blank. He glanced at the far side of the park where picketers were beginning to gather. This girl would not get the last word. He had to come up with something. He scowled as he stated, “You’re lying.”

“Normally, they make me stay home, but today they decided that since I’m now thirteen, I’m old enough to see a protest...” She paused as she swung her yo-yo and snapped it back into her hand, raising a challenging eyebrow.

“Protests are lame,” he said.

“So are you,” she answered.

With a scowl, Dan sat back on the bench and opened up his DS. The protestors were beginning to yell now. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but there was something scary about it. Not as if he would admit it. The girl stood in front of him, watching as the protestors assembled for a march. Maybe this was a good time to leave.

He shut the DS and looked at his cousins and saw them climbing over the jungle gym still. Matt pushed Katy off, and Katy began crying. Dan slumped on the bench. He’d go get them, but the two of them never listened to him. They always kicked him in the shins, and then locked him out of the house. Fortunately, he always carried candy to bribe them. However, he had already used that to get them to stay in the park and not wander off.

With a grimace, Dan put the DS in its neoprene case and slipped it into the pocket of his cargo shorts. It had to be done. He crossed the sidewalk and yelled, “Matt! Katy! It’s time to go!”

Katy kept bawling while Matt ignored him. Dan stood with his hands on his hips. Why didn’t they ever listen to him?

“If you don’t come right now, I’m going to tell your mom!” he yelled.

“Yeah? Then we’ll tell her about the candy!” Matt yelled back.

The girl with the yo-yo stood beside Dan, continuing to chew her gum loudly. She glanced at Dan before yelling, “Hey! Matt and Katy, if you come here, I’ll show you some tricks with my yo-yo.”

“They’re not going to care about your stupid yo-yo,” Dan grunted.

“Shut up. Everyone loves yo-yos.”

Matt and Katy sprinted across the sand and up to the girl with the yo-yo. Matt put his hands on his hips and said, “So, what’s this trick?”

“It’s called Walk the Dog,” she explained. Within seconds, she swung the yo-yo out, letting it roll across the cement, before snapping it back into her hand. Matt and Katy stood with their mouths gaping open in awe. When Dan had shown them his trick in Super Mario World, they had said it was lame and then had thrown the couch pillows at him. It was highly unfair.

“Now, if you go home with your cousin, next time I see you, I’ll show you some more tricks.”

Dan folded his arms. He would not thank her, though he was Matt and Katy were now tugging on him, whining to go.

“You’re not getting my money,” Dan said, folding his arms.

“Whatever,” she retorted. “Money is not going to exist in ten years.”

Dan stared at her before stating, “You’re weird. What are your parents protesting against anyways? Dairy products?”

“No,” she said, rolling her eyes. With a twitch of her head, she explained, “They’re protesting against making soldiers into cyborgs.”

“Cyborg soldiers!” Dan exclaimed. “Cool! It’d be like Robo-Cop, or Star Trek.”

The girl stood chewing her gum, giving Dan a quizzical glance that only a thirteen-year-old could give. She opened her mouth to speak, when the sound of a gun shot boomed through the air.

The four children stood silently as they turned to stare at the scattering protestors. Men and women had red liquid splattered on their clothes, running down their bodies. Then, four teenage boys in paint-gun gear ran in, chasing after them. Behind the boys were the police. Within seconds, a German shepherd had one of the teenage boys pinned down to the ground, slobbering into his face.

Dan started laughing at the teenager being hand-cuffed, when he saw the girl’s worried face staring at her parents running.

He took his two cousins by the hand, and said, “Well, I hope your parents have some good paint cleaner at home. Bye.”

As Matt and Katy turned back to glance at the protestors, Dan continued watching, thinking of how he’d write about this on his MySpace page that night. First, however, he needed to make sure his Nintendogs were all right. He had forgotten to save the game because of that lame girl.