As Fido made his way to the abandoned house on the outskirts of town, his sense of smell picked up an alluring aroma. Stopping for a moment, he could tell that it was Ellie, except this time, she smelled different.
“It’s like she’s just come off of her heat” Freddy thought to himself, noticing his penis was not reacting to her scent this time around.
Just as he was composing his thoughts, Fido could hear a loud barking. He turned his head to see Ellie on the other side of a newly erected fence that separated Freddy’s house from their neighbors. Ellie continued to yelp at him, as Fido got nervous.
“Oh no” Freddy thought to himself. “I should be getting out of here.”
Before he could do so, however, the front door of the neighbor’s house opened widely and Bill, Ellie’s angry owner, stepped outside and spotted him standing on the street. He pointed his finger at Fido and began to lose his cool.
“You mangy mutt!” Bill yelled loudly at him. “I told you that if you ever came back here, I was calling the pound!”
As Fido was being scolded by the neighbor, the door to Freddy’s house opened and his parents came rushing out of the front door.
“What’s going on out here?” Freddy’s father asked Bill.
Freddy’s mother spotted Fido and gasped. She hadn’t seen him since Friday and was worried sick about him. She figured that he and Michael were off trying to break the curse, but evidently, with his return here now, she could tell that such efforts weren’t successful. She thought to bring him into the house to try to protect him from Bill, but hesitated in doing so.
As Freddy's mother continued to stare at Fido, Freddy’s father went over to talk to Bill.
“Why are you yelling so loudly, Bill?” Freddy’s father asked him calmly.
“I warned you about this, Dave!” Bill yelled in reply. “If I saw that mangy mutt one more time, then I was going to call the pound! This stray impregnated my precious Ellie and I wanted him out of here for good. He came back again, so now I’m going to call the pound!”
“Wait, Bill. Maybe we can talk this over like rational adults. It’s not like we brought him into our backyard. He was just passing through. Maybe we should just let him go wander off again.”
“Oh no you don’t. That dog needs to be taken care of once and for all. I will not have a big, menacing stray roaming around this neighborhood unsupervised. That dog is going to get euthanized so we can be rid of him once and for all.”
As Bill argued with Freddy’s father, Fido tried to make his way back to continue his mission of finding Michael and Sofya. Before he could do so, however, he became distracted by a yelling coming from inside of Freddy’s house.
“Fido!” Josh yelled, as he ran out of the house and onto the street where the dog stood. “Fido! I knew you’d come back boy!”
"Oh no" Freddy thought to himself.
Josh gripped Fido tightly, who tried to resist his brother’s grasp, to no avail. Josh started to pet and play with Fido, as the dog became increasingly agitated and distracted by the various noises coming from his family and his neighbor. While Bill and Freddy’s father argued, another man came out the front door of Bill’s house.
“What’s going on out here?” a man asked Bill calmly.
“Mark!” Bill replied to him in anger. “That mangy mutt who knocked up our precious Ellie is back again! I’m calling the pound!”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea” Freddy’s father replied, hesitantly.
“He’s right, Bill” Mark added nervously. “Maybe we should just let the dog go.”
“No Mark!” Bill boomed. “If we just ‘let the dog go’ as you say we should, then he’s just going to keep coming back here and knocking up all the bitches in the neighborhood. He must be stopped. The pound will take care of this.”
“But Bill, let’s try to be reasonable here. It’s not so bad. Ellie will have some very beautiful puppies in her litter.”
“They’re going to be mixed breed! No one is going to want them, Mark!”
“Honey, listen, maybe we should have spayed Ellie when we had the chance. It’s not the dog’s fault that he’s attracted to her. After Ellie gives birth, let’s just take care of it so it doesn’t happen again. Perhaps we can find a home for the puppies and the stray so he’s not wandering around the neighborhood anymore.”
“No Mark!”
“Listen to your husband, Bill” Freddy’s father said insistently. “He’s being a lot smarter about this than you are.”
“Why I ought to….”
“Bill” Mark called to him, as he gripped his shoulder, hoping to avoid a physical confrontation.
As Freddy’s mother stood by the front door and watched her husband verbally go at it with the neighbors and Josh continued to pet an increasingly anxious Fido, Ellie began surveying the fence and looking for a weak point. Spotting a dent in the side of the newly erected fence, Ellie ran back for a moment and then pushed her way into the fence, knocking it over. This caused Bill, Mark and Freddy’s father to yelp and jump back in shock. Ellie, with her tail happily wagging and her mouth panting rapidly, ran to an extremely nervous Fido and began to lick his face. Josh stood back in surprise, as he watched a happy Ellie reunite with Fido.
"Woah, Fido" Josh said to him. "I didn't know that Ellie was your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend" Freddy thought to himself, as Fido tried to stop Ellie's persistent licking.
“Ellie!” Bill yelled, as he ran over to her.
“Wait Bill” Mark called out, as he ran to get him.
“See” Freddy’s father called to them, as they ran to the street. “I told you Ellie destroyed your last fence. Fido didn’t do it.”
Fido had a split second decision to make. He could either stay and face an uncertain future or he could ask Ellie to run with him to help find Michael and Sofya. Knowing pretty quickly what needed to be done, Fido barked at Ellie to tell her to stop licking him and that she needed to come with him immediately. Without hesitation, Ellie barked in agreement and the two dogs began to make their way from their respective houses.
“Wait Ellie!” Bill called to her, as she bolted with Fido off into the distance.
After a few seconds of running, Bill stopped to catch his breath, as his husband, Mark, caught up along side him.
“Come back inside, Bill” Mark said, as he placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.
“Fido!” Josh screamed, as he ran to where Bill stood.
“Great going, Bill” Freddy’s father said, as he approached them slowly.
“This is your fault!” Bill yelled at Freddy’s father, with an accusatory tone. “Your mangy mutt made off with my precious Ellie to do God knows what! You’re going to pay for this, as soon as I can reach the pound!”
“No!” Josh yelled, as he went to grab Bill’s leg, who proceeded to kick him off and force him onto the pavement below.
“Get off of me, young man!” Bill scowled at Josh.
"Bill!" Freddy's father yelled to him. "Don't you dare kick my son!"
"Well tell that bratty child of yours to stop grabbing on to things that don't belong to him" Bill sneered in return. "Maybe he wouldn't have such issues at school if he was better behaved."
Freddy’s mother came to comfort a crying Josh, as Freddy’s father rushed to a now sprinting Bill to try to reason with him.
“Let’s try to be reasonable here, Bill.”
“No!” Bill snapped back, as he stopped short and turned to face Freddy’s father, with a bloody red face.
Freddy’s father stood in silence, as Bill stormed back into his house, observing the damage that Ellie made to his new fence on the way. Mark went after him, trying to reason with his husband, before they slammed the front door of their home shut behind them. Freddy’s father stood agape looking at the damaged fence, while his wife and child came up to him.
“Daddy!” Josh yelled to his father. “Don’t let him call the pound on Fido! They’ll kill him! Fido doesn't deserve to die!”
Freddy’s father stood in silence, as his wife tried to think of something to say to lighten the mood.
“Honey” Freddy’s mother said calmly, as she tried to turn her husband back to their house. “Let’s go back inside and come up with a plan for how to help Fre...I mean, Fido.”
“We should go to the pound!” Josh yelled, as they made their way back into the house. “Get there before they have a chance to euthanize Fido!”
“He may have a point, honey” Freddy’s father said to his wife, before they entered their house. “If Bill is serious about fetching the pound on Fido, then they probably will find him in no time at all. We should wait at the pound just in case Fido is kidnapped so we can try to claim him and save him from euthanasia."
“Good idea” Freddy’s mother replied. “I’ll go get ready.”
Freddy’s family made their way into the house and prepared themselves to leave. In a hurry, they managed to get to the car and quickly drove off from their driveway for the pound in town. Although he wasn’t likely to be there just yet, they figured it wouldn’t be long until Fido was picked up by the dog catchers and brought to their kennels. They wanted to be there waiting for him when this occurred.
Meanwhile……