A Trip to the Dark Side Final Chapter

 

 

 Willie, Chelsea Smoochy, and I entered the dark side to rescue Spencer, a friend of Willie's incorrectly assigned there.  The dark angels immediately captured us, but a quick-thinking Ashton saved us, and in turn, we saved all the dogs sent there, including Spencer.  As we tried to leave, squirrels of unusual size stopped us.  The only way out was through them.  We charged.

Usually, I would bet on dogs in any fight with squirrels, but only the pups in my raiding party were battle-ready.  Their captors had neglected the rescued angels for their entire time at the Bridge, and, while their spirit was willing, they did not have the stamina to battle giant, armor-wearing tree rats.

Also, the squirrels were angry and armed.  I never thought about how we treated them on the mortal side, but all that chasing and occasional killing made these angels angry.  Now that they were the larger species, they were intent on revenge.

Chelsea and I, being the smallest in our group, had the most success.  The squirrels' armor did not reach their paws, and we were able to sneak under their armor and bite their ankles, but it only did minimal damage, and the tree rats quickly kicked us away.  

I sent the rescue dogs to the rear, and Smoochy, Chelsea, Willie, and I huddled together, desperately trying to form a plan.  Unfortunately,  when one of us conceived a plan, two others would point out its flaws.  The situation became direr when the squirrels began hurling their nuts at us.  We retreated further into the darkness, our only hope being the squirrels would tire, and we could slip [past.

Truthfully, I didn't think we would ever escape, but I had forgotten the founding rule of the Bridge:  Good always triumphs over evil, even in the darkest circumstances.  

I had left a note for Pocket explaining where we were going.  When we did not return, Pocket gathered the Tanner Brigade, a highly-trained branch of the Doggyspace army, and they bravely marched to the dark side and entered where few dogs had gone before.

Pocket is not a fighter; she is too gentle for that.  But, the Powers that Be blessed her with cleverness.  Having heard rumors about the Squirrels of Unusual Size and knowing even the Brigade would have difficulty challenging them, she bought bags of pecans along the way.  Once in the darkness, she commanded the Brigade to create a distraction by howling near the entrance.  Like moths to a flame, the squirrels rushed to the sound.  That allowed Pocket, along with Lily, Paco, and Cassie, to slip by the squirrels with the pecans.  When they reached the cells, they dumped the nuts on the floor and whistled.  The Brigade retreated, and the squirrels smelled the food.  They hurried towards it, and once inside the cell, Cassie slammed the doors shut, locking the squirrels inside with nothing but their nuts.

With their security force stuck in cells licking their nuts, the dark angels dared not challenge the Brigade as we made our escape accompanied by the dogs we saved from the darkness.

When we were back in the light, we reunited Spencer with his family and found homes for all the unfairly jailed dogs. Finally, Pocket and I settled into bed to sleep. However, Pocket excitedly and repeatedly recounted the day's events until I finally broke down and not only said I was proud of her but thanked her.