It was an absolute blessing for Eren to have Lillian and Bucky help distract him from the situation at hand. There was something about their nature and interaction with one another that seemed so pure and innocent, Eren wanted to protect that the best he could.
As the night wound down from playing to snuggling, Eren knew it was time to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day even if everything went well.
“Daddeh, can Wiwwian and Bucky sweep in da daddeh bedsie again?” Lillian asks Eren with pleading eyes, Bucky standing behind her with an equally pitiful gaze.
Sighing heavily as he places the pair into the large bed in the saferoom, Lillian setup on her bed and litterbox rail system, Eren says, “No, last night was special, remember? You two need to get comfortable sleeping in here.”
Carefully placing a fuzzy blanket over the pair, “Besides, I’m just next door. I’ll even leave the door open so I can hear you.”
A hint of sadness in his voice, Bucky replies, “Otay daddeh. Wiww twy, just wuv daddeh sooooo much.” as he snuggles in next to Lillian.
“I love the two of you too. I’ll see you in the morning.” Eren said as he dimmed the lights in the saferoom. As he turned off the lights to his room and climbed into bed he could make out a couple voices speaking quietly, “Wiwwian wuv Bucky, fank yu fow bein fwiend.” and “Bucky wuv Wiwwian tu.”
.
…
…
….
……
After about five minutes of tossing and turning, fighting the urge to reach for his phone, Eren found himself walking back into the saferoom.
Bucky and Lillian look to see Eren’s silhouette and ask “Daddeh?”, “Am yu?”.
As he kneels down next to the pair their faces light up as Eren says, “Alright, come with me. Daddy needs more of your cuddles to sleep.” as he scoops them into his arms and carries them to bed.
Eren thinks to himself, “I guess this isn’t too bad of a habit, maybe I’ll try again next week.”
Jasper laid awake in his box, thankful that the sun was no longer beating its rays down, making it uncomfortably warm. Curled up in the corner, he kept replaying the events of the last week over and over again in his mind. Every decision he made, if it had been right or wrong, and how he would face everything again knowing what he knew now.
It was a lot for a little fluffy’s mind to handle but he pushed through the headaches as they popped up, only stopping to eat, drink, or nap when it became too much.
As he woke up from one of these naps he noticed that everything was now very dark. Tears flowed as he was startled at every unknown sound and it wasn’t until he focused his mind back on the task at hand that it relented.
“Daddeh fink Jaspeh can stiww be gud fwuffy, but don’t knu hao tu stop be am smawtie.” he thought to himself.
His last engagement with Eren had caught him completely off guard, he thought all was lost so he was open and vulnerable. That alone may have been what saved his life, even if he couldn’t fully grasp it.”
Pondering, “Daddeh nu wan gib Jaspeh foweveh sweepies eben if am was wowstest smartie, wowstest fwuffy.”
In the back of his mind he would still hear his mother’s voice scratching away, “Nu can twust hoomin, he jus wan tu huwt bestest babbeh befowe gib foweveh sweepies.”
Shaking away the thoughts, Jasper shouted out loud, “Nu! Daddeh sab Jaspeh an bestest bwutheh. Gib housie, gib namsie, gib sketties…”
The voice scratched away again, “Gib sowwy bawks.”
Sullen, he thinks to himself, “Nu, Jaspeh desewb sowwy bawks. Jaspeh gib sowwy bawks.”
It took several minutes to calm down, but focusing on what Eren had asked him to do helped. As his mind wandered from sketti, to babies, to a herd, and to whatever his heart desired he faded back to sleep. Even in his dreams his mind explored the possibilities and each time, it seemed to end at the same place. As he woke up, mental images of his father faded but he finally knew what he wanted more than anything else.
But that didn’t matter now. It was still dark, but a hint of light started peeking through. He puffed his cheeks, putting on a brave face, doing his best not to be startled by every noise.
Eren found himself waking up a bit earlier than normal, carefully slipping out of bed to leave the two fluffies undisturbed. Quietly moving down the hall he eventually parks himself in front of his laptop. As he sits down he opens his email to check to see if he got a reply to last night’s email.
Greetings Mr. Skia,
I just adopted a set of fluffies and one is almost certainly a smartie. Thankfully, he is still quite young and this is a new development so I was referred to your work by Ms. Julie Danfield at Happy Tomorrow’s Animal Shelter. I’ve looked over all the material that you currently have uploaded and think I have a basic understanding but wanted to reach out to see if you had any additional tips, comments, or suggestions.
Thank you,
Eren Franklin
Hello Mr Eren!
A young colt that’s showing smarty syndrome? How long have you had the youngster?
I find a star system does work on the younger foals especially during training, I also use it for my non smarty friends fluffies as it helps them keep up good habits and instills ‘all babbehs are good babbehs’. If you’d like you can swing by my home and foster center so we can show the lil guy what a good smarty is supposed to be like!
–
Skia’s foster home,
Skia L Diamon
As Eren finishes reading the message he sends a quick reply.
Thank you for the quick reply.
I’ve only had him a few days but he has shown some capability in self-introspection, to a surprisingly degree. I like the idea of the star system, but may have an idea to take it further.
Would next Monday be a good day for you to bring him by?
Thanks,
Eren Franklin
Satisfied, Eren closes the laptop and helps to the kitchen, turning on the electric kettle and dropping some toast in the toaster. As he waits for them to finish he steps into the garage and grabs some poster board, a sharpie, and an old pack of smiley face stickers.
After finishing breakfast and making a quick board, Eren checks in on the sleeping pair in the bed before going out onto the patio. As he approached the box he couldn’t hear anything, deep down it caused him to worry a bit.
Carefully, he opened the flaps on the box and was pleasantly surprised to see Jasper wake, safe and well. He noticed Jasper’s cheeks were puffed and eyes were struggling to adjust and open to the sudden light change, the fluff under them damp.
“Get back munsteh, Jaspeh gonna gib…Daddeh! Fank yu fow sabing Jaspeh!” Jasper exclaims before taking a moment to collect himself, lowering his gaze, “Sowwy, Jaspeh jus happy tu see daddeh ‘gain.”
Lifting Jasper out of the box and placing him on the patio, Eren sat next to him. “It’s ok, I’m happy to see you too. I hope you used the time to think about everything.”
Nodding slowly, “Jaspeh fink bout su many fings, knu did bad fings but nu knu why. Voicie say fings wike mommeh did, Jaspeh wuv mommeh….” looking up to Eren as he asks, “was mommah a bad fwuffy?”
Giving Jasper a scratch behind his ear, “I don’t know, but probably not…or at least didn’t mean to be. That’s part of why I want to help. Sometimes when you do bad things, it gets easier to do them again next time, even if you didn’t mean to in the beginning.”
“I’m hoping with just a little help you can avoid accidentally doing bad things and choose good things.” Eren paused a moment, before asking, “But I want you to tell me, what do you want? More than anything else.”
Jasper lays down as he speaks, eyes closed, “Jaspeh use finkie pwace aww dawk time. Knu wan sketties, wan babbehs, wan housie, wan Daddeh…wan hewd…but wan mos am tu be a gud smawtie fow hewd.”
Jasper looked up to see Eren looking back down at him, a soft smile to comfort him. “Well, I want that for you too. I want to train you to be the best smartie-friend you can be.”
With a hopeful look in his eye, “Weawwy?”
Nodding in agreement, “Yes, really. It isn’t going to be easy and it will be hard a lot of the time. And I know there will be good days and bad days, but I promise that as long as I see you trying that you will be safe.”
“Now, time to listen. For this to work there will be rules and expectations. Understand?” Eren asked Jasper.
Letting out a sigh of relief and to brace himself, Jasper nods, “Weady tu wisten.”
“First thing, you, Breeze, and Slater are in exile. That means that you all aren’t allowed in the house anymore and I won’t give you all any special treats or favors.” Eren says, Jasper looking up in disbelief, “That doesn’t mean it will stay like that, but I’ll talk about that in a moment.”
“Second, you’ll start your smartie-friend training and keep at it every day. If you do well with the lessons and I see you applying them then I will give you points.” Eren pulls out a sheet of the stickers, Jasper looking at the colorful assortment in interest, “and then you can use these points to trade for stuff.”
Tilting his head to the side, Jasper questions, “Wat can Jaspeh twade fow?”
Smiling brightly, “I’m glad you asked. You can use them to get extra food, spaghetti, blankets, pillows, a bigger area for your herd to play and live, or anything really…you just have to ask and I’ll come up with a price.”
Putting a hoof to his chin, Jasper says, “Jaspeh fink undehstand.”
Picking up and placing Jasper in his lap, Eren says, “Lastly, there are a few small things. No more calling yourself smartie, instead you are a smartie-friend or a leader. No one in your herd is to make demands. With the points, you all have the ability to earn what you want. Finally, you will need to protect and be responsible for your herd members. That means you can give them some of your points as a reward for doing a good job…but, if they do something bad, you have to tell me and we will talk and decide on their punishment together. If I find out you did something or knew about something someone else did and you hid it or lied to me then this could all be over.”
Pulling in Jasper to a hug as he continues, Eren says, “Please understand. I do love you and want the best for you, but this will be in your hands. You will have everything to gain and everything to lose. Don’t make me regret trusting in you. Understand?”
Tightly returning the hug with all of his strength, Jasper says, “Jaspeh du bes tu maek daddeh pwoud. Jasper wuv daddeh fow dis su su much…but Jaspeh am scawed.”
Gently patting Jasper’s rump, “It’s ok to be scared, that means you are worried about the decisions ahead of you. That can be good, you can use it to think really hard on important things.”
Eren rises to stand after Jasper hops off his lap, “Alright, smartie-friend-trainee Jasper. This area is your herd’s new land, your first task is to find a place to sleep at night and to find an area to make good pee and poops. While you are doing that I need to go get the other two so I can tell them the rules too.”
WIth a look of determination Jasper says, “Yus, daddeh.”, but before he can go a few steps Eren calls out for Jasper’s attention.
Placing a sticker on the poster board, “For doing a good job listening you get a point.”. Eren can see a look of joy cross Jasper’s face as he walks back inside.
It took a few minutes to collect Slater and Breeze, both requiring a bit of a clean up—Slater from not having the greatest aim in such low light situations and Breeze from stepping in his litter box in what can only be assumed to be him frantically hopping around looking for a way out.
Both seemed quite tired compared to Jasper and Eren didn’t say much as he cleaned them up and brought them out to the patio. As he placed them down Jasper came running over.
“Alright, for the last part of the punishment you will have to be in exile for now.” Eren says, “But at the end of the week you will be given a choice.”
With a look of confusion, Breeze asks, “Wat am exiwe?”
Eren motions to Jasper and once the two others look at him Jasper speaks, “Fwuffy hewd has been bad, da wowstest. Nao fwuffies nu hab housie, toysies, or tweats…an it am Jaspeh fauwt.”
Tears welling up in their eyes, Slater and Breeze look back and forth from Jasper to Eren several times.
As they are unable to get words out, Jasper continues, “But daddeh guing tu teach Jaspeh tu be gud smartie-fwiend and smartie-fwiend Jaspeh wiww teach hewd tu be gud fwuffies again. If hewd am gud fwuffies den eawn wew…we…wewawds!”
Giving a nod of approval, “Excellent work, Jasper. Have you completed your first task?”
Jasper takes several steps out into the yard and points a hoof at a set of bushes near the corner with an open space and a freshly dug shallow hole, conveniently located on the other side of the fence of the compost bins. “Dis am whewe hewd maek gud peepees and poopies.”
“Excellent choice.” Eren said, glad to see Jasper found the area he had set up in advance, “And where are you going to sleep at night?”
Jasper motions for Eren and the two colts to follow him over to the large doghouse. Using a hoof to bat at the doggy door, he says, “Fwuffies am use wittwe housie.”
Breeze and Slater tentatively enter the doghouse, letting out a “Dis am gud housie if nu can hab big housie.” As the doggy door closes behind them, Slater cries, “Eep! Tu dawkie, why meanie housie maek wight gu away?!”
The pair quickly make their way out as Jasper approaches Eren, “Jaspeh wan tu ask for twade.”
Raising a brow, Eren asks, “Oh, already? Ok, what is it?”
“Hao many stickeh points tu maek housie nu dawk fow hewd?” Jasper asks politely.
Surprised by the request, “Well now, let’s see. For that it will only cost one sticker.”
His face lighting up, “Jaspeh hab dat many, wan tu du dat.” Looking back to Breeze and Slater, Jasper adds, “See! Smawtie-fwiend Jaspeh du fing fow hewd.”
Still looking slightly confused, Slater says, “Fank yu Jaspeh.”, Breeze adding, “Wuv yu brutheh.”
“Alright, the last thing I want to say at the moment is that I’ll bring out some kibble for you all every morning to share. Other than that you are welcome to enjoy grass or use your points to trade for dinner.”
“I’m going to get some lights for you, make sure to explain anything else we went over if they have questions. Oh, and Jasper you earn one more point for completing the task I gave you.” Eren says as he walks over to the patio door.
After making his way back inside, Eren goes to check on Bucky and Lillian. Before even making it halfway down the hall he can hear giggling and chattering, bringing a smile to his face.
As Eren peeks in the room he can see the pair on the bed, Bucky under the sheet, bouncing towards Lillian as she scoots around, giggling wildly. “Hey you two, what are you two doing?”
Lillian shouts happily as she moves to the edge of the bed, sitting up she moves to an upsie pose, “Daddeh!”
From under the sheet, Bucky rises up, giggling as he tries to roar, “Daddeh, am blankie munsteh! Am catches fwuffies and nums dem wit huggies!”
Scooping up Lillian in his arms, Eren says, “Well, sounds like the blanket monster had plenty of nummies. If there are any little fluffies that are hungry they can come with me and get some breakfast.”
Stopping at the doorway as Bucky scrambles out from under the sheet, “But first, let’s go use the litterbox.”, Eren says as he changes directions back to the litterbox.
While cooking up some breakfast, milk-soaked oats with fruit and sharing a scrambled egg, Eren discussed what was happening with the trio outside. Bucky seemed to be put a bit at ease by the revelation. Lillian, however, was saddened by the news.
Trying to comfort Lillian, Eren says, “Don’t worry, they will be okay. Once they learn to be good fluffies you can play with them again, but only if you want to.”
This seemed to help lift her mood just a bit, breakfast being presented helped raise it the rest of the way. Eren turned the TV on and put on some child-friendly PBS programming, having read that it was a better alternative to FluffyTV.
WIth the pair thoroughly distracted, Eren made his way into the garage to check for some LED lights. It only took checking the third box to find a suitable set of lights, in the box were also several strings of light.
Thinking to himself, “I’ll make sure to set these aside, should be useful later if all goes well.” as he grabbed the tools he would need.
Once back in the living room, Eren made sure to check on the pair in the penned off area. Satisfied that they were still thoroughly distracted he headed back out to the patio.
The group was busily playing a game of huggie tag and not wanting to interrupt Eren set to work installing the set of lights inside the doghouse and along the edge of the roof outside of it.
Once finished installing, he powered them on and finally called for the group to come over. “Alright boys, come take a look.”
Just noticing that Eren was outside, the three colts rushed over, “Daddeh!”
As they approached, sounds of joy and approval rang out, Breeze and Slater making their way inside. “Su pwetty.” “Nu mowe scawie dawk.”
Jasper used this time to hug Eren’s leg, looking up, “Fank yu.”
Beaming a smile back down, “You’re welcome, but remember, you are the one who earned it for them.”
After a moment, Jasper followed the others in as well. It didn’t take long for the previous night’s and morning’s events to take their toll and the three were happily napping in a fluffpile.
The rest of the day remained fairly uneventful. Eren used the time to get some cleaning done and to play with Bucky and Lillian while the others slept.
Once the three colts woke up Eren began his first set of lessons. Keeping it simple, he worked on teaching Jasper to count. Breeze and Slater joined in as well for a bit but adventured off to play before too long.
Staying diligent, Jasper worked for nearly two hours, using the homemade flashcards and sticks to get a good grasp on it with Eren. It took more effort than expected, but Eren was happy to see Jasper could get up to ten by the end of it and awarded him another point.
As Eren came back out to check on the trio as late afternoon approached, he noticed Slater and Breeze napping again out in the grass and Jasper casually resting by the more than half empty food bowls.
Noticing Eren, Jasper got up and moved closer, “Daddeh say can maek twade fow sketti, wight? Hao many stickeh pointies am dem?”
Crouching down to get closer on Jasper’s level, “Well, I think two points should be enough but are you sure you don’t want to use them for something else? Maybe a blanket, bed, or toys?”
Shaking his head, speaking firmly, “Nu, Jaspeh wan sketties.”
“Alright then, I’ll be back shortly with them.” Eren said as he made his way back inside.
After about twenty minutes, Eren was back outside holding a plate of spaghetti. Deciding to be nice, Eren made sure it was two servings so it was easier to share.
He set it down in front of Jasper and patted him on the head, “There you go, enjoy you all enjoy the fruits of your labor.”
With that, Eren took his leave to prepare his own dinner and to get something together for Lillian and Bucky.
Eren was halfway done through his own meal when he heard shouts coming from out back. Quickly, he hopped up and made his way out there.
As he stepped onto the patio, Breeze was crying out, “Huuu. Why meanie bwutheh nu shawe sketties?, Slater adding, “Yeah! Nu am faiw.”
Eren was surprised to see that Jasper hadn’t woken up the other two and greedily ate the whole plate himself.
“Why be meanie tu Jaspeh? Jaspeh earn dem sketties.” Jasper argued back.
Eren stepped forward to interrupt the group, “Well, Jasper is right. He chose to use the points he earned and wasn’t required to share.”
Shifting his gaze to directly eye Jasper, “But he also has to live with those choices. You two don’t have to be happy with his decisions.”
WIth this news, the two colts muttered sadly, making their way to finish off the remaining kibble.
Eren took his leave, and returned inside. Occasionally, he would peek out the window to see Breeze and Slater purposefully ignoring and excluding Jasper. After a bit, Jasper wandered off, puffing his cheeks out to comfort himself.”
Eren decided then to go through with a decision he was on the fence with. He pulled out his phone to reply to an ad he had seen earlier.
Unfortunately, once the poster responded, he found out that he wasn’t the only one. After an hour of sending several messages and making a couple calls, he and the other person who showed interest in the ad worked out a deal.
Eren only needed the fluffy the ad offered for a day or so, then he would pass it along to the other party.
That night, Jasper was excluded from the fluffpile. The night air wasn’t too cold and the doghouse provided protection from the wind, but it did little to help with the cold shoulder he was getting.
At the same time, Eren was making note of everything that was going to be needed the following day. He wanted every precaution taken given the reputation of these things.
Before closing his laptop and heading to bed, Eren closed out the webpage with the ad in question…”Joo, HELLGREMLIN.”
