“Hewwo!”
Hot Dog opened her eyes. Then blinked. The jumped up, standing on her two front legs.
“Whewe am Hot Dog?!”
This wasn’t daddy’s bedroom. She wasn’t in her bed. There was no bookcase, no see-through box wtih Mint and Fern. No meowy-friends. It was just… white. Empty space as far as she could see. Empty except for the two fluffies in front of her.
“Took yu wong enuff fow go sweepies.”
“Daddeh no go sweepie fas’ eithew.”
Hippolyta and Napoleon looked at her. Well, she assumed Napoleon was looking at her. He was so small it was nearly impossible to tell. But… they weren’t real. Daddy made them, but they were cartoons.
“Wha goin’ on? Howt Dog no unnastan’ how cawtoon fwuffies hea.”
Napoleon grinned. “Yu habin’ sweepie pictchas! Wike mobie but fwuffies hea instea’.”
“Daddeh nu kno Hippowita an’ Napowean can du dis.” She put a hoof up to her mouth. Shhhh.
“Sweepie pictchas? Daddeh… call… Dweam?”
“Oooh, mawe is Smawtie!”
Hot Dog turned around. “No wan tawk wit’ siwwy cawtoon fwuffies. Wai hea?”
“Cause yu maddies at daddeh. An’ mad at yu.” Hippolyta said.
“So? Daddeh make yu! Yu no get hurtsies ow owwies. Wai he no gib Howt Dog back weggies? Wai odda hooman meanie-dummie munstah an take Howt Dog weggies and gib worstest owwies?”
“Cause hooman-magic no can do ebewy-ting.” Hippolyta sighed. Napoleon nodded.
“Hooman-magic make whowe-worwd! An’ fwuffies! Why no gib back weggies? And make huwties aww bettew? An’ how Howt Dog eben hea?”
“Wike say, yu dweamin’. Daddeh dweamin’ too. Daddeh make Napowean an’ Hippowita so can bweak ‘fouwth waww’ for jokesies-haha, but can do dis cause of dat.”
“Dat no make sense.”
“Yu need tawk mowe smawtsies, ‘Powean.”
“Du it.”
Hippolyte reared up and brought her full weight down on her hooves, smooshing Napoleon. Hot Dog gasped, seeing the resulting splat.
“Ah, that is quite a bit better,” Napoleon said, voice different. “Good old Flinstones gag. Must respect the classics.”
“HUH?”
“You see, my dear Hot Dog, there’s a long-standing tradition of cranial trauma causing a shift in personalities for the recipient in cartoons. We are cartoons, thus may benefit from this precedent. But I digress…”
“Wemembew why Napoweon an’ Hippowita hea.”
“Ah yes… Daddy made us and put us in our own little world. But unlike other fluffies in other worlds? We can see outside ours. Its like there’s no wall there stopping us from seeing outside it.”
“Hippowita an’ Napowean can see daddeh. An’ when daddeh sweepies, we can use daddeh’s tinkie pwace.”
“Or more precisely, his imagination. The place that human magic comes from!”
“But how Howt Dog hea?”
“Because you were made by another human’s magic, their imagination. So, now that Daddy is sleeping and dreaming, we can visit you while you’re dreaming. We’re in your dream.”
Hot Dog shook her head. This was silly talk. It didn’t make any sense. “Wai cawtoon fwuffies hea?”
“Like we said. You’re mad at daddy. And mad at yourself.”
“No am daddeh fauwt Howt Dog no hab weggies. No Howt Dog fault eithew.”
“Let me explain Daddy first. Someone else made you, Hot Dog. And offered you to a good home. You’re a piece of their imagination. Do you understand?”
“Wittle. Ee-mag-i-na-shun iz hawd tu tink of.”
“Its alright. Anyhow, to accept you, Daddy had to accept you as you were. Missing your back legs. Having been hurt and abused. If he didn’t? He wouldn’t actually be accepting you. He’d be getting a fake, a copy of you. And since your creator gave you up?”
“Yu be aww awone. No mummah or daddeh, no fwens, no hewd.”
“And once Daddy accepted you and let you live with him, then the rules he has to live by apply to you as well. Daddy’s world can’t give new legs. It can’t make you forget.”
“Wai daddeh wan me wib hea den?”
“To be with him. For him to love and to hug and give spaghetti to. To play with Mint and Fern. Things we can’t do. Or Taro. Or any of his other creations.”
“Daddeh no make Mint an’ Fewn?”
“No. Others humans made them. He took them in. Gave them a home and toys and nummies. So he could love them too.”
“Daddeh is hug-bawk-sa. Daddeh kinda siwwy.”
“Hug-bawk-sa?”
“Ah. Humans are… complicated. I’m going to tell you some things Daddy hasn’t, Hot Dog. There’s going to be scary things. But I want you to remember these two things.”
Hot Dog nodded, but was unsure about what she was hearing.”
“Daddy is a good daddy. And there’s nothing humans have done to fluffies that they haven’t already done to other humans.”
