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"Do I really need a big girl bark?" Lila asked, confused. She never felt the need for one, her parents never played rough with her.
"Yes, Lila, what will you do if someone takes your doll?!" Bingo asked back.
"Well, I will just take another one!" There are many to go around!
"And what if there is NO MORE dolls?"
"I can share mine!" If the other kid took her doll it's because she wants to play too...
"And what if they take it and don't share with you?"
"I... would ask it back." Lila's words lost confidence, she doesn't like where this is going.
"But then she would be very mean and say NO very loud!" Bingo raises her arms as a way to show the gravity of such situation.
"Then..." Lila's voice loses strength, her shyness forcing her to whisper. "She can have it I guess..."
"No, Lila!!" The shout made Lila jump. Bluey looks annoyedly at Bingo for a moment before going back to drawing. "You can't let other kids take your toys! They are yours!"
"But Mum said I have to tell Miss Retriever when someone is mean..." Lila's face warms up, she presses her own hands.
"Then why didn't you when Banjo took your hat?" Lila's face burns, she can't look at Bingo's eyes at all as she can't help but look to the floor.
The burning and weight on her shoulders quickly goes away when the very well known feeling that is her best friend's hug meets her. It's like eating ice cream but without the cold part! She tightly hugs Bingo back.
"It's okay Lila, I will help you bark like a greyhound so noone is ever mean to you forever again!" Lila's tail wags happily, even after Bingo lets go of the hug.
"Ok! I have an idea!" Bingo happily declares. "I will make a denjon full of surprises, to help you make the loudest big girl bark in the WORLD!" Lila feels both excitement and fear from the idea, but the Heeler's enthusiasm helped her focus on the excitement feeling.
Bingo guides Lila to the living room to watch cat squad while she and her helpers will build everything.
After three episodes of cat squad have passed, Bingo appears, a little unkempt but smiling widely. "It's ready, Lila!" Without waiting for a response, Bingo holds her hand and guides her to the playroom.
There, she sees a big cushion fort that seemingly has no end. The room’s windows are covered by black and dark blue sheets, making the playroom darker as if the sun isn’t shining in the sky outside.
“Wow…” Lila can’t help but feel amazed, she squeezes Bingo’s hand, who eyes her excitedly.
“Ok! Now-” Bingo catches Lila’s attention. “You are an adventurer and I am your helper, there-” She points at the infinite cushion fort. “is the denjon yo-”
From somewhere inside the denjon, Lila can hear Bingo’s Mum voice saying: “Dungeon!”
“Ah, yes. There is the dungeon you have to explore, and as your helper, I will be here to help you!”
“But what if I get too scared?!” Thinking about what awaits her inside the dungeon makes her tail hide between her legs.
“You can hold my hand!” Just now Lila noticed Bingo’s still holding her hand. Not that she minds.
“But then I’d have to run all the way over here just to hold your hand?!”
“What?! No!” Bingo giggles. “I’m going inside with you!”
“Oh.” The dungeon doesn’t feel as scary anymore.
“Ok!” Bingo releases her hand, much to Lila’s dismay. “You will go in there-” She points to the rusty, creaky doors of the dungeon. “and all your equipment will be eaten by angry, magical ants. But don’t worry, it won't hurt! So you have to get to the end of the dungeon without them. So you have to bark real loud at the monsters to make them scared and go away!”
Lila listened to all of it intently. She then turns to the dungeon’s door with newfound confidence. She marches, Bingo right behind her. The doors open with a loud creak, inside, walls of unkempt stone made just enough space for the two adventurers to walk through. There is just enough light to make her be able to see where she is going, but not enough to let her see what’s very far in front of her. Small rats scatter about, their little red eyes watching her from the distance. She is afraid, but she knows she can do it, she is a brave greyhound with a brave helper!
And then, all of sudden, a monkey with jocks appears! “Ohh ooh ahh aah!” It says, dancing like the itchy monkey he is!
Lila is not afraid! “Arf!” She barks, making the monkey jump in fear.
“Again, Lila!” The Helper says, fueling the greyhound with strength!
“Arf arf!” The monkey flees, causing a wall to suddenly fall.
“Oops, sorry!” Bluey apologizes with a giggle right before quickly pulling the stone wall back up.
Feeling confident, Lila strides forward, she can do this! As she walks, the dungeon gets darker, she can hear ominous sounds coming from the walls: “oOOoooOo” she hears once in a while, alongside “Turn baaAAaAck!” and “Where is the toilEEeeEeet?!”.
While exploring, Lila finds a wooden door. She opens it to find a well lit room. Torches illuminate inside, the floor here is made of wood and the walls look clean. At the other side of the room there’s a blue goblin, her ears are very sharp and her snout is big! She is sitting on top of pizzas that look very old and stinky.
“What are we supposed to do?” Lila whispers to Bingo.
“You have to make the goblino move away so we can pass.” Bingo whispers back, both are eyeing the blue goblin as it reads an old, dusty tome about bats.
Lila breathes in deep, moves closer to the goblin, who eyes her in an annoyed manner. “Uhm, hey mister goblino… Can you please let me and my friend pass?” Her shyness weighs her throat, making the words sound barely louder than a whisper.
“Ya whaw? Speak loudeh!” The blue goblin responds
“Can you please move?”
“Nah don’ feel like it, luv.” it goes back to reading the tome.
“P-please?”
“NO! Now go away, ur smelly.”
“I’m not smelly, it's the pizzas…” Lila thinks, defeated. She turns her head to Bingo, and she is mimicking barking.
Lila looks again to the goblin, feeling less shy than before. “Move please! You can still read your tome!”
“Are ya deaf?! NO!” Lila’s confidence falters, but she won’t let herself be defeated that easily!
“Arf!” She barks, but the goblin ignores her.
“Arf arf arf!”
“Whaw is the soun’ of puppy barking?!” The goblins looks annoyed at Lila “Are ya a puppy?!” Lila feels a build-up in her eyes.
“Hey!” Bingo steps in. “Lila is not a puppy! She’s 5!”
“Anotha one?! Two stinkies in mah bedroom, go away!” Bingo looks angrily at the goblin, while Lila fights back the desire to isolate herself.
“It’s YOU who’s stinking!” Bingo points an accusing finger at the goblin.
“I don’t stink, am never stinky! You silly little puppy!” it gives Bingo the tongue, and at that, Lila feels angry.
“Hey! Bingo is very smart! And she is not a puppy too!” Lila goes near the goblino, hands closed in fists.
“Hah! She is a silly puppy who can’t tie her shoes!” The goblin mocks.
“You are lying! She is a big girl and she CAN tie her shoes!” Lila stomps her foot, feeling angry and upset filling her belly.
As a response, the goblino blows a raspberry at Lila. Big mistake!
Lila growls, she uses all the upset and angry in her belly to bark at the blue meanie! “Woof!” it jumps in surprise. “Woof woof woof!”
The goblin immediately gets up. “am sorry am sorry! Ya are no pup! And ur friend there is smart! Go on, just don’ bite me!” It gets out of the way and goes to the corner of the room.
“Good!” Lila declares, stomping forward to leave the room. When Bingo closes the door behind them, she doesn’t feel as angry and upset anymore. “That goblino is mean!”
“Yeah, I don’t like him one bit. Good thing that you barked at him!” Lila smiles at the praise, she feels proud of herself for barking at a meanie like that!
Slowly but steadily, she explores the dungeon, scaring monsters away with her fierce barking! And with every monster she scares, she gets better at barking like a big girl, channeling her greyhound energy to make everyone know she is upset or angry!
At this point, she is having a blast! She walked fearless in the dungeon, facing head-on every trouble that appeared! But then, something else appeared.
A spider jumps in, and Lila freezes. Its many thousand eyes staring at her, their long, hairy legs blocking her way. Lila can’t move, she is terrified, she wants to run as fast as she can but her legs won’t obey, her voice is stuck, nothing is obeying her! The spider looms over her, its venomous fangs right on top of her eyes. The scariest monster of them all, and Lila will be eaten alive by it.
But then she feels a tug on her hand, she looks at it… it's Bingo’s hand! She is smiling at her, her eyes sparkling with determination, she believes in her, she will NOT be eaten alive by an ugly, hairy spider!
Lila looks again at the monster, it doesn’t look as big as before. She breathes in, she fills her chest and belly with as much air as possible, and with a jump, she closes her eyes and she barks with all the strength her little canine mouth can muster.
“BARK! BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK!!” She jumps all the while, doing all she can to scare the spider away, to make it know she is NOT scared of her!!!
When she opens her eyes, panting from the exertion… it’s gone! The spider is gone, she scared it away! “You did it, Lila! You scared all the monsters away!!”
“For real life?!” Lila asks, her tail wild.
“Yeah! You have an amazing big girl bark! It is beautiful and loud!” Lila couldn't help but smile sheepishly. “Come! There is treasure for us!” Once again Bingo holds Lila's hand and leads her forward, excitedly running towards a golden door that had blinding light coming from it!
When they pass through it, Lila is met by dreamland… a land full of lollipop and corndog trees, cute gnomes harvesting chocolate brownies from the ground, a river of ice cream that effortlessly runs with its pink colored water. She is once again amazed, there is even a blue girl taking a bath in the river, and she is having so much fun!
“This is the best treasure EVER!” Eyes lost in the marvels of this new land.
Bingo smiles proudly, and hugs her best friend tightly, both tails running wild while the sound of that blue girl's laughter comes from the distance.
”This is better, though.” Lila admits.