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It was a bright, sunny day in smiling valley, and all 8 of the critter crew were in the park, setting up easels for their art contest.
Crafty came up with the idea to have a drawing contest to see who besides her was the best artist of the critters. So of course, she was going to be the judge while everyone else demonstrated their artistic ability.
Once everything was set up, everyone was given a paper tablet, a pencil, and a box of colored crayons.
“Alrighty, everyone ready?”
Crafty asks, holding the timer.
Everyone nods, getting their favorite respectively colored crayon out.
“Alrighty, you have 2 hours to complete your drawing, and you can draw whatever you want.”
Crafty says.
“3…2…1… GO!”
Everyone gets to work, while Crafty smiles and watches.
~two hours later~
Everyone had worked really hard, and was just about finished with their drawings, eager to present them.
“Aaaaand, TIME!”
Crafty says, stopping the timer.
“Okay, everyone done?”
All the others nod, taking deep breaths, or getting sips of water.
Catnap smiles upon his drawing, which was of him and Dogday holding hands and dancing together through a starlit sky.
It wasn’t the best, but he didn’t really care about winning the contest. He just hopes Dogday will like it.
Once the recovery break was over, Crafty smiled.
“Okay everyone, time to judge!”
She says.
She looks at the blue elephant.
“Bubba, why don’t you show yours first?”
Bubba nods, showing everyone his paper, which was an impressive drawing of a Rocketship launching into space.
Crafty’s eyes sparkle. “Wow, Bubba, that’s amazing!”
Bubba smiles. “Thank you.”
He says.
Crafty then walks over to Kickin.
“Ok, your turn.” she says. “Whatcha got?”
Kickin smiles as he shows her the drawing of him surfing a really big wave.
Crafty claps for him. “That’s so cool!” She says.
Kickin smirks. “Naturally.”
Crafty giggles, then walks over to Dogday next.
“Dogday?”
Dogday shows his drawing, which was of all 8 of them together, not a single one left out.
Crafty gasps.
“Wow, Dogday, that’s really impressive!” She says. “You might win this!”
Dogday smiles and scratches behind his ear. “Aww, thanks.” He says.
Breezing through, Hoppy had drawn herself in a basketball uniform making a slam dunk, and Picky had drawn a delicious-looking apple pie, both of which looked pretty good.
Then, she walked over to Bobby.
“Ok, Bobby, what have you drawn?”
Bobby smiles. “Something I think you’ll really like.”
She proudly shows her drawing, which was a beautiful picture of Dogday and Crafty together, getting married under the cherry blossom trees.
Crafty was mind blown.
“Oh wow, Bobby!”
She says. “That’s incredible!”
Bobby giggles. “Thank you.” She says. “I wanted to draw what will happen in the future.”
Crafty and Dogday both blush.
“W-woah, that’s a bit far fetched, don’t you think?!”
Dogday asks.
Bobby smirks at him.
“Is it~?”
Catnap, meanwhile, was heartbroken.
He looks back at his drawing, which, compared to hers, looked like a sticky note doodle done in 2 seconds by a 4 year old.
Crafty, still blushing a bit, walks over to him.
“And, last but not least.” She says. “Whatcha got for me, Catnap?”
Catnap was frozen for a bit.
After a minute, he signs,
‘...A-actually, I'm gonna drop out of the contest.’
Everyone gasps.
“What? Why?”
Crafty asks.
Catnap shakes his head.
‘I don’t wanna show mine!’
He signs.
‘I have no chance of winning anyways!’
He signs quickly, as he runs off into the forest.
~leaves transition~
Catnap was sitting on a fallen tree, crying and sniffling.
He looks at his drawing again, then gets angry.
“Worthless.”
He says, ripping it in half.
He then buries his face in his hands, weeping.
“Catnap…?”
His sorrow was interrupted by a familiar voice.
He looks up, jumping.
“D-Dogday?”
He says. “W-what are you doing here?”
Dogday steps forward.
“Looking for you, of course.”
He says with a smile. “Why’d you run off?”
Catnap sighs, looking down.
‘I needed some alone time…’ he says. ‘I didn’t want anyone else to see me crying…’
Dogday sits beside him on the log.
“Can… Can I see your drawing?”
He asks.
Catnap shakes his head, looking away.
‘Why would you want to?’
He signs.
‘You should go look at Bobby’s instead… it’s a million times better…’
Dogday scoots closer.
“Well, I wanna see yours anyway.”
Catnap looks at him.
Dogday gives him puppy eyes.
“Please?”
Catnap sighs.
‘Fine…’ He says, picking up the pieces of the ripped drawing and handing them to Dogday.
Putting them back together, Dogday smiles.
“Aww, Catnap…” He says.
“This is beautiful.”
Catnap doesn’t believe him, looking away.
‘Y-your just saying that…’
Dogday gently puts an arm around Catnap.
“Catnap…” he says.
“Look at me?”
Catnap slowly looks over at him, his face still that of sadness.
Dogday smiles softly.
“Bobby might have drawn what she thinks will happen in the future, but…”
He leans in to give Catnap a kiss on the cheek.
“I think you drew what I KNOW will happen.”
Catnap blushes, his eyes going wide.
“R-really…?”
He says aloud.
Dogday nods, hugging him softly.
“I know I'm not the judge, but… I would say that YOU won the contest.”
Catnap cries happily, burying his face in his companion’s shoulder.
“Oh Dogday… thank you.”
Dogday kisses him softly on the cheek again.
“You’re welcome, Kitty.”
Later that day, Dogday helps Catnap to tape up the torn drawing, then puts it in a frame, proudly framing it in his hallway, right next to his favorite photo of the two of them hugging.