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DogDay was stressed. DogDay was overwhelmed. DogDay was about to hit his breaking point. The budget paper for the upcoming bake sale was all wrong. And now he had to go over it and fix it before turning it in to the planning committee. This was going to take forever. And he still had to check over to make sure they had a reliable source for baking supplies, that they had received permission to use the park (didn't want to end like last time, when someone forgot to get the permit to do so. There was so much paperwork), but also make sure that they had enough volunteers, and so on. The poor pooch was simply swamped with work,
There was also making sure that they had the correct date and number of buses for the school field trip, the summer festival, and essentially DogDay had a lot to check over. Why did he agree to any of this? Why did he always take on more work than he should? And why did he always have to do this to himself?
Oh right, because he just couldn’t sit and do nothing. Yes, he was an event organizer, but he wasn't the only one. There were multiple people who worked together to get things done. There was a planning committee for goodness sake, but for some odd reason he always volunteered to do the most work and took on the most tasks.
DogDay looked out the window. It was a bright, sunny day in Rainbow Valley. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. A perfect day, really. And DogDay was inside. He whimpered; he could be outside, but instead he was stuck inside his house staring at words and numbers that stopped making sense hours ago.
DogDay’s head hurt, and his paw ached from all the writing. He really needed a break, but there was no way he could. He still had to make sure he had the schedule ready for his friends. They all had their work, of course, and sometimes it could be hard to get all of the Smiling Critters together, so he had taken it upon himself to plan activities that fit their busy schedules so they could have spent time as a group. So that they could all just relax and have some fun, all 7 of them ( or 8 if he could find and convince CatNap to stick around long enough).
It should be easy, he always tells himself; it won't be too difficult, he always tells everyone.
But as seen, that was easier said than done. DogDay has been like this for the last two days. Rarely taking breaks since he started. He thought he would be fine; all he had to do was check over the budget and boom, done. But noooooo.
Now he was behind because all the numbers were wrong, and he had to fix it. And now because of that, he was too paranoid and decided he had to check over everything else to make sure it was correct. But as many times, this desire for things to be perfect only ended up with him giving himself more work. It really was his own fault. He had volunteered to do all of this, but boy was he tired.
DogDay was so tired, so buried in his piles of paper, he didn't hear his doorbell ring. Nor did he hear the polite knocking on his door. Or the next one, or the one after that. What did catch his attention was the intense banging and excessive ding-donging. The sudden loud noises were just making his head hurt even more. Just who could be visiting him right now? He's pretty sure he didn't have any plans with anyone, so who was coming to his place unannounced when he still had a lot of work to do? The only person who came to mind was CatNap.
He shivered at the thought; he really hoped it wasn't CatNap. The feline didn't usually get up on his own, but if by chance he did and he found the leader of the Smiling Critters in the condition he was now, he would be forced (not really) into a who-knows-how-long cuddle and nap session, and he definitely wouldn’t be getting anything done if that happened. That was, of course, after giving him a disappointed, tired look.
Making his way to the door, quickly but cautiously, he braced himself, grabbing the knob and opening it to find…
… Bobby and Bubba. Not CatNap. Safe.
He sighed in relief, relaxing. “ Oh, thank goodness, it's just you two.”
Boby and Bubba looked at each other.
“Were you perhaps expecting someone else?” Bubba asked.
DogDay shook his head. He couldn’t tell them he was afraid that it was CatNap on the other side of the door. They definitely didn't need to know about that. It would only lead to questions he didn’t want to answer.
“So um…what brings you guys around?” DogDay asked, leaning slightly against the door. He was really tired.
Bobby and Bubba shared a look. “We're here for our midday tea time,” Bobby said cheerfully. In her paws was a bag of cookies and pastries for them to share.
“Tea…time?”
“Yes. DogDay, did you forget?” She asked worriedly. Bubba stared at DogDay, inspecting his appearance. This was not like DogDay. Not at all. Bubba noted how ruffled and messy DogDay’s fur looked, like he hadn't brushed it at all. He was also slouching quite a lot, and his face looked a bit red.
DogDay thought for a moment. Then it clicked. It was HIS turn to host the three midday tea time. How could he have forgotten?
“Me? Forget? He scoffed. “Of c-course not.” He laughed nervously, trying to brush it off. “You guys just…got here a bit earlier than usual…it caught me off guard that all.” He ended with a weak chuckle. He wasn’t fooling anyone. They were here at their usual time.
Bobby and Bubba shared a look once again before stepping in at DogDay’s request. They were ushered into the living room as they waited for DogDay. From there, they could hear the slamming of cabinets, the clashing of pots and pans, and the muffled growls of what they could only assume was their friend fixing up the tea. They had offered to help, but the canine insisted that it was fine and not to worry.
(They couldn’t help but worry as they watched DogDay almost spill hot water on himself. This was very worrisome.)
Once everything was prepared, they all sat down at the table and began to chat. It was simple chatting. Just asking how everyone was doing, catching up on anything that had happened since their last tea time together. Bobby brought up that she befriended a little yellow-winged cat named CatBee. Bubba mentioned a fun incident that happened while helping at the science class at the school. All really great things. They talked and talked, and DogDay… didn't.
He could barely sit upright and listen to any of it. He was just so tired. He was feeling it even more now that he had properly sat down and relaxed.
He couldn't concentrate at all. His head hurt; everything hurt, actually, and he was starting to feel dizzy, actually. He could make out the noise of muffled voices, but couldn’t understand what they were saying. And was it him or was it getting kinda warm?
DogDay doesn't remember what happened after everything went dark.
When he woke up, DogDay found himself on his couch resting. A blanket had been placed on him, and there was a wet rag on his forehead. It was cool, and it felt nice, and he didn't feel as warm anymore. He sat up a bit and began to look around, spotting Bobby and Bubba sitting by the coffee table. They were holding some papers, and he could see even more. He rubbed his eyes, hoping to get rid of the drowsiness, before he sneezed a bit.
Bobby's ear twitched at the sound. She turned to find DogDay staring at her and Bubba.
“Oh, DogDay, you're awake.” She clapped her paws together; she was relieved to see him up. She ran toward him, her tail giving a little wag as she stopped right in front of him. Leaning in, she placed her paw on his forehead. “Well, it looks like your fever has gone down a bit, and…” She searched his face for any signs of tiredness. “...well, you don't look as exhausted as you did earlier.”
DogDay sat confused. What?
“Yes, you look more well rested that earlier today,” Bubba said, catching him off guard; he had forgotten about the elephant for a moment.
“So um…what happened?” he asked.
Bobby and Bubba looked at each other. “Well…” Bobby began, “You passed out at the table. And we brought you over to the couch to rest…”
“We realized you were running a fever, and did our best to care for you while we waited for you to wake up properly.” Bubba finished. “Though you did wake up a few times, but only briefly,” he added.
Oh. They asked if he was feeling better, and he told them yes. He was doing a lot better. He took some medicine Bobby brought, wincing at the taste. He also really didn't like the weird, sticky feeling on his fur from sweating. They laughed at this. He apologized for the inconvenience, though they both told him it was alright. They were just glad he was doing better.
“So,” he drawled, “ what have you two been doing in the meantime?”
Bobby pointed at the table filled with papers, papers Bubba had gone back to looking over once he knew DogDay was feeling better. “We’ve been going over the plans for the upcoming events, while you were sleeping.” She finished with a bright smile. DogDay sat there, shocked.
“You,” he said, pointing at the two critters in the room with him, “you both have been doing the work.”
“Yep,” Bobby said happily; the smile on her face seemed even brighter.
DogDay tried to stand up, but fell back from the dizziness of doing so. Bobby helped him sit up, placing a pillow behind him. She scolded him and told him not to stand up when he was still clearly sick.
But he couldn’t. He still had to finish his work, and he couldn't let his friends do it for him. He was the one who had to do it.
“You guys don’t…have to do the paperwork, I got it.”
Bubba clicked his tongue. “ I’m afraid that it is not possible, DogDay; you clearly need help.” He looked over the papers again. “ See right here, the numbers are all wrong. They start correctly, but the farther we go down, the more incomprehensible they become.”
“Bubba.”
He continued, “ And there is the problem with the school trip. The number of buses and the number of volunteers seem switched. And there also—”
“BUBBA!!”
“What?”
Bobby pointed with her head, slightly glaring at him. DogDay sat clutching the blanket, his face hidden by his ears. Oh. Ok, he understood now. He gave an apologetic look, but Bobby just huffed.
“DogDay,” Bobby asked softly, “ Do you not want us to help?”
No. That wasn’t it. It wasn’t that he didn’t want help... it was more that he didn’t want to inconvenience them. DogDay was the one that took on the extra tasks, so he had to get them done. He couldn’t ask his friends’ help; it was his problem to solve, not theirs. It was his responsibility. He couldn’t ask them to help, to waste their time on DogDay’s problems.
DogDay told them again that it was fine; he was fine. He would finish up the rest. He thanked them for helping, but that it really wasn't necessary. He made a move to get up only to be told to ‘sit’ by Bobby. His body responded before his mind caught up. The next thing he heard was ‘stay,’ and stay he did.
Bobby let out a small growl, “Now listen to me here, DogDay, you are in no position to work. So you will sit and stay there on the couch and rest, you hear me?”
DogDay tried to argue, but Bobby was not having it. “If you really want to be involved, then you can listen to me and Bubba as we worked.” She pointed at Bubba, who had returned to look over the papers. “You can also guide us so we do it correctly, but you are not under any circumstances getting up from that spot, you hear me.”
DogDay sighed and reluctantly nodded. Bobby had a proud, smug look on her face, happy to hear no further objections. She had won. And so for the rest of the afternoon, Bobby and Bubba worked as DogDay gave any needed clarifications. And sitting there watching them work brought up an insecurity of DogDay:
Why had he been chosen as the leader of the Smiling Critters?
DogDay had been irresponsible, taking on more work than he could do, not to mention that by not asking for help, he only ended up messing up. He also got himself sick. Made his friends worried.
Bobby or Bubba would have been better choices. DogDay was too impulsive and stubborn. He overthought everything and only made problems for himself and others. While Bubba was calm and collected. He had always thought that Bubba was so incredibly smart and responsible. He was the one you went to if you ever needed answers or guidance.
And Bobby was so caring and level-headed. She was sweet in always making everyone feel cared for. And she’s good at picking up others' emotions and understanding them. Everyone flocked to them for those reasons. Because they were just so amazing. Even DogDay found himself going to them for the same things. So why had he been appointed leader? We don't even need a leader and yet…
DogDay was so lost in his mind that he didn't hear his name being called out.
“Huh? Sorry. I didn't hear you,” he laughed embarrassingly.
Bobby let him know that she and Bubba were going to get going; it was getting late, and DogDay did need his rest. Bubba then added that he had organized everything in a way, so if DogDay wanted to look over anything and double-check, it would be fairly easy to understand.
DogDay thanked them before they left, sighing once again. He shook his head and decided he should go and take a shower- probably take some more medicine- before looking over everything like Bubba said.
He really thinks one of them should have been the leader; today just proves it to him more.