The Bulldog and the Chihuahua

"The Bulldog and the Chihuahua!" Timon said, jabbing his uncle with his elbow. The high-pitched honk was emitted from Uncle Max once again before it was Max's turn to speak up.

"Or, the story of the curious oysters!" Uncle Max added, before jabbing his nephew with his elbow and making him let out the low-pitched honk. The meerkats then began to dance, making the honking noises again in the process. Timon was the first to sing.

Timon: *The sun was shining on the sea*
*Shining with all his might*

Uncle Max was the next to sing before his face morphed into the sun.

Uncle Max: *He did his very best to make*
*The billows smooth and bright*

Once Timon's face had changed into the moon, he sung out the next line.

Timon: *And this was odd because it was*

Now both of the meerkats sung out why the scene involving the sun was quite odd in their story.

Timon and Uncle Max: *The middle of the night*

Then the meerkats' faces faded away, revealing a beach and the times of day and night that were split in half. Two figures emerged from behind a stone on the night side of the beach as they were walking side by side into the day side.

The first figure was a fat, beige Bulldog with a small tail and a brown face, ears, and nose, wearing a black top hat with a gold ribbon. He was also twirling a long black cane in his right front paw. His name was Francis.

The second figure was a slender beige Chihuahua with red hair, a black nose, a notched left ear, and a brown muzzle and feet, and wearing a green headband and brown shoes on his back paws. He was also twirling a hammer in his left hand. His name was Tito, Francis' partner.

Timon: *The Bulldog and the Chihuahua*
*Were walking close at hand*

Uncle Max: *The beach was wide from side to side*
*But much too full of sand*

As the two were walking, Tito's left back paw sank into the sand, and he yanked it out, only to discover that his shoe was full of sand. He then pulled off his shoe and hammered the sole before a huge pile of sand, shells, and starfish came out of it.

"Mr. Francis!" Tito said, as Uncle Max had just said. "My brain begins to perk! We'll sweep this clear in half a year, if you don't mind the work!"

"Work!?" Francis exclaimed in shock, nearly dropping his cane on the sand. He cleared his throat and lifted a left front paw up in the air, as he held his cane in his right front paw.

"The time has come to talk of other things," he said, as described by Uncle Max. "Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings."

Francis then skipped around Tito and swiped his hammer, much to the chihuahua's befuddlement.

"Calloo-Callay, no work today! We're cabbages and kings!"

With Tito's hammer, Francis pulled Tito out of the sand, sending him toward a rock near the ocean. Tito's head splashed into the water as his hammer landed right next to him, and he opened his eyes to see an old female oyster and her sleeping babies with a hungry expression on his face. That frightened the old oyster and her little ones, causing them to hide in their large green and small violet shells altogether. Once he dipped his head out, Tito whistled loud enough to grab Francis' attention and pointed to the ocean. He even licked his lips hungrily as he rubbed his slender stomach. It had indicated that he had found food for them.

Francis, also licking his lips in hunger, frantically ran across the sand before stopping to see Tito trying to get in the water with his hammer on hand. He yanked the chihuahua by the neck with his cane and placed him back on the stone, giving him a bonk on the head with it and wagging his left front paw back and forth. Then, Francis walked into the ocean as he twirled his cane and stopped in front of the shells. The baby oysters took a quick peek, before closing up their shells again. Francis' cane tapped two times each of the first two oyster shells, and Francis lifted his hat up to show respect to the old oyster and her precious younger ones.

"Ohh, uhh, Oysters," he said to them. "Come and walk with us. The day is warm and bright. A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk would be a sheer delight."

Francis' offer of a walk on the sunny beach made the baby oysters open up their shells again and had happy smiles on their faces. Just then, Tito submerged his head back into the water and added, "Yes, and should we get hungry on the way. We'll stop and, uh, have a bite."

That irked Francis and made him hit Tito on the head many times with his cane, even though the two were underwater. He didn’t want their grand plan to backfire on them all because of Tito's foolish mistake.

But Mother Oyster winked an eye and shook her head sadly as she glanced at a calendar hanging right next to her. It had the month of March with the thirty-one days shown to Francis and the ditzy Tito. She knew that this was no time for her to abandon her beautiful green shell and her lovable oysters from the deep blue sea they had called home, as Timon had narrated to Olivia.

"The sea is nice. Take my advice, and stay right here." she said to her little ones, as Uncle Max had added to the narration of their story.

Francis was unamused by what Mother Oyster had just answered, and he rose up from a stone he had sat on a moment ago.

"Yes, yes, of course, of course!" he said, "But, uhh...Aha!"

Francis shut Mother Oyster's green shell with his cane, thus not taking her advice. He was now ready to lure the baby oysters out of the ocean...with a pleasant song, of course.

Francis: *The time has come, my little friends*
*To talk of other things*
*Of shoes and ships and sealing wax*
*Cabbages and kings*
*And why the sea is boiling hot*
*And whether pigs have wings, ha ha*

A pinch on the cheek from Francis made one little oyster blush and giggle, with the other smiling at it.

Francis: *Calloo-Callay*
*Come, run away*
*With cabbages and kings!*

After Francis sang these three lines, he held his cane like a flute and started playing it. The little oysters heard the whistling tune and joyously followed him in a single file line, as they had hopped out of their beds. The song had also lured some fish in the ocean, though they chose to stay there afterward.

While Francis had returned to shore with the little oysters still in line, Tito was gathering ship debris that had been abandoned on the sandy shores and considered using them to build a seafood restaurant for them. The little oysters were skipping merrily on the sand as they were still close behind Francis, who was still using the cane as a flute to keep them close to him. Tito built the seafood restaurant out of the ship debris at a very rapid speed, just in time to let himself, Francis, and the little oysters inside. A slate-colored sign in the shape of a fish had the words "Fish Dinners" written in purple as it was hanging above the door.

Once everyone was inside the restaurant, Francis tied a napkin around his neck as he and the little oysters were sitting at a picnic table that had a white-and-red-striped tablecloth on it.

"Well now, uhhh...let me see," he said, just as Tito took a seat and held up a knife and fork with a hungry expression on his face. Francis had something else in mind for Tito, so he said to him, "Ah, a loaf of bread is what we chiefly need!"

Giving him a wink of approval, Tito dashed out of the table and into the back room, which was a kitchen for him to make the food. Francis had a greedy smile on his face as he held two of the baby oysters in his right hand, only to see Tito open the two doors and say, "Listen, how 'bout some pepper and salt and vinegar, eh?"

"Well, yes, yes, splendid idea!" Francis said to him with a hearty laugh, after he frantically placed the oysters down and picked up a menu, "Very good indeed."

Once Tito went back into the kitchen, Francis placed the menu back on the table and said to the oysters, "Now, if you’re ready, dear Oysters, we can begin the feed!"

"Feed??!" the oysters repeated in a worried unison.

"Ohhh, yes," Francis said, picking up the oysters and holding them close to him. "The time has come, my little friends, to talk of food and things."

Meanwhile, Tito was whipping up a special sauce for Francis to dip the oysters in and slicing a whole loaf of bread with a saw, as he sang a short little tune.

Tito: *Of peppercorns and mustard seeds*
*And other seasonings*
*We'll mix 'em all together*
*In a sauce that's fit for kings*
*Calloo-Callay*
*We'll eat today*
*Like cabbages and kings*

With a bottle of vinegar on his head and holding a tray, the bread, and the sauce with his right front paw, Tito whistled as he merrily approached the table and placed the tray onto it.

"I...I weep for you, I..." Francis said, as he was weeping and wiping the tears away with his blue handkerchief before hiccuping a bit. "Ohh, excuse me. I deeply sympathize, for I've enjoyed your company, oh, much more than you realize."

Little did Tito know that Francis was full, as he had eaten more than a bite while he was gone.

"Little Oysters? Little Oysters?" Tito said, holding up the knife and fork he had earlier with a hungry look on his face. He, too, had a napkin tied around his neck as he was sitting at the table with an empty place in front of him.

"But answer there came none." Timon narrated.

Tito crawled onto the table and peeked from behind the menu. His eyes suddenly widened in shock, his jaw dropped down, and his headband popped off of his head in reaction to the discovery: every one of the oysters had been eaten by Francis!

Uncle Max narrated, "And this was scarcely odd because..."

"They'd been eaten! Every one!" Timon and Uncle Max concluded.

Francis was sweating apprehensively as he slowly tiptoed and grabbed his cane, letting out a short, nervous laugh. However, Tito's face was turning red as he was glaring at Francis with his hammer out, as he wanted to seek revenge on him for eating all of the oysters before he had the chance to try at least one.

"The time has come!" Francis exclaimed, as he darted through the door at a rapid pace. The furious Tito chased right behind him, swinging his hammer in an attempt to hit Francis as the two were running down the sandy beach. Once the two dogs had disappeared into the night, the sun and the moon reappeared with the faces of Timon and Uncle Max as they smiled. Then they sang the very last line.

Timon and Uncle Max: *With cabbages and kings!*

The meerkats landed on the grassy terrain with their honking noises once the story was over, and they stood up with their index fingers pointing upward.

"The end!" they said in unison with big smiles on their faces.

Olivia, who had been sitting on the log the whole time she was listening to the story, had a smile of content on her face in response to their melancholic yet wonderful tale. "That was a very sad story."

"Eh, and there's a moral to it." said Uncle Max.

Olivia nodded her head in agreement and replied to him, "Oh, yes, there's a very good moral, indeed. If you happen to be an oyster."

She then rose up from the log, as she knew that she was supposed to be finding Archimedes and discover what he was late for: a tea party or the royal croquet party.

"Well, it's been a nice time I had with you two." she said, only to be placed back down on the log by the meerkats.

"There's another recitation we wish to share with you!" Timon said to Olivia.

Olivia started to say something, "I'm sorry, but—"

"It’s entitled Old Father William!" But she was interrupted by Timon, who mentioned the title of their next story to her.

"No, really, I—"

"First verse!" Timon chirped merrily, interrupting Olivia again. As he started to sing, Uncle Max took a cane and started to act like an elderly old man, his body quivering and walking slowly like a turtle.

Timon: *"You are old, Father William," the young man said,*
*"And your hair has become very white*
*And yet you incessantly stand on your head*
*Do you think, at your age, it is right, is right?*
*Do you think, at your age, it is right?"*

As the meerkats continued singing their song (and performing headstands in the process), Olivia got onto the other side of the log and rose up from there before leaving them behind in the lush green forest. Now she was finally on her way to find Archimedes, as she had been delayed for quite a while by Timon and Uncle Max's zany dances and their story she had just listened to.

*My number one priority is catching the brown pygmy owl and knowing what he is so tardy for,* she thought to herself as she kept walking through the woods, *Nothing can stop me from succeeding in my quest, no matter what happens in this weird world I’m in. That includes the bizarre moments of growing and shrinking I have went through before.*