Episode 8 – Let’s have a quiet day
There are some days when you really don’t feel like doing anything or going anywhere. Today, DeDe thought was just one of those days. While brushing her hair in the mirror she saw Dante go past the bedroom door, and wondered what plans he had for the day. Dante is always busy and never really likes to sit still. DeDe on the other hand is less of a doer, and happy to have a ‘do nothing’ day.
As she finished getting ready she wondered how she could get out of doing whatever Dante had planned. She would much prefer to stay home and snuggle in the warm with her book. But Dante is always so persuasive and in her eyes ‘makes’ her do things she’d rather not. She knew it was good to please others, but she did wonder when others might want to please her.
Perhaps she could persuade Dante and the others to please her today? She knew Lily-Poo would be happy to do what she wanted, because Lily-Poo has a gentle way about her and always tries to be kind. Phoebe too is content to make others happy as long as it involves muddy puddles. DeDe also knew Harley would always do what she wanted, as long as he thought it was a good idea. That just left Dante to win over, and this was her challenge!
As she came downstairs she heard the rustle of Dante putting his coat on before calling “are you ready, we should be going!” She walked down stairs and sat on the bottom step. “Dante, she said, “I’m not sure I want to go out today. I’d much rather stay home and have a quiet day, do you mind if I don’t come?”
Dante put his coat back on the hook and thought for a second. He knew it was good to make others happy, but staying at home all day was not what he wanted to do. How could he make sure he did what he wanted to do while also pleasing DeDe?
First he thought of splitting the day in two, they could have the morning at home and then go see the others on the beach in the afternoon. He wasn’t sure whether DeDe would like this, because she’d said she wanted the whole day at home, and he knew he couldn’t possibly do that.
He had spent a whole day at home once before, but that was when the snow was higher than his nose and he couldn’t see where he was going. What he remembers most about that day, was he had itchy feet from doing nothing and wasn’t able to sleep all night. He simply wasn’t tired.
His next thought was a compromise, and hopefully one DeDe might be happy with. How about if they arranged a play date, and the others came to their house? That way DeDe would get her day at home and he would get to see the others and play. This way the day wouldn’t be completely quiet.
After a little thought, DeDe agreed this was an excellent idea! Immediately Dante sent a positive thought inviting the others to their house. To encourage them, he reminded everyone that he had lots of toys and a garden large enough to doodle dash in.
The first to arrive was Lily-Poo who surprisingly had a car ride without any traffic jams. The first thing she did was search out the toy box. She pulled out a pink pig that felt furry and comfy in her mouth, although it did smell a lot of Dante’s breath, which slightly put her off!
Harley and Phoebe came on Billy train so arrived at the same time. Unlike Lily-Poo they were late because the signal box near Harley’s house wasn’t working, so they had to wait while it was mended.
One by one they all nosed through Dante’s toy box choosing a toy to chew. Dante’s toys are generally filthy and not very inviting at all. Harley chewed on a fluffy cow called Marge for a little while, but after spitting out two pieces of stale biscuits that were caught in the fluff, he put it back, thinking it must be full of germs.
After sniffing a few others toys, Harley joined the others in the garden and found a stick to play ‘tug’ on. While he was playing tug with Phoebe, they heard the gate slam as the furless two legs left to go and ‘do work’ or whatever they do when they are away from home. Now they had the place to themselves.
It was nearly time for Dante’s favourite television programme. The one where the doodles that don’t have homes visit houses that don’t have doodles. The point of the programme is to match the doodle to a house, so it becomes a happy home.
Today’s programme saw two miniature Jackapoos choose a family with the biggest garden they’d ever seen. They all laughed because the two tiny doodles looked so small in such a big garden! Eventually, after checking out the sofas and the memory foam beds, the Jackapoos decided it would be a suitable home. So they started to cuddle up to the furless two legs before moving in.
Lily-Poo and Phoebe thought the programme was sad and didn’t like to think of any doodle without a home, so they wandered upstairs to find DeDe. They found her reading a book on her bed. She was pleased to see them because although she had wanted a quiet day, she now realised the quietness did make the day drag a bit.
While they were chatting Harley wandered in. He hadn’t been in many girls’ bedrooms before and was surprised how tidy it was. When DeDe told him she was reading rather than playing a game, he lost interest and ambled back downstairs to find Dante.
It’s all very well having a quiet day and doing what others want you to do, thought Harley, but when nobody’s doing anything at all, it does become a bit dull. He found Dante still watching the TV, when they saw the next programme was about politics, they quickly turned it off.
They thought for a while and wondered what they could do next. They were normally doodle dashing on the beach at this time, so it felt strange to still be in doors. Then Dante had an idea. We could play a game where we all dress up and let the others guess who we are meant to be. Harley wasn’t keen on dressing up, but as he didn’t want to upset his best friend, he pretended he was looking forward to it.
Dante told everyone to come downstairs and he explained the game. To his surprise everyone thought it was a brilliant idea and they were happy to join in.
Before the game could start they all raced upstairs to the wardrobe to choose their outfits. Dante let everyone choose first, before he grabbed some white running shorts and a yellow and red tee shirt.
They all went to different parts of the house to change before Dante, as master of ceremonies, called them to the living room one by one. First came DeDe dressed as a nurse, then Phoebe as a policewoman, followed by Harley trying to look like the nice parking warden at Camber. They all guessed each other in a flash.
To their surprise Lily-Poo came dressed as herself. She’d decided not to bother with fancy dress. She couldn’t find anything that didn’t make her look just that little bit silly. Although she normally liked dressing up, she much preferred designer outfits over the uniforms and superhero outfits Dante had in his wardrobe. Everyone is so much more sophisticated in Chislehurst, she thought.
When they’d all finished strutting around, Dante went behind the TV and quickly changed into his outfit. Once he was ready he jumped out and hopped to a stop. They looked at him blankly, with no idea who he was trying to be. White shorts? We all have white shorts, there’s no clue there. A yellow tee shirt with red lines is not out of the ordinary either.
DeDe thought she’d better make a guess because Dante had been kind to her, so asked. “Are you a furless two leg getting ready to go to the beach at Camber?” “No” came the reply.
“Are you a bee who’s stepped in a pot of jam?” Asked Phoebe. Again “No” came the reply. “I know, I know” said Harley, “you’re the life guard at Camber?”
By this time Dante was getting impatient. Why had nobody guessed his outfit as quickly as they’d guessed all the others? After more wrong answers, an awkward silence hung in the room. Feeling a little embarrassed, Dante had no option but to tell them.
“I’m a Watford football player of course!“ he said. They smiled pretending to know what he meant, but really didn’t have a clue. After further awkward pauses Lily-Poo looked at the clock and with a wry smile said, “Well, if I’m going to miss the traffic I better get going”.
They all agreed it had been a very different day, one where they had all tried hard to please each other, without really pleasing themselves. It had been an “OK” day, but secretly they were looking forward to tomorrow, when they’d be back on the beach.
As DeDe closed the front door behind Phoebe and Harley, she thought how kind everyone had been to her, and how lucky she was to have such good friends. She climbed onto the sofa and snuggled next to Dante, who by this time was snoring gently, obviously tired after a busy “quiet” day.
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Image Credits: Vicki Batt .