A piercing shriek ripped through Randy’s sweet sleep, jolting him awake. He blinked, bleary-eyed, as the bright morning light stabbed at his senses. His gaze focused on four feet standing right beside his cabinet-hideaway — two enormous human feet in heels, and two tiny human feet in bright red boots. A small human child was demanding a surprise chocolate egg from his mother. Now!
Randy witnessed the complaining and felt a little embarrassed. Was this how I was when I was younger? Eventually, the child’s relentless wailing frayed the mother’s nerves. With a sigh that Randy could hear even under the cabinet, she relented and fetched the coveted egg.
Randy found life within the candy shop both bewildering and amusing. The thunderous thud of human feet, the carousel of strange footwear — shoes, socks, stockings — and the incessant chatter, arrested his interest day in and out. Every morning he would listen to the bizarre blend of gossip and conversations about "money," "girlfriends," and even "celebrities," as he ate his bed for breakfast. Humans were very different from the image he had formed of them when he was back in Villagloriosa — these humans were awfully mundane.
He also got to know Chewy's humans intimately. Joseph, a meticulous artisan, crafted candy with an almost reverent precision. He spoke with fervent excitement about his latest creations, his eyes sparkling as he envisioned the next elaborate display for the storefront window. He didn’t seem to be too bothered by the fact that Randy and his companions had destroyed his chocolate castle; he was even excited to have an excuse to create something new: a chocolate Venice this time, complete with a syrupy canal and gingerbread gondolas. Randy, both out of respect and a healthy dose of fear, decided to leave this particular masterpiece untouched.
By contrast, Madelyn was less enamoured with the art of candy-making. She preferred the company of customers, exchanging gossip and facilitating transactions. Randy was intrigued by the humans' system of "money" — a strange currency that replaced the simple bartering he was accustomed to, and something that humans obsessively talked about all the time.
As the day wore on, Randy's stomach rumbled. He hoped the humans would soon retire for the night, allowing him access to the candy and, more importantly, to continue the long-overdue digging.
Finally the humans extinguished the lights, signalling the end of their workday, but then a heated argument erupted, bickering as they tallied the day's earnings.
"Come on… leave already!" Randy muttered, his frustration mounting.
Then, quite unexpectedly, a coin slipped from Joseph's hand, rolling beneath the cabinet where Randy was hiding. The glinting disc held Randy spellbound, its perfect roundness a mesmerising sight. Joseph's hand groped beneath the cabinet, searching for the lost coin. Randy's heart pounded, his breath catching in his throat. The hand was so close, so close to finding the coin, so close to finding him.
"Joseph! Get up here and leave that penny alone. I want to go to bed." Madelyn demanded, cutting through the tension.
Joseph withdrew his hand, his sigh of resignation audible. The remaining lights flickered and died, and the humans' voices faded as they ascended the stairs.
"Finally!" Randy said, slipping out from underneath his cabinet.
"I know," Nadyr said from the shadows. "I was beginning to get hungry as well."
Randy was too hungry to question Nadyr's sudden appearance. He rushed to the storeroom, diving into a bag of sweets.
"I have to get to work," he mumbled, his mouth full with a gummy bear.
Stolen story; please report.
"Indeed you do," Nadyr said, appearing beside him. "You have to get some cotton candy and marshmallows and make yourself another comfortable bed for tonight."
"That's a good reminder!" Randy said, his eyes lighting up. He gathered the soft, fluffy ingredients and constructed a cosy nest. The bed beckoned, promising a respite from his responsibilities.
"Maybe I will just take a quick nap and start working in a bit," he said, his eyelids fluttering.
"I think you should," Nadyr soothed Randy’s concerns. "That's such an excellent idea."
Randy sank into the marshmallow depths, his eyes closing, and by the time he opened them, the sun was streaming through the windows, and Joseph was preparing to open the shop.
And so, the days dissolved into a blur of indulgence and human observation. Randy lived a life of unparalleled comfort, a life only slightly marred by the daily pangs of guilt he felt from not doing any digging. But each time the guilt gnawed at him, Nadyr was there, a calming presence, reassuring him in his indulgences.
One evening, after the shop had closed, Randy heard Madelyn's muffled sobs. He crept closer, peering into the shop, and saw Madelyn and Joseph locked in a somber embrace. He took a moment to observe Madelyn, a woman in her mid-forties, her cheeks flushed and her eyes swollen from crying. Joseph, thin and moustachioed, stood beside her comforting her.
"My poor baby… today is his birthday," Madelyn said, choking with tears.
"Oh, Madelyn, someday you must get over it. Wherever he is, I'm sure he's doing just fine," Joseph said.
"I'm sorry, I know I'm being so emotional about it, but he was such a good dog, and he always gave the shop so much life. You know Carmen asked me where he was today. Then Amelia pointed out the shop wasn't the same without him."
"Yes, I heard," Joseph said. Randy had heard it as well.
"It is a tragedy. I wonder where he is. He's not in the pound. Maybe he's with some horrible family that feeds him chicken leftover bones, and he'll choke to death... Or maybe an alligator ate him, or someone kidnapped him and they are using him as a fighting dog."
Randy imagined Chewy as a fearsome fighting dog. With his tail-biting technique, he would win every match, unless the opponent dog didn’t have a tail; then he wasn’t sure where else Chewy would choose to bite.
"Now, dear," Joseph said, containing a gentle laugh, "those stories are each more unlikely than the next. There are no alligators anywhere here, and Chewy is not a fighting dog."
"You don't know that," Madelyn protested. "They could be using him as a sparring dog."
"Wherever he is, I'm sure he's fine. If a family found him and didn't want to return him, which is most likely what happened, I'm sure it's because they've fallen in love with him as much as we did."
"That's not true. Nobody loves Chewy as much as I do," she said defensively.
"Well then," Joseph said, "maybe not as much, but a lot. Anyway, Madelyn dear, don't you think it's time for us to move on? I mean, it's been weeks since we last saw him. I could maybe get another dog for you? Yes, dear?"
"How could you!" she shouted, pushing him away. "How could you think of doing that when Chewy may still be out there?! I want my Chewy!" Her voice echoed through the shop, a raw cry of grief that made Randy's ears ring.
"Okay, dear, sorry, you are right, that was too insensitive of me to say." Joseph placated her the best he could.
"I know you didn’t mean it, sorry for shouting," she said, hugging him again. "I don't know what came over me. I'm rather excited today. I think I ate too much toffee."
Randy made a mental note to limit his toffee consumption.
"Let's go to bed now," Joseph said. "You'll feel better in the morning."
"I suppose you are right," she answered.
Randy retreated to his hiding place, his mind buzzing. The humans' grief and their love for Chewy: he should tell his friend about this as soon as possible. He was hungry, but the conversation had reminded him of his responsibilities. He needed to escape, to tell Chewy about Madelyn and Joseph, to free Karnel, to retrieve his pearl, to find The Place Where The Sun Meets The Earth. So many things to do.
The funny thing was, of all the things that Randy could think about, not once did he think about how his parents must be feeling about him leaving.
But today he had found courage and motivation, and finally he eagerly started to dig — at least for a bit…