Operation Sweet Tooth by Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work contains underaged content. You have been warned.
“We crave what we cannot have.”
-Ramnaresh Thogaru
“This is agent Samuel D Nelson reporting on behalf of the all those employed in the service of President Gibson. Today's objective was handed down by the chief himself. The goal...to secure several parcels which have been hidden by the enemy. Reports tell us that these packages contain supplies that are important to the security of our tree house. We must not let the commander down, for I shall be rewarded if I am successful in this mission. This objective shall be treated a number one priority. Signing off this is agent SMD.” A small cub speaks into a hand worked recording device.
The boy stood atop his grandstand giving a speech to a party of 8. Of course, none of them were actually real people, except for his brother. The beagle boy had always been an imaginative one and today was one of those days where boredom had taken over as the overriding factor in life. Sammy had just turned 11 and was ornately fascinated by the James Bond films. Despite the genre being well outside of his age range, the cub had seen every film and was quite knowledgeable about the world of fictionalized espionage.
The orange and white puppy stepped off of his wooden box, standing in full regalia similar to that of what he had seen so many times in the movies. In actuality, he was wearing a dark black sports coat with matching slacks. The stuff was supposed to be worn for formal occasions but Sammy never informed his parents that he intended to it for pretend. He didn't think they would mind, especially since the clothing was now over a year old and was rather a tight fit on his growing body. The outfit was complete with a dark set of spectacles which replaced his normal glasses.
The president he was speaking of was, in fact, no member of the government. It was actually his brother who was having one of those days where he felt rather lazy. Remi and Sammy were twins and the only distinguishing feature between the two was Remi's lack of glasses and Sammy was the slightly taller of the two. However, to an unfamiliar outsider, the brothers were very much identical. Remi also wasn't quite as into the whole spy bit as his brother was. But this particular day, he decided to indulge the bigger cub.
The smaller cub served as the commander and chief, though he didn't go as far to dress like his brother. Remi was much more keen on his parent's peculiarities, and unlike his brother, he was quite certain they would get upset if he used his good clothing for playtime. After a small quarrel, the two decided to just pretend with Sammy being the only one to bother getting into what he considered an appropriate costume. However, that didn't stop the smaller cub from pretending to the best of the ability.
“Agent SMD. Your goal, should you chose to accept, is to secure point A. Our scout has reported that there is a small chance of the enemy being present. Should you be caught, the mission will be for nothing.” Remi showed his brother a small poorly drawn map he had made of their house.
“Here on the map, you can see four entry points. Two are located in the front and two are located at the sides. Recon has reported that the enemy most likely will guard the front. A back entry is recommended, but you may use your best judgment regarding this.”Remi made two very poorly drawn arrows indicating the entrances of the home.
“Yes, Mr. President. Should I secure any hostages if I find any?” Sammy saluted his makeshift boss.
“Agent Bear reported no hostages were taken. However, if you find any and free them, then you will be rewarded handsomely.”
Sammy was prepared for his mission. The so-called president pointed out a make-shift window that looked over the small one-story home.
“As you can see there is no sign of any guards or dogs...well other than us of course.” Remi had to hold back a giggle from that terrible joke.
“I shall give you two tools which shall help you in your task.” The smaller cub handed the bigger one a recording device and a small pen.
“What do they do?” Sammy asked secretly hoping they were more than just normal household items.
“The pen will serve as a stun gun and a walkie-talkie will be to signal for immediate evacuation, should things get too dangerous.
“Very well. I am ready, Mr. President.” Sammy fixed his little bowtie and stashed the small items in his two front pockets.
“Good luck and may the force be with you.” The faux executive burst out laughing as his brother rolled his eyes.
The bigger cub made his way to the small ladder which led into the yard. Remi continued to watch from above, wiping his eyes of the tears of joy he had just induced. The smaller cub had hoped for his brother's victory since he too wanted to reap the rewards of his success.
Sammy did not seek to make his way directly across the backyard. Instead, he clandestinely snuck through the shrubs which covered the fences on both sides of the property. His intention was to remain as stealthy as possible and go undetected. He knew the back sliding glass door but the cub was not one who sought an easy way to do anything. The beagle instead decided that he would climb into his room from the window.
He knew his mother had left the fixture open since it was a warm fall day. It was a way to save on electricity since the heat of summer had been rather expensive for the twins parents. Sammy made his way to his room which was on the west side of the home, hugging the right side of the fence. Once he had arrived at the window, he could see it was open and tippy-toed so he could peer over the top. It didn't seem like there was anyone inside and so he assumed it was clear.
Sammy tried with all of his might to lift himself over top of the window. Doing so was much harder than he anticipated. Luckily there was a stool which his mother normally used to clip high hanging branches nearby. Pulling the thing over was simple enough, and just that little boost in height was enough to give the cub what he needed to get over the top. As he rolled inside, he landed on his two hind legs holding his hand out in the gesture of a gun.
The boy was inside and the initial temperature shift was jolting but not drastic enough to deter him from what he was doing. However, there was a light scent of oatmeal cookies in the air and it tantalized the cub's scent. For a moment he couldn't think of anything but tasting the stuff and getting his paws on the fresh baked goods. He stood for a moment, enjoying the scent and wagging his tail at the thought of gorging himself on a whole plate of them.
“This is President Gibson, status report.” Remi checked in on his brothers progress.
“Shh,...you're going to blow my cover.” Sammy turned down the radio device, no longer entranced by the aroma of the confections.
Sammy continued his way out of the room once he had regained his composure. He could still smell the cookies but getting to them without being caught was an issue in itself. Looking outside of his room, he began to wonder about the best possible route for getting to the kitchen. He had no idea where either of his parents was and they could be anywhere this time of the day. The cub decided to place his chips on betting his father was watching soccer.
It was Saturday which meant there was likely a plethora of matches on the television. Despite being American, the father had grown up loving the world's sport. He was especially fond of the Arsenal club which was the very same team the boy's grandfather had played for in his youth. As such the twins father was a big fan of soccer. Today was the day where Arsenal was to play Liverpool. The local sports channel had been talking the match up all week and Sammy was fully aware of it.
So it was worth the gamble, he figured. Sammy took off his shoes in order to eliminate as much sound as possible. Turning the left corner and following the left wall, the cub eventually heard the sound of the television. Sure enough, the blasting announcer of ESPN FC was going on about their love for Liverpool. The boy's father was yelling some nonsense at the television in front of him, pretending that the two people discussing the sport in front of him, heard his complaints.
Sammy rolled his eyes and knelt down so that he could go about behind the couch without being seen. It seemed his gamble had been worth it because the boy's father was way to involved with his football match. The cub continued to crawl making his way toward the kitchen, noticing that the smell of the cookies became ever stronger as he got closer to the source of the food. He was getting hungry now and anxious to score his prize.
The very next room over was the kitchen. Unlike the living room where his father was fixed to the sofa, the kitchen had tile floor. Sammy knew that crawling around wasn't an option since it would be more painful than it was on a carpet surface. The boy peeked inside to make sure his mother wasn't there. Sure enough, the tall woman was there, but her focus was turned outside as if looking on something. This was Sammy's chance to prove his skills as a faux spy.
He decided to creep in while kneeling. Taking small but methodical steps across the tile, making sure to not trip on his slippery socks which offered little to no traction. The cub worked his way across the floor, little by little, surprised that his mother had not caught him yet. The woman, on the other hand, was making some juice and was busy working the blender so she had something to sate her thirst while catering to her husband's demands during the soccer game.
Sammy made it to the counter where he believed the cookies would be and slowly rose up to the platform where he thought they were. His mother began turning around and caught a slight glimpse of what he was doing. Staring for a moment at the boys now tattered and dirty formal clothing. It took every fiber of her being to not yell at him.
“What are you doing, Sammy...?” The mother remained calm and collected since the sports coat didn't appear badly damaged.
The cub's heart skipped a beat and then steadily rose to race. He stopped in his tracks as his face turned beet red and he began to turn around slowly.
“Well...I'm waiting.” The woman began tapping her foot on the floor wanting an answer.
“Um...” Sammy knew he didn't have a good answer and immediately pushed the emergency signal on the walkie-talkie.
“I'll take that...Go change out of your clothes. Now! After go sit in time out and think about what you've done.” The mother was furious but she wasn't one who believed in corporal punishment.
“Okay, mom...” The cub looked dejectedly to the floor as he slumped out of the kitchen to undress into something else.
Remi overheard the distress call as it squealed from the little radio device which he had stored away. A
sense of unease came over the cub as he considered the cause for eh use of the signal. The smaller beagle was relaxed until that point, making his way slowly to pick up the walkie talkie.
“Agent SMD, come in!” The boy spoke over the intercom but nothing was spoken back.
Little did the boy know that the mother had turned it off and placed it somewhere where she thought neither of the twins would look. The make-shift president decided to take action on his own as he wasn't one to leave his brother hanging since the two were on relatively good terms. Remi began to make his way down the tree house and into the backyard, looking around to make sure neither of his parents was looking for him.
Looking into the glass door, it seemed that the boy's mother was currently looking over the couch. He could hear the father was being screamed at and knew this was his chance to not only score the payload but to free his brother from the clutches of the so-called enemy. He veered over to the right where he knew the window to the kitchen was. Of course, it was far too high to him to climb up, so he used the same trick his brother did in order to get into the fixture.
After pulling over the stool and using every bit of his strength, to pull himself up. Luckily for him, the window was open and it was very easy to get in once he was inside. Looking over top the counters, he could see the cookies which he had employed his brother to take earlier. Remi took a handful of them and stuffed them in his pockets, not worried about the fact of whether they were going to be crushed or not.
He made sure to take enough for both he and his brother, sitting on the counter thinking about where his fellow twin was being kept captive. It didn't seem that he was in the kitchen, so Remi went about lowering himself from the counter. It was an easy task, one which he was able to do without much effort since it wasn't a high drop. He could overhear his parents who were arguing over the fact that the father wasn't paying attention to the kids.
Now that very same problem applied to both of them. Remi proceeded to lurk around going the opposite direction that his brother had gone earlier. He went right behind his mother, who was much too involved in the dispute with her husband to notice the other cub in his heist. Once the boy had made it past his parents, he began running towards his room. It was only a short dash down the hallway and the cub assumed it was safe.
After arriving in the room, Remi saw that his brother was faced towards the wall in his pajamas. No sound was being made but Sammy's head was hung low as if in defeat.
“Agent SMD. I have secured our prize and come to release you.” The smaller cub approached the bigger one from behind.
“Mr. President? You came for me?” Sammy turned around as a smile returned to his face.
“Yup, now let's get you untied and enjoy the spoils of our victory.” Remi helped his brother off the stool and handed him a small helping of crumbled cookies.
The two enjoyed the sweets together and spent some of the day without worry. Eventually, Sammy was returned to time out but after the Mother found out the boys intention, she wasn't nearly as mad as she was initially. As such the punishment was reduced to a few hours. The bigger cub was truly grateful his brother had finally given in to playing spy with him. Remi ended up enjoying it too, even know it didn't go completely as planned. They couldn't help but plan for next time and Sammy swore on his honor as an agent that he wouldn't be caught...in the name of cookies!
