Angelina sat at the dining room table with a mechanical pencil in her right grass hand, working on some homework from math class. She didn’t mind that particular subject, but it was a bit difficult.
Her little brother sat in the living room, playing with some toy pokeblocks while Ranae watched over him.
“Ugh…. I’m not fond of math, but it's possible to do.” said the grass snake.
Just as she was about to finish the current equation, there was a loud knocking at the door. Which surprised her just a bit. Angie wasn’t aware of anyone coming over today.
“Angie? Can you get the door please?” asked Ranae.
“Yes mom!” said Angelina as she went over to the front door and opened it with her grass vines. On the front of their porch was a familiar young boy that she had seen before, in his right hand was a small stack of pamphlets.
“Good afternoon, Miss Angelina. I’ve got a pamphlet about Pup-Scout Sign Ups, they just started today!” said Tom.
“That’s wonderful, Tom!” said the grassy snake. “I’m sure my little brother would love to be signed up, I’ll take one please..”
Tom handed one to her and waved goodbye, heading off to give more pamphlets to everyone else in the neighborhood. The boy was rather eager to get going, and didn’t have time to chat.
Angelina went back inside the house, and placed the pamphlet on the dining room table. Her mother slithered in while holding Nicky in her vines. The pup was curious about it.
“Oh? What’s this?” asked Ranae as she placed her little boy onto the ground before picking up the pamphlet with her own vines. “Let’s see what it says on the front.”
Pup-Scouts Sign Ups Today!
From February 16th to February 20th
Learn about Fire Safety Basics
Plenty of Fun Activities For Young Children
An Opportunity To Make Friends
Sign Up Your Child Today!
“This is very pleasant, plenty of fun activities sounds wonderful! Don’t you agree sweetie?” The mother asked her son.
Nicky looked over at the pamphlet as his mother turned the page, showing pictures of various activities and even one that involved a field trip to the Fire Station. He wagged his tail, showing his eagerness of wanting to participate.
“Do you want to go, little brother?” asked Angelina.
“Yes! I wanna!” said Nick.
“That’s great sweetie, now let’s see… sign-ups are currently happening in about an hour. From four-thirty to six this evening, at the Growlithe Scouts Headquarters. Which is a few blocks from Blue Bell Advertising. There’s also a Fire Safety Test that has to be taken for those registering.” said Ranae.
“Interesting, a test about fire safety…” said the snivy.
“Huh?” asked the pup.
“I don’t think it’ll be too hard, since it's a program for younger children,” said the mother.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t worry too much little brother.” said Angelina.
“Okay…” said Nicholas.
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4:30 PM
February 16th, 1997
Angelina sat next to her little brother in the family minivan, waiting to arrive at the main building where the Pup-Scout Registrations were taking place. Nick was rather excited, he was kicking his legs about while in his baby-seat. The pup was in a light-blue onesie.
“I know you're excited, but be careful little brother. You might end up kicking me.” She said while chuckling a bit.
“He’s eager to make friends.” said Ranae as she drove the car. “I’d probably be just like him if I had the opportunity to attend a program like this.”
“He'll also learn about Fire Safety as well,” said the mother. “Which will be beneficial to him.
After ten minutes had passed, they arrived at the parking lot to the registration building for the Growlithe Scouts. Ranae came across a parking spot near the front entrance and took the opportunity to get it before anyone else.
The mother turned off the car engine and unlocked the doors using the door button on the dashboard. Angelina unbuckled her brother using her vines, right before she removed her own seatbelt.
Ranae opened the driver-side door using her vines and slithered out of the vehicle, making sure to grab her car keys and the diaper bag before closing it. She then locked the car once everyone else had exited.
“Okay kiddos, let’s head in.” said the mother.
“Yay!” exclaimed Nick.
“Stay close to me, little brother.” said Angelina.
“Ahuh, sissy!” the pup replied.
They headed towards the entrance and walked into the building through the automatic sliding doors, where the main lobby was located. There was a short line of people wanting to register their own children for the program. “Welcome to Pup-Scout Sign Ups! Please keep an orderly line!” said a familiar young boy in a Growlithe Scout Uniform.
“Tom?” Nick asked.
“That’s him alright, he’s helping with sign-ups it seems.” said Angelina.
“Yay!” exclaimed the pup.
-----
Once it was finally their turn, Nick toddled up to the registration desk with his mother and sister behind him. Wagging his tail with excitement. Tom was standing by a man with dark-brown slicked back hair, and hazel colored eyes.
He was wearing a dark-blue polo shirt with blue jeans, and brown slip-on shoes. It was quite a casual outfit.
“Greetings, I am Danny Nelson. I’m the Scout Leader of The Growlithe Scouts. Here to sign up?” asked the man.
“Yes, I am here to register my son,” said Ranae. “This is Nicholas Marbette, we adopted him from Blisswood Orphanage. He’s one year of age.”
Danny wrote down the information on a notepad while giving affirmative grunts, making sure he didn’t miss a single detail. He was going to be storing this information in the computer database.
“Alright, sounds good Miss Marbette. Now… we are going to take your son to a separate room for the Fire Safety Test. If that’s alright with you.” said Danny.
“Make sure to bring him back.” said Ranae.
“Don’t worry, we’ll bring him back to the lobby once we're finished…” said Tom.
“Any additional payments that I need to make, aside from buying a uniform?” asked the mother.
“Nope, no other additional payments,” said Danny.
“That’s good, I don’t want to spend a whole lot,” said Ranae.
Nick was concerned about being taken somewhere for the test, since he wanted his mother and sister to be with him. Tom gave him a gentle pat on the back and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be taken to a colorful kid-friendly room. I think you’ll like it.”
“We’ll wait in the lobby then,” said Angelina. “Go ahead Nicky.”
The pup nodded as he headed off with Danny and Tom to be given the Fire Safety Test in a separate area of the building. He was being led through a long hallway until they came across a large brown door that said ‘Testing Room’ in light-blue letters.
Once inside, the little one’s eyes were met with a room with light blue walls and a white carpeted floor. It also had a variety of toys and other objects meant for younger children to play with.
“Okay Nick, we're going to ask you some questions relating to Fire Safety. I want you to do your best to answer them.” said Tom.
“Alright, the first question: Should you touch fire?” asked Danny.
Nick thought about it for about twelve seconds until he shrugged and said “Yes?” as the main leader wrote down his response on a paper being held on a clipboard, using a ballpoint pen.
“Next question: What should you do if there is a fire?” asked the young boy.
“Help?” The pup replied.
“That is technically correct…” said the main leader as he recorded the response.
Tom went to a closet in the room and opened it up, bringing out two plush toys that represented a Fire Extinguisher and a Box of Matches. This was part of the third question.
“Which one of these will put out a fire?” asked Danny.
“Uuuuh…. That?” Nick answered while gazing at the Fire Extinguisher.
Danny wrote down the pup’s response on his clipboard as he moved onto the final question for this little test. He handed his clipboard off to Tom as Nick wondered what was going to be the next one.
“Now Nick, here is the final question: Should you ever play with matches?” asked the young boy.
“Uuuuh…..” said the pup as he paused for a moment. He whined a bit since he wasn’t sure how to respond to this. “Yes?”
“Okay then, that’s the final question.” said the main leader as Tom wrote in his answer to the question, handing it back to Danny afterwards.
Nick watched as Tom grabbed the two toys and placed them back into the closet where they belonged. The little pup sat on the ground while staring at Danny while he looked over the answers, giving some hushed whispers to the young boy.
Tom looked over at Nick and crouched down to his level, making sure he was eye-level to him.
“Alright Nickster, while your answers aren’t all correct… It shows you have a lot to learn while being at the Pup-Scouts program. We have three groups that we place applicants in: Ember, Flame, and Blaze. You’ll be placed in the yellow one.” said Tom.
“Em-bur?” asked Nick.
“Ahuh, it's where we place those who don’t quite know about Fire Safety but are willing to learn. While Flame is for anyone who has a little knowledge, and Blaze is meant for those who already know the important rules of Fire Safety. They tend to help those in the Ember group.” said the young boy.
“Now… let’s head back to your mother and tell her the news.” said the main leader.
“Yay! Momma! Sissy!” said the pup.
Tom and Danny escorted Nicholas back to the main lobby, where his mother and sister were waiting for them. They were sitting on some comfy leather couches while reading a few magazines.
Angelina looked over the magazine she was reading, and saw that her little brother had returned from the test.
“Hey Little Nicky!” said Angelina as she went over to her baby brother and hugged him.
“How did he do?” asked Ranae.
“He did alright, but he needs to learn more about Fire Safety. That’s why he shall be placed in the Ember group.” said Danny.
“So he passed in some form?” asked the mother.
“The truth is… the test we do for all applicants is for helping place them into one of the three groups. We don’t disqualify anyone, as long as they are willing to learn.” said the main leader.
“That’s wonderful to hear, I was a bit worried he wouldn’t pass.” said the serperior.
“It’s how we do things in Pup Scouts, we want children to grow and learn. Rejecting any potential scouts wouldn’t be fair.” said Tom.
“Okay, what happens now? Anything specific I need to do?” asked Ranae.
Danny headed over to the registration desk to grab another clipboard that contained a form for ordering a uniform, walking back over to the group shortly after with a red pen in his right hand.
“Now I’ll need some information for the uniform that your son will be wearing while he’s in the program. You’ll need to order it from a special supplier.” said the main leader.
“Ah, I see! What are my options?” The mother asked him.
“You can order it online or through the mail. The price is only seventy-five pokedollars. Using the internet is the easiest option.” said Danny.
The serperior was quite shocked at how expensive the uniform was, but kept her composure otherwise. She hadn’t expected it to cost that much, and wondered why that was the case.
“Why is it so expensive?” asked Ranae.
“Because the uniform comes with a specialty-made diaper that comes with the uniform, and you cannot find it in stores,” said Tom.
“That’s the truth.” said the main leader.
“Oh, I see. Thank goodness I have plenty of money left-over when I was paid for Nicky being a diaper model. Mind if I write you a check? I don’t own a computer at home.” said Ranae.
“That is acceptable.” said Danny as she watched the mother get out a leaf-themed check-book from her purse using her vines.
She wrote a check for the amount required to purchase the uniform and gave it to Danny. Watching as the man attached it to the clipboard for the time being. Making sure to provide the address for delivery.
“Thank you so much, all money from uniform purchases go towards funding for the Growlithe Scouts.” said Tom.
“Now… what size would you like for your son’s uniform?” The main leader asked.
“Size one please, since it's the basic size for younger children.” Ranae replied.
“Sounds good, it’ll be delivered to your house in five days. Have a wonderful evening.” said Danny.
“Thank you, I wish the same for you.” said the mother as she headed out of the building with her children. Planning to cook up a delicious meal when she got back home
