The Shadows Of Puppies Under The Moonlight

Once upon a time in a land far, far away humans coexisted with animals that chose to walk on two legs rather than the four we know of well in our own world. In one family there would often be a mix of both human and animal inhabitants and no one was judged for finding love outside their own species.

It was in one household that kept to this trend that our story begins. Two children rolled dice on a colourful board on the ground and shifted pieces around said board. One of these children was Yeeta, an 11 year old puppy boy with lovely black and white fur all across his body; that tied into a pigtail using the back of his head fur, as well as having sparkling red eyes that were shining down on the game that he was playing. Ivan the younger of the two boys was human, sporting scruffy black hair and sharing the bright red eyes of his brother. Both young males were currently topless and had matching sets of shorts with Yeeta’s being blue and Ivan’s being green.

For the most part, they had given up with the main objectives of the board game they had been playing and instead had begun to simply create their own games with the well-designed pieces. Yeeta had originally picked the dog shaped piece because it resembled his own species while Ivan had chosen the warrior complete with sword and shield. What they were currently laughing and generally having fun with was their own adventure involving a lost canine helping a young warrior defeat the warlocks of the explosive volcano.


 However being as the duo had been having so much fun, time had flown by without them and they soon found themselves struggling to see in the darkness. It was at this point that Yeeta got up and padded over to the light switch, only to stop before clicking the button. “Wow bro look!” he exclaimed, rushing back across the room to practically collide with the wall below the window.

Being the curious boy he was, naturally Ivan got to his feet almost immediately upon hearing his brother’s words and ran over to the window to join his older sibling. His eyes widened in awe, as he followed his brother’s view line and saw the biggest full moon he could ever imagine hanging there in the sky casting its serene light over them. “Full mooooon!” they said in unison, resting their paws and hands on the windowsill and unblinkingly watching the beautiful sight before them.

There was a moment or two of silence, where only breathing and the gently pats of a puppy tail wagging back and forth behind him. Yeeta was the one that eventually broke the almost hypnotised state of both brothers with a sudden burst of memory “Ohh yeah bro, did you know that the moon is made of cheese?” Naturally the human child turned to his brother and shook his head “nuh uhh! It’s just a big shiny rock in the sky!”

With an energetic movement of his head back the young canine smiles and wagged his tail even more “no bro, I saw it on a video, the moon’s made of cheese. People just say it’s a rock so that they can have all the cheese to themselves!” Gasping, Ivan looks back to the moon and proclaimed “That’s evil!” Nodding, Yeeta also returned his attention to the big ball in question.

“When I get big I’ll go to the moon and bring it back so that everyone can share all the cheese” said the puppy, making a determined fist out of his paw. With a happy jump up and down the younger of the two excitedly shouted “I wanna help, I wanna help!” Chuckling, the puppy gave his human sibling a tight hug “I knew I could count on you bro hehe”

Both of them laughed for a while, Ivan hugging back and quietly enjoying the feeling of his brother’s fur against him. That fluffy coat always made him feel so safe, not to mention it was lovely and warm! Then he inhaled dramatically and looked at his brother “I forgot! It’s Christmas tomorrow isn’t it?” Yeeta gasps too, how could they have forgotten about their favourite day of the entire year being so close? All the fun of their game and the discovery of the full moon above them had totally distracted them from what day it was.

Now even more excited, Yeeta squeezed his arms around his brother and happily barked “woot, maybe we’ll get something this year that’ll help us get to the moon!” With a laugh Ivan nodded happily “Santa will know that you want to go and now I do too so we’ll get extra help.” The puppy had not thought of that and practically took off towards his bed. They shared this room but naturally had separate beds in the form of a bunk bed. Yeeta’s bunk was on top and Ivan’s the lower one because he wasn’t as good so high up.

Ivan moved and lay on his bed too and looked up at the wooden underside of the top bunk with a smile “Mama will come tuck us in soon and then when we wake up our trip to the moon will be closer!” Both boys could hardly contain themselves, excited for Christmas, the moon and the future in general. When their door creaked open and their mother came in, both children were practically ready for the next day already. The human woman tucked them in nice and warm into their covers and soon their eyes closed and their excitement faded.

Smiling down at them and giving them both a kiss on the head goodnight, before quietly slipping out of the room with a slight chuckle to herself “Goodnight my little space explorers…you’re going to love tomorrow.” The door closed and both boys soon drifted off, ready for the next day to dawn and the future to be even more set into motion.

A new day dawned and with it came a scene of a winter wonderland outside each and every window lay a blanket of pristine, white snow. But for most, the day would start with an excited rush of cubs downstairs or into the bedrooms of parents to awake them in the pure excited state that only a young ball of energy can achieve. This was indeed true of Yeeta and Ivan, who eagerly awoke their mother and father and escorted them downstairs with them and immediately dived under the tree to fetch presents that Santa had left for each of them.

Happy wagging tail and gentle smiling faces were pulled back with the colourfully wrapped gifts, shining and shimmering in the dancing light of their open fire. Then the noise came: the tearing, the ripping; the downright destruction of that festive foil to expose the first couple of many gifts to come. Gasps of surprise and glee filled the air as one after another, present after present was laid bare before them. By the time they were done, quite the haul lay before them.

Matching spaceman outfits in their sizes, a model space shuttle for Yeeta and a lunar lander for Ivan. Shirts that exclaimed ‘I’m with a space man!’ or ‘I’m with a space dog!’ dependant on which brother was given it of course.  Books on space and the moon, quite a pile of those! Some wall decorations in the shape of the moon and stars, bed sheets that matched the walls and a few smaller figures too. Of course not all of the things were space themed, the usual barrage of toys, games, sweets and other lovely things adding to the veritable pile of goodies. But the pièce de résistance was a large model of the moon, complete with those figures and the imagination of both of the boys, that big ball of adventure was a goldmine of fun times to be had.
Endless joy, amusement and general enjoyment came from that big model moon and will continue to do so until the dream of those two determined children comes to fruition. Good luck Yeeta, good luck Ivan, may your future reach to the very frontier that you seek!
The End