“Hey did you get the bake sale stuff?”

“Yeah, they had everything on the list besides blueberries. But, I thought for the filling we could use strawberries instead?” Darryl asked in an almost desperate voice. He really didn’t want to go back to find something else that could work for the pie this late at night. Walmart after 9:30 is just full of insane people and bored teenagers playing kickball in the back.

“That should work just fine. Okay see you back at the house.”

“Wait Jared, you still dog sitting tonight?”

Darryl asked quick so Jared wouldn’t hang up on him.

“Yep we’re still Winkle-sitting tonight” Jared said excitedly. Jared loves dogs but doesn’t have the commitment you need to be a dog owner. Almost the exact same reason he can’t keep a girlfriend.

“Bro that dog is ginormous where is he even going to sleep tonight?” Darryl asked annoyed. Darryl isn’t too big of a fan of dogs. He likes them better than cats though.

“On the couch Darryl. Leave the man alone he can’t choose what size he is. Unlike you who could actually go to gym instead of saying ‘you’re just bulking’’ or ‘waiting for your villain arc’.”

“Shut up.” And that was the point in the conversation where Darryl ended the call with Jared.

When Darryl pulled into the driveway of the house he rents with Jared he already heard Winkler howling from inside.

Winkler is a big mutt with a deep howl. Darryl sighed and got out of his beat up truck with his plastic Walmart bags in hand. He stopped to look up at the sky for a moment. To take a breather before he was attacked by Winklers slobber and berrated by his barking. Tonight was beautiful. Not a cloud in sight and a full moon. Sure the moon’s light was so bright you couldn’t see a ton of stars. But, you could see every crater in the moon with how full it was. He took in one last big breathe and let it out. He marched up to the door and threw it open. And then got knocked down on his butt by Winkler. The dog was licking Darryl’s face while Jared was yelling “Winkler don’t step on our food. Winkler get off the Walmart bags brother.”

Once Winkler was satisfied with his attempt of drowning Darryl with slobber he trotted back to his spot on the couch. And Darryl pushed himself off from the floor. Without any help from Jared who was already beginning to get the supplies and ingredients out to make his pie. Darryl earlier that day got paid twenty dollars by Racheal (the head of their school’s bake sale this year) to make sure Jared made something at least edible. So he decided to head to kitchen to supervise Jared’s attempt at a strawberry pie. It was going good so far. The only detrimental mistake he had to help prevent was when Jared almost put salt instead of sugar into the bowl of dry ingredients. And when they decided to start on the filling they got the strawberries out and started washing them. Winkler started howling and barking. They tried get him to stop by throwing a piece of bacon at him they had in the back of their fridge. He only stopped for a little bit because as soon as they started cutting the green tops of the strawberries he started up again. Darryl was already tired of it because he was sleepy and they aren’t even half way done with the filling and it’s 11:00 pm. It looked like they still had an hour left. So they turned on Britney Spears and locked in. The pie was almost done. They were putting on the crust when Winkler once again started his howling. And he started getting agressive. Even Jared was getting tired of Winkler. He wouldn’t stop nipping at our ankles like a sheep dog. And was barring his teeth at us. But Jared being the dumb person he was put out his hand trying to pet Winkler. His kind heart got his hand chomped down on. And as stated before Winkler is not no purse dog. He is big. So while Jared was trying to get his hand free Darryl was throwing spoons at the dog trying to distract him so he would release his friend’s hand. Eventually the only spoon left was the one covered in strawberry goo and chunks. So Darryl chucked it at Winklers snout. It didn’t even faze him. But then Winklers snout started twitching and sniffing the air. He let go of Jared’s poor hand. And started licking and chewing on the wooden spoon. Darryl and Jared hopped up on their counters by the oven. With Darryl backed up completely against the wall and Jared clutching his strawberry pie. Winkler walked off and went back to his couch. Jared hopped down from the counter and opened the oven and popped the pie in. Darryl didn’t move an inch. He was terrified. And rightfully so. The pie was almost done. The smell of strawberries wafting through the air. The clock struck midnight. The ding of the oven signaling the pie complete. Even though some of its crust never made it onto the pie. There was a groan coming from the couch. And then footsteps. Darryl crawled on the counter to a nearby drawer and pulled out a knife. And Jared picked up the chewed up spoon off the floor. A dude about Jared and Darryl’s age walked in. He was covered shaggy hair and very tall. He opened the oven and pulled out the pie. With no mits on. Jared upset that somebody was about to eat his creation yelled “Who are you and what do you think you’re doing?”

The man replied “Winkler. I pefer blueberry.”

Jared’s mouth hung open in disbelief. And Darryl almost identical the only difference was he was still on top of the counter. Winkler opened their front door and walked out.