KEEP LAUGHING AS TIME SPINS AWAY

A romantic comedy novella

by Genie Gabriel

Heat level: 1

My summer was supposed to be a time to relax and recharge. I think I've done some of that…in between racing the clock. As they say, ya gotta keep laughing…

So I'm posting an excerpt from my second romantic comedy novella, ST. BATZY AND THE TIME MACHINE.

Hope you get a laugh out of this!

***EXCERPT from ST. BATZY & THE TIME MACHINE***

Horace Ainsworth patted the side of the giant red fire hydrant towering two stories above him then addressed the terrier mix dog staring at him curiously. "It's finished. Now don't you dig in my Maddie's roses any more or potty on the pansies."

Batzy stared at Horace's retreating back for a moment before he hiked his leg on the nearest flowering plant. 

Then he turned his attention to the odd-looking structure the Big Human had erected. Not like any fire hydrant he'd ever sniffed. A canine would have to be the size of King Kong to give this thing a proper marking. 

Though it did smell like the water that sprayed out of the hose when the human across the street yelled at him. Batzy grinned and lifted his leg, imagining he was returning the spray of the yelling human. 

As he circled this mysterious structure, the smell of fresh paint and overturned earth drifted into his nostrils. It was bigger than the merry-go-round at the park where his human, Chloe, sometimes took him. 

Wonder what's inside? 

Batzy scratched at the side of the structure then trotted another few steps and scratched again. About halfway around he found an opening. Not tall enough for the Big Human, but just about perfect for his little girl, Chloe. Batzy darted inside and lifted his face to sample the aromas. 

No scents of danger but much to explore. Like this box of dirt. Odd. Big humans usually didn't appreciate the joys of digging. Hadn't he just been told not to dig in the rose bushes? A sniff and a poke with his paw uncovered a bone. Fresh out of the package. Batzy looked around. What game was the Big Human playing? 

"Batzy!" his little girl was calling him. 

Batzy stepped out of the digging pit. Hmm. I smell peanut butter. 

He put a front paw on a cabinet for balance and nosed a button. A bone-shaped treat fell into a bowl below. Also fresh out of a package. The Big Human was definitely up to something. Batzy gobbled it down quickly before looking around again. 

"Batzy!" 

Drat! He had to go. On his way out, Batzy stepped back into the digging box and snatched up the bone. Outside once again, he pushed the bone through the gap under the fence, and squeezed through after it. 

He popped up on the other side with only a few more streaks of mud on the white of his belly and wagged his tail at Chloe. He'd go back to explore the Big Human's structure later. 

***

On the monitors Horace watched the giant fire hydrant. On the outside it looked much the same as it had when Horace set it up for the dog next door. However, the monitors showing the inside of the hydrant revealed major changes. Living quarters for human time travelers were contained on the second floor of the hydrant. On the ground floor a mini-nuclear reactor had been installed. A semi-circle around it contained a bank of monitors and control panels linked to the computer that controlled the time machine and contained a calendar program to calculate the day, month and year where the time machine had traveled. 

"T minus thirty seconds and counting," Clement intoned. 

Horace drew a deep breath to calm the buzzing of adrenaline through his veins. If this worked--no, when the test flight proved the time machine worked, Horace would rescue Maddie and never let her travel without him again. 

"Ten, nine, eight..." 

A movement on one of the inside monitors caught Horace's eye. "What's that?" 

"...two, one. Activate." 

"I think we have an unexpected passenger." Horace dashed outside to where the fire hydrant used to sit. Now only a flattened patch of lawn separated his back yard from the neighbor's fence. 

A freckle-faced girl with bright red hair leaned against the fence. "Have you seen my dog, Batzy?" 

***

(Excerpt copyright Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel)