Chapter 20: Broken Bones and Motives
(The * symbol means it's a flashback)
"Oh my goodness! So Shawn just left you hanging from the tree for the whole hike?!" Ryder asked in shock.
"Yes. I was looking forward to spending some bonding time with Snowflake, but instead I got stuck in a tree and got afraid of flying and heights!" Marshall replied. Just the memory brought tears to Marshall's eyes.
"I-I was terrified! I was scared I might fall and get hurt!" Marshall said before he started crying.
"Marshall!" Ryder exclaimed, hugging the pup. After a minute of hugging, they separated.
"So what happened? I read in your files that you got sent away early. I'm so sorry Marshall," Ryder said, placing a hand on Marshall's shoulder.
"That happened because of Shawn as well. It was one of the worst days of my life!" Marshall replied back as he started to tell his story.
- It was a nice, sunny day at Pup Training camp, and Marshall was playing with Rocks and Snowflake. As they played, Shawn watched while the three pups chased each other, tagged each other, and then continued to play. Eventually, the three pups got tired.
"Phew! Playing tag is fun!" Rocks said as he panted.
"Yeah, you two are great. I'm glad we're friends!" Snowflake replied.
"Thank you Snowflake," Marshall and Rocks responded before they hugged the husky pup. After a minute of hugging, the three buddies separated. Suddenly, they felt thirsty.
"I think I'm going to go get a drink of water," Snowflake said as she started walking.
"I'll join you. Do you want to come along Marshall?" Rocks replied.
"Sure," the Dalmatian pup answered. After the three pups got their water, they headed back to their tents. Suddenly, Marshall spotted Shawn.
"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up!" Marshall said turning to Rocks and Snowflake.
"Okay!" Rocks and Snowflake replied before going back to their tents. Once they were gone, Marshall walked up to Shawn.
"Hi Shawn. What do you want?" Marshall asked.
"I was just watching you hang out with Snow and Rocks. So, do you want to take a walk? You know, just to hang out?" Shawn replied.
"I don't know. Are you going to bully me again?" Marshall said.
"No, I just want to hang out with you. No bullying, I promise," Shawn responded in a straightforward voice. Marshall was still nervous, but considering Shawn's voice, he decided to take a chance.
"Okay Shawn. I'll hang out with you, ... As long as we don't get lost in the woods," Marshall replied making sure Shawn understood.
"No problem, Let's go," Shawn responded as the two pups started heading towards the a path on in the woods.
As they walked in the woods, the pups noticed that there were cliffs on their right side with rocks on them. Some of the rocks and boulders looked as if they could fall at any minute. Suddenly, Marshall spotted a red, rubber ball in a bush.
"Hey Shawn, do you want to play ball?" Marshall asked, getting the ball out of the bush.
"Of course!" Shawn replied. The two pups then played with the ball by passing it to each other. Time passed, and the game soon went from passing, to bouncing the ball, and sometimes how far they could hit the ball. Marshall had just got the ball and had hit the ball like he was playing Volleyball.
"Heads up Shawn!" Marshall called out as the ball headed for the Border Collie pup.
"I got it!" Shawn replied as he went to pass the ball. Unfortunately, Shawn had wacked the ball too hard and sent it flying into the cliff area. What the pups didn't know was that a boulder that was being supported by small rocks was right in the ball's path. The ball hit the small rocks on the Cliffside, causing the small rocks to move away, and the boulder started to wobble. Both Marshall and Shawn saw this and knew they were in trouble.
"Run!" Marshall cried out. The two pups then made a run for it, hoping to get to safety. Suddenly, the boulder fell off the Cliffside, and landed right on top of Marshall! The crash sent dust flying everywhere, so it was hard to see. Once the dust cleared away, Shawn looked back and ran over to where he last saw the Dalmatian pup.
"Marshall! Marshall, are you alright?!" Shawn called out in concern. He then heard whining, and saw Marshall. Marshall was lying on the ground, with his back legs trapped under the boulder.
"Shawn! P-Please help me! I think the boulder broke my legs when it fell on me!" Marshall explained, tears running down his face.
"Okay. May I take a look?" Shawn asked. Marshall said that he could. Shawn then carefully grabbed Marshall's front paws and pulled as carefully as he could.
"OOOOOWWWW!" Marshall screamed as pain shot through his legs.
"Sorry Marhall. Let me try something else," Shawn replied. Shawn then walked over to where the boulder was pinning Marshall's legs. Shawn tried pushing the boulder away, slowly pulling Marshall's legs away or out of the boulder, and even tried to move Marshall again. Nothing worked. The only thing that Shawn did do was make Marshall cry out in pain.
"OOOOOOOWWWWWW! Shawn, please stop! Your plan isn't working!" Marshall commented with more tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I thought I could gently push you out, but I can't. You're stuck," Shawn replied as he returned to being in front of Marshall.
"Why did you hit the ball so hard? I thought we were going to be careful near the rocks!" Marshall commented.
"We were. I just got overexcited! Playing ball was just so much fun!" Shawn answered.
"Yes, but now I got broken legs thanks to you not being careful," Marshall snapped. Shawn sighed. He couldn't deny that this situation was partly his fault.
"Well, I'll try calling for help," Shawn said before howling. Marshall covered his ears until Shawn stopped howling.
"Well now that we called for help, what do we do until then?" Marshall asked, trying to ignore the pain.
"I know one thing we can do," Shawn replied. He then grabbed a stick and started to poke Marshall's hip near his legs.
"Ow! Ow! Stop that! Ow! Ow! Quit it!" Ow! Ow! Ow!" Marshall said as Shawn continued poking him.
"See? This is fun!" Shawn answered with the stick in his mouth.
"SHAWN! Stop!" Marshall snapped angrily at the pup. Shawn sighed before dropping the stick and then going back in front of Marshall.
"You're such a wet bone Marshall. How come you don't want to have fun?" Shawn asked in an upset voice.
"Hurting me is NOT fun! I'm sure you wouldn't like it!" Marshall replied angrily, trying to get his point across. There was silence for several minutes until Marshall spoke up.
"Shawn, why are you always so mean to me? I haven't done anything mean to you, so I don't see a reason why you would want to hurt me or get me upset. I don't understand what I did to deserve this. Why Shawn? Why are you so mean to me?" Marshall stated. Shawn smiled.
"Oh, so you want to know why I bully you, Snowflake, and Rocks? You want to know what my motives and reasons are for my bullying? Well, if you're so curious, I'll tell you," Shawn replied back.
"I bully you, Snowflake, and Rocks because it's fun for me. Telling me to stop, ruins my fun. Plus, if other pups see how weird you are or the fact that you have 'faults/flaws', no pup will want to hang out with you because they will see you as 'weird' and see me as 'normal'". Shawn smiled after his first explanation.
"Well bullying is no fun for my friends or I. Besides, pups like me for who I am, whether or not I am weird or not. They like me because I am a good friend Shawn. Speaking of which, why haven't you gotten into trouble yet?" Marshall retorted.
"Well you see, I don't get into trouble because I think that bullying is okay to do. I don't understand or know what is so bad about bullying. Plus, I don't like getting into trouble, so I always pretend to be innocent or act like you or the other pups caused the problem. Either that, or that the problem was an accident. Besides, I use this strategy with my owners all the time, so I figured why wouldn't it work here at camp, or anywhere else? The way I see things, I'm just trying to have fun and am not doing anything wrong!" Shawn explained casually.
"It doesn't matter if you think bullying is right or wrong, Shawn. The truth is bullying is wrong. Besides, you will get caught sooner or later. You can't bully me forever! Anyways, why do you bully my friends and I when we haven't done anything wrong to you? You know, we could be buddies. You don't have to be mean Shawn," Marshall commented.
"Well Marshall, I also bully the other pups because I know you don't like seeing your friends getting hurt. See, by making your friends hurt or upset, I know you will get upset as well Marshall. Think of it as a way for me to hurt you without us being face to face. It's like an indirect way of hurting you," Shawn replied. It was then that Shawn smirked.
"Yes, I could not bully you, but I choose not to do that. You see, it doesn't matter if there are rules or if you tell me to stop. As long as I have the opportunity and option to bully you and your buddies, I will. Because unless I physically get put in the pound, get sent home, or get taken away, you or anybody else can't stop me!" Shawn explained.
Next Chapter: Pups and Marshall's Bully: Chapter 21: Leaving