First Day
written by Kat G. (Star)

 The small, insubstantial looking building was set back away from the Road Rover Mission Control.
Its nondescript front held no special banners trumpeting its purpose, no loud signs screaming its name, it was simply a small building attached to the RRMC.

 A young Alethia smiled nervously at her new teacher. The Japanese Spitz was in a new daycare center and knew no Sapien there. The Jack Russel Terrier smiled down at the young dog, "Don't worry dear, you'll fit in fine here with the other children. They're all out back in playtime right now. You can join them if you wish, or stay here with me for the time being." Alethia looked around undecisively, then motioned she'd like to stay with the terrier for now.

 A sandbox. A simple device filled with, well, sand, used for hours of castles and mud pies. A young Rottweiler pup sat in the sandbox, licking a lolly and holding onto his plushie rottie.

 A jungle gym. A large set of entertaining "rides" for children. Hours of entertainment and thrills. A small German Shepherd mix with the left ear flopping over sat next to it on the ground, a Cool Tools set next to him, and proceeded to disassemble it.

 A small mare, flea-bitten gray in color with a white mane, sat on the ground playing with a collection of My Little Ponies while a Golden Retriever with pigtails snuck up behind her with a toy bat on a string.

 A little black and white Husky, German Shepherd with left ear flopping over, and a Wolf mix sat together on the swings. The Husky sat on the right side of the Shepherd, clutching a little wooden rolling pin while the Shepherd clutched a little stuffed blue dog. The Wolf mix, sitting on the left of the Shepherd,  tried to act like he wanted to be there, but he didn't. He didn't want cooties.

 A black Labrador mix sat next to an orange and white Shetland Sheepdog and a black and white Dalmatian by the monkey bars. They were all off in their own little world, talking about the toys they'd brought to daycare today and who they'd share with.

 A sniffling was heard coming over from the sandbox. Everyone looked up to see the young Rottweiler tearing up. "I dwopped my lolly." He then began to whimper and cry. The Golden Retriever came up to him and gave him a hug. "Is okay Muzzy..." Muzz sniffed then began to brighten. Dawn, the Retriever, then grabbed his plushie and took off. "Dawny..come back wif Bo!!!" The pup began to chase Dawn around the playground, desperately trying to get his plushie back. The black and white Husky came from out of nowhere and bopped Dawn on the head with her rolling pin, "Gif Muzzy his Bo back!" Rubbing her head, Dawn readily did so and mumbled an apology, taking off to go torture another of her playmates. Muzz hugged his plushie, then looked at the Husky, "Thank you Sierra.."

 The mischevious Dawn then turned her attention to the little mare. "Heeeeey Callie?" "What?" "Look up!" Callie looked up to see a bat, a toy, but a bat none-the-less, dangling over her head. She jumped up and screamed, running from Dawn and the bat. Dawny laughed and sat down, playing with Callie's My Little Ponies. She was soon joined by the black Lab mix, who sat next to her with her own toys. "Hi Chaos!" "Hi Dawn!"

 The wolf mix soon jumped off his swing, "I don' wan' to sit with girls anymore! Girls have cooties and I could catch 'em and....she's cute..." The youngster's torrent of cootie propoganda was cut off as he caught sight of Alethia, who was coming out onto the playground with the teacher. All the children, minus the wolf mix and the Shepherd mix came running over to see what their teacher had to say, little Muzz dragging Bo all the way. "Now, children, this our newest student to be staying here. This is Alethia." Murmurs of "hi" and other general greetings were heard from all the young pups. "I want you all to treat her nice, since this is her first day here and-DJJJJ! NOOOOOOO!" The teacher suddenly took off running in the direction of the Shepherd mix.

 "What? I didn' do anythin' wroooong!" DJ protested as he was drug into the group of pups by the teacher. "You most certainly did, young man. You are to never take apart the jungle gym again, do you hear me?" "Yes, ma'am." "Good. As I was saying, be nice to Alethia and treat her with the respect I've hopefully trained into you, and....whats wrong with Ricky?" the teacher asked, pointing to the wolf mix. Most of the kids shrugged. "He said he didn' wan' to catch cooties, miss! But you can' catch 'em from talking, can you?" the young German Shepherd piped up from beside the Husky.The teacher smiled, "No. You can't catch them from talking to somebody, Star." Star then turned around and stuck her tongue out at Ricky.

 The teacher left the playground as soon as she saw DJ to somewhere other than the jungle gym, placing him on a swing. Alethia stood in the middle of the playground, feeling immensely alone in this place full of strangers. She looked down at the ground, and noticed a plushie laying on the ground. She picked it up and brushed it off, it was a small, blue dog.

 Muzz and the little Shetland Sheepdog sat together in the sandbox. "What'cha doin', Derv?" Muzz asked him, cuddling Bo.  "Buildin'."Dervish answered. "What?" "A hoverbike." "Oh."

 DJ pouted for a few moments, then looked up at the rickety old swing. He grinned and pulled out his screwdriver.

 Callie stomped over to Dawn, Chaos, and now Penny, playing with her My Little Ponies. "Your mean!!! I don't like you! I don't want to play with you again!" Callie stated, then, grabbing her toys, she marched off. The three other girls looked sad, and Penny began to tear up. Five minutes later, the fight was forgotten and the three girls and Callie were playing together with all the toys.

 Star and Sierra sat together by the jungle gym. Star was sniffling, "I can't find Blue." Sierra patted her on the back. "Are you looking for this?" a voice asked from the side of the jungle gym. Both girls looked up to see Alethia standing there with the blue dog in her hand. "Blue!!!!" Star ran up and took her Blue from Alethia, she hugged the toy. "Oh, thank youthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Alethia smiled, then began to walk away. "Hey!" Star called out to her and she turned around with a questioning look, "Wanna play wif us?"

 The teacher walked to the window and watched the children at play. Muzz and Dervish were both playing in the sandbox, keeping out of trouble, as were the four girls. Ricky was by himself, thinking it seemed. Star and Sierra had both welcomed Alethia into their play and were being nice, as she'd hoped. The only one left was DJ.....her gaze turned to the swingset. "DJ!!! NOOOOOOOOO!" She took off and raced for the now partly disassembled swingset.

 After a time out of thirty minutes, shortened because DJ had a valid point, "But you said I couldn't take apart the jungle gym, not the swingset," the teacher placed DJ into the sandbox and left him there, thinking no damage could possibly be done. DJ smiled and pulled out a bunch of his tools.

 Chaos, Dawn, and Star had fled into the playhouse together and were coming up with vivid
futures for one another while having a tea party with Blue and the other toys.

 Alethia was swinging on the now re-assembled swingset, alone. A shy-looing Ricky approached her, "Hi." "Hi." "Mind if I swing here?" "Not at all." Ricky sat on the swing next to her and began to swing in time with her.

 Dervish, Muzz, Penny and Callie all had started a game of hopscotch on the concrete area of the playground. Muzz was still carrying around Bo.

 The teacher glanced up from her desk to the window and noticed the sky seemed to be an odd shade of light brown. She frowned and looked closer. "DJJJJ! NOOOOOOOO!" Sand flooded into the daycare center.

 DJ was once again placed in the corner, this time for an hour, then released onto the playground. He walked over to the concrete section and kicked at it, scuffing his shoes. He looked at that crack in the ground and smiled. He walked over and grabbed his Cool Tools set.

 Snack time was a favorite time among the children, and today was no exception. All the children sat at their little tables, eating their treats. In the background, Muzz, Star and Sierra shared a ice cream cone together. Callie walked out with her plate and glass, then spotted Alethia sitting alone, looking sad. "Whas wrong?" "I didn' get my snack...." Callie sat down next to Alethia. "You can haf some my s'more and milk then." "But-" "No, haf some." Callie split the smore down the middle and grabbed a paper cup from the table and poured half her glass in it and handed them both to Alethia. She smiled at Callie and the two began to talk.

 Nap time, was not a favorite time among the children. All the kids fought it in some way or another and the teacher had her paws full trying to get them all to sleep. Muzz was the first caught with the admonishment that he wouldn't get his lolly if he didn't go to sleep. Star, Sierra and Dawn were next, with threats of missing their TV time. Callie, Chaos and Dervish were physically chased around the building until the teacher caught them and pulled them into the nap room. Penny hid under a table and refused to come out until she was drug out. Alethia went to the room of her own free will, but refused to sleep. Ricky wouldn't go in until he saw that Alethia was in the room. The teacher sighed and wiped her forehead. She was just beginning to relax when she heard a loud sound, like a jackhammer on concrete. She paused, then jumped up, and ran out the door. "DJ! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

 Back out on the playground all the kids except for DJ were running around. He was on a leash on the monkey bars. He sat pouting, then pulled a small screwdriver and wrench from his pocket.

 All the girls left the remaining guys and went to go play a game of kickball together out on the newly remodeled concrete portion of the playground. Muzz, Derv and Ricky sat at the top of the jungle gym, watching the girls play. "Hey, Rick, what'cha think of the new girl?" "Well..." "You don' like her d'you? Girls have cooooooties.""I-" "He does!" "Ricky and Alethia sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

 The kickball game soon broke up and the girls dispersed into little groups. Sierra and Star walked over to the swings with Penny. Chaos and Dawn went to the sandbox with Muzz, and shared his lolly and made mud pies. Callie, Alethia and a trailing Ricky walked around the playground while Dervish went over to talk to DJ, who was now remodeling the monkey bars. "DJ! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

 The time passed on through the day. The children participated in several, well, child-like games. Ring-around-the-rosy, dodge ball, or simple games thought up at a moments notice. Several late-comers were taken out to the playground and introduced to the new student, which included Spirit and Cricket. A Border Collie mix and a Terrier mix. There were fights, some time-outs and some minor catastrophes, but the teacher managed to keep a check on most of the children's wildness.

 The teacher sighed, the day had been a rough one. She had never known the kids to be this rowdy and eccentric. They had finally settled down. This was most of the kids favorite time, finger painting. They all had set their boundaries and were going to town with the finger paint. She rubbed her forehead and leaned back in her chair and watched the kids. Alethia, Dawn, Callie, Sierra and Star were all meticulously, well, as meticulous as a five year old can get, working on their finger paintings. DJ was taking apart the table he was sitting at earlier. Spirit, Cricket, Chaos and Penny were all contributing to one anothers paintings and getting paint all over each other during the process. Ricky and Dervish were just doodling on the paper and Muzz was eating the paint. ".........DJ!! MUZZ! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

 The day was coming to a close. One or several at a time the children were being taken to their parents, guardians or places of living. Penny and Cricket where the first two to leave, heading off together. They were neighbors and were the best of friends and would be fine together walking to their "homes" within the HQ. Chaos, Dawn and Spirit all went off with their parents or guardians. Sierra and Star were next, the two were being raised by the same family and were picked up together. Dervish and Callie were the next two to follow, being picked up by personal guardians. Only Ricky, Alethia, and DJ remained. Ricky was the following kid to leave. He inched over to Alethia, "....." "Yes?" "I...I....uh...." Ricky stammered, then took off out the door and into the car, leaving the daycare center. Alethia stared after him, then smiled. The teacher walked over to Alethia and bent down on her knees. "How do you like it here? Are you okay? Was everyone nice?" Alethia nodded. The teacher smiled and escorted her out to the waiting vehicle.

 As the car drove away the teacher locked the door and leaned back against it. The day had been stressfull. But, finally, all the kids had been packed away to their homes successfully and most of them had survived the day. Most importantly, she had survived the day. The hastle had been especially rampant this afternoon, but she could deal with it. They were all good kids. Good, good kids. She hoped tomorrow would be-"DJ! NOOOOOOO! No taking apart teacher's car!!!!!"

The End
 

Alethia (c) Kylen Miles
Callie (c) Bozena McCants
Chaos (c) Jess Hanson
Cricket (c) Emma Brown
Dawn (c) Dianne L.
Dervish (c) Casey Johnson
DJ (c) Jake Williams
Muzz (c) WB and Doug Bennett
Penny (c) Nicky Messina
Ricky (c) Ricky Galahad
Sierra (c) Elista Adkins
Spirit (c) Connie Smernos
Star and the teacher (c) Kathrine Gore