Fictitious Presidential Pets Stories

It’ s almost three days before Caesar and Cleopatra are called to the Room. A door appears pressed against the side of the pasture fence. Gleeful to finally have a chance at cheering Caesar up, she announces with a whinny, “come on, Caesar! Let’s go! The Room is calling on us!”

Caesar is just as upset as he had been when they last talked. With his ears back and his head down, he suggests, “maybe it just wants you to go, Cleo. Did you ever think of that?”

“We’re both Presidential Pets,” insists Cleopatra. “And if the Room had just been calling me, the door would have appeared inside of my stall. It’s done that before – for both of us – and you know it. The only reason the door is here in the pasture is because it wants us both. Now come on, you dreary donkey, and let’s get a hoof on!”

Cleopatra waits until Caesar has sulked his way into the Room before going in herself. It lets out into a long tunnel. The tunnel can either be very long or very short, depending where in the time stream you are and where you’re trying to go. It’s lit up with very bright fluorescent blue lights along the floor. That’s new!

Trying to get some enthusiasm going in her friend, Cleopatra tells him, “look how cool this is! I’ve never seen lights like that in here. Do you think the Room is going to get an upgrade too?”

Caesar gives a disinterested flick of his ears. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

He doesn’t actually sound curious about it, which is a bit of a disappointment. She feels really bad for Caesar. Having a down day is bad enough, but the other horse appears to be having a down week. And outside of hoping that this new job will fix it, Cleopatra isn’t sure what she’s going to be able to do to help.

They get to the end of the hallway. Caesar gives a sigh so big that it makes his flanks heave and his velveteen lips flap noisily. Then he steps through the second door and into the Room. Cleopatra hesitates, but just for a moment. She looks up at the endless expanse of black above her.

“If you can hear me – or, well, that’s silly. I guess I know you can hear me.

But I really am trying to help Caesar out. Do you think maybe you could give me a hand with that?” Cleopatra asks. “I’m starting to worry. I’ve never seen him this sad for so long. Not even when he hurt his leg a few years back trying to cow kick the fence.”

The Room, of course, doesn’t answer. It doesn’t have a voice of its own and relies on the Original Presidential Pets to try and figure out what’s being said. All the same, Cleopatra feels a new sense of confidence settle over her.

Positive that the Room has heard her plea and agreed to help, she goes through the second door and into the main part of the Room.

Katelynn E Koontz – Author

President John Addams owns two horses; Cleopatra and Caesar. These two horses are very close friends, and yet…there’s something wrong between them right now. It’s been like this since they got back from their last task granted to them by The Room and the other Presidential Pets.

Caesar spends all of his time grazing at the far end of the pasture, his head down and his tail swishing sadly behind him. His ears flick back, and he doesn’t ever want to talk, or run, or play like they used too. There have been no games of halter tag for many days now.

Even when they go into the stables for the night, Caesar doesn’t want to talk about anything. He eats his dinner of mash and grains, then eats his alfalfa and munches on his straw. When food is done with, and water drank, Caesar goes back to the far corner of the stable and puts his head in a corner. He doesn’t talk.

After a solid week of this, Cleopatra can’t take it anymore. She picks a sunny day and goes to the corner of the meadow where Caesar has sequestered himself. Then she asks him, “this has gone on long enough, don’t you think?

It’s been a full week since you last wanted to do anything, Caesar. There’s something wrong and I know it. Won’t you talk to me about it?”

Caesar flicks his ears at the other horse. He blows out hard through his nostrils. “I don’t feel like talking.”

“Why not?”

“Because I just don’t!”

“That’s not an answer and you know it,”says Cleopatra, snorting right back at him. “There’s no sense in standing around and moping. At least tell me what’s wrong. If I know what the problem is, I might be able to help fix it!”

At first, she doesn’t think that Caesar is going to tell her. But then finally, he flicks his tail and he admits, “it’s the last few jobs we’ve done for The Room.”

Cleopatra asks, “didn’t they go well? We solved the problems.”

“No,” says Caesar. “You solved them. I just walked around after you. I’m not certain that I’m smart enough for this job of mine. I haven’t been useful on anything we’ve done lately.”

“That’s not true,” says Cleopatra.

“It is true,” says Caesar. “And I can tell that, even if you can’t.”

And then he went back to grazing and sulking, refusing to say anything else no matter how much Cleopatra pressed for an answer.

Eventually, Cleopatra went back to the other side of the field, where she could munch on her own sweet grass…and as she ate, she started to plan.

The next time she and Caesar went out, she would make certain to show the gelding how much he mattered!

Katelynn E Koontz – Author

By the time that Josiah, Punch, and Snipes make it back to The Room, the chaos has started to settle. Already, a strange sense of peace appears to have fallen over the crowd.

Josiah asks, “how did they know we fixed it?”

Snipes holds out his wings, showing off the places where the feathers are already starting to grow back as little fluffy things. “I think that you fixed things already. That appears to have started things back on the right track.”

Punch adds, “if you hold up to your end of things, it should stay fixed. Are you really going to spend more time with her, Josiah?”

“I don’t like being told what to do,” says Josiah. “I don’t like animals assuming I can solve all their problems and being put on wild goose hunts.

But I’m not mean or cruel. I’ll go and visit her when I’m able too. You lot don’t have to worry about that.”

Snipes says, “someone should go tell Cornwallis and the others what’s going on. I think…that’s supposed to be you, I would think. Since it was in your world, and you’re the one that went and fixed things.”

“Might be in my world,” says Josiah. “But I’m not going to go stand around and jabber at that dog. I was taking a nap where you found me, and that’s right where I’m going to get back too.”

“Wait,” says Punch, darting forward.

Josiah turns to look at the little dog, saying, “I did my part. I’ll be doing my part for a good fair bit to come. You want to go and talk to them, you do that yourself. You were there and you know exactly what happened.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything about that,” says Punch. The little dog’s ears flick backwards. “I was just going to thank you for coming and helping. I know you didn’t want too, but we wouldn’t have been able to figure out the problem on our own.”

“Oh,” says Josiah, caught off guard by the kind words. “Well.”

“I know that you have other places you want to be,” says Punch. “So I won’t keep you. I think that you’re…a lot kinder than you want anyone to think.”

Josiah isn’t quite sure how to respond to that one, but it doesn’t matter in the end. Punch turns and darts off to where Cornwallis is sitting, and after a moment Snipes goes after the little dog. That leaves Josiah to make his way back towards his secret napping spot, all on his own.

He finds himself hoping that Punch and Snipes come back to visit him sometime.

Katelynn E Koontz – Author

Josiah isn’t much of a people-animal. That doesn’t mean he can’t play nice with them. He snuffles at Alice and gives his best cute act, until he’s certain that she’s calmed down. Before long, Alice is stroking Josiah’s short, coarse fur with both hands and looking down at him with big, sad eyes.

She says, “how did you know that I needed this?”

Josiah tells her, “every bird in the timeline knows this is what you needed.”

Alice, clearly, doesn’t understand what he’s saying. Still, the love of an animal can do amazing things to a person’s heart. For Alice, it makes her want to open up.

She tells Josiah, “you must think I’m awfully silly, walking around sniffling while I work. I just can’t help it right now. There’s…you see, my fiance. He broke up with me. Left me for someone else and – I suppose I just can’t figure out what to do with myself now.”

There’s a lot that Josiah can say in response. But considering that Alice can’t understand him, he does his best to get his reassurance across in other ways. He presses his head against her palm. He snuffles at her hands. He looks at her with his big, dark eyes.

Alice asks, “do you think I’m pretty enough, Josiah?”

“Very pretty,” says Josiah. And then to get his point across, he braces his front paws on her knees, stretches up as far as he can, and presses his nose to her cheek in a mockery of a kiss.

Alice laughs. “Thank you, Josiah. Knowing that I’ve got you around helps. Do you think you’ll feel like coming and visiting me again?”

Josiah grumbles. He hems, and he haws, and he hums. Then he says, “only until you’re feeling better.”

Alice wipes at her eyes with one hand. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you just nodded your head. Oh, but I have so much work to do. I had better get back to it. Thank you for listening to me, Josiah.”

And then she does what few people are brave enough to do. She leans down and presses a kiss right to the top of Josiah’s head.

Alice gets up and finishes her work in the room. Once she’s safely out of sight, Punch and Snipes join Josiah.

Punch says, “that was real sweet of you, Josiah.”

“I only did it because it’s my job,” grumbles Josiah, half-heartedly. “And because I don’t want either of you ruining my napping spot.”

Punch and Snipes trade amused looks.

“Whatever you say,” says Snipes.

Punch echoes, “yeah, whatever you say!”

They both know the truth.

Josiah is a good animal, even if he’s a little gruff too.

Katelynn E Koontz – Author

Josiah, Punch, and Snipes sit crowded together under that very small table for what seems like a very long time. Finally, restless as a small dog gets, Punch asks, “what are we waiting for?”

“You wanted my help, I’m giving it,” answers Josiah. “Hush.”

Punch says, “you don’t have to be so rude all the time!”

Josiah huffs, “and you didn’t have to blackmail me into leaving me napping spot!”

“You’re a Presidential Pet,” counters Punch. “It’s your job to help!”

“It’s my job to help when the Room says as much,” says Josiah.

Snipes gives them both a sharp peck to the shoulder. “Someone’s coming! Someone’s coming!”

The door opens a moment later and in walks Alice. Her face is blotchy and red. She’s clearly been crying lately.

In a whisper, Punch asks, “is that her?”

Josiah nods. “That’s her alright.”

Snipes drops his voice to a creaking warble when he asks, “now what are we supposed to do?”

That is the question of the year, isn’t it? They might have figured out the source of the problem, but they still needed a solution. Punch and Snipes weren’t supposed to be seen by young miss Alice. They didn’t belong in this building after all. They didn’t even belong in this year!

That means the bulk of the problem really is on Josiah to solve. With a heavy sigh, he tells the other two animals, “you lot stay put. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait,” hisses Punch. “What are you going to do?”

Josiah doesn’t bother with an answer. Instead, he pushes out from under the tablecloth and out into the room at large. Alice yelps, nearly dropping the cup of tea she’d been holding.

“Oh! It’s just you. You gave me a nasty fright, Josiah. I thought someone might have found out about my secret break room,” says Alice.

Everyone knows about your secret break room, thinks Josiah. Humans can’t understand animals, so he keeps that thought to himself. Instead, he walks over and presses his nose into Alice’s leg.

She looks very, very confused. It’s an honest reaction. Mostly, Josiah only shows up when he plans on nipping people on their heels. Today, he gently herds Alice into the nearby chair.

Alice sits down, awkwardly lifting her feet off the ground to prevent them from being nipped at. She says, “be a good little critter, Josiah. I don’t think I can stand being bitten today.”

“I’m not going to bite you,” says Josiah, even though he knows that Alice isn’t going to understand. “But we need to have a little chat.”

Alice wisely sits her tea down on the nearby table. She holds her hand down for Josiah to sniff. “Let’s just be friends today, alright?”

Josiah presses his nose against her palm. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do, Alice.”

 

Katelynn E Koontz – Author

Josiah won’t lie. He’s not a fan of being a Presidential Pet. He’s short tempered and likes to spend his days napping. He remembers fondly his time in the wild, back before a little girl plucked him up and threw him at the President.

Now, that’s not to say that Josiah doesn’t like living in the White House! It’s actually quite a lot of fun! The President lets him do most anything he wants, including nipping at the heels of the people who come into the building. It’s just that it requires a lot more work than he particularly likes to put forth.

But even he supposes that this isn’t the…worst job he’s had.

See, President Roosevelt doesn’t live in the White House on his own. Among others, his daughter, Alice, lives here. Alice is known for being a wild child, brazen and determined. Josiah likes her a lot. She’s independent. She doesn’t need to be babied, and she doesn’t keep her opinions to herself.

But one of the staffers that works very close to Alice is…not as self assured. She takes care of Alice’s room, among other things. Josiah often sees her sniffling her way through the halls, dotting at her face with a kerchief. Most recently, she had started taking care of Eli Yale’s room.

Josiah should have figured this out at the start!

As he leads the way through the White House, Josiah grumbles, “of course it has to be something like this, all emotional drudgery!”

Punch asks, “what’s a drudgery?”

“Dull work,” says Josiah. “Work no one wants to be doing!”

Snipe says, “I take it back! You complain too much!”

Josiah gives the bird an irate look. “If you don’t like how much I complain, you should have gotten someone else to come help. Now hush it. I know it’s hard for birds and yappers – “

“Excuse me,” interrupts Punch. “Yappers? You could use a lesson in manners!”

Josiah continues as though he hadn’t been interrupted at all. “ – but why don’t you lot hush for a bit, eh? We’re going to tuck into this room and wait for someone to come by.”

Punch asks, “who?”

Josiah says, “didn’t you just hear me say hush?”

“I don’t listen to people without manners,” huffs Punch. The little dog scurries forward, ducking into the nearby room. Punch takes initiative and scampers under the heavy white cloth of the nearby table.

Josiah and Snipes follow suit. It’s a very small table, the sort meant to hold a single decorative vase and nothing else.

Josiah says, “for the person I think might be involved in all of this. She should be by here soon.”

 

Katelynn E Koontz – Author