CHAPTER 3 - Impressiveness
By: Winter’s Ink

Catnap and Dogday waved their goodbyes to Bubby Bubbaphant and continued merrily on their quest for cookies. 

Catnap checked the recipe again, “Okay so first on the list is flour. And it looks like we need a lot of it.”

“Craftycorn should have flour! Her pendant is a flower so of course she has flour!” Dogday cheered. “I hope our cookies are made from rose petals.”

“Different kinds of flour, but great effort, bud.” Catnap said with a smile.

“Still, I’m sure I’ve seen her use flour in her other crafts before. She definitely has some.” 

“Okay... Maybe we should call first? Make sure we aren’t wasting our time before going over there? Or if she needs us to bring anything from Bubby’s house?” 

“What’s wasting our time is this conversation! Come on lazy bones!” Dogday was gearing up and ready to get a move on already, “We will never get anything done if we don’t make a decision!”

Dogday started down the path. It was usual for Dogday to be out ahead of Catnap. He always had a goal he was running head first into. Catnap was the one who just wanted to live in the here and now, but the moments never last. ‘Here and now’ was watching Dogday sprint into the future. Catnap couldn’t think of a time when Dogday wasn’t moving, except for when he was sleeping. Those moments, Catnap cherished the most.

Catnap jogged to catch up to his friend. 

“There you are! The path to Craftycorn’s house is a little long but it is beautiful. And there are plenty of rest stops if you get tired.” Dogday smiled

Catnap stuck his tongue out. “I’ll be fine, I know how to ration my energy.”

Some time later Catnap collapsed face down on a bench, completely spent.

Dogday patted his head, “There, there, Catnap. Rest up and catch your breath.”

Catnap swatted away his hand, feeling made fun of. He tried to make a witty comeback but found he couldn’t hold enough air in his lungs to get out more than one word and gave up halfway through. 

“You- don’t- ah- ... - Never mind...”

Dogday sniffed the air and got up. It was peaceful here. Quiet. A gentle breeze tickled Catnap’s fur and rustled the leaves. The shade of a mighty oak kept him cool on this hot day. Flowers grew everywhere and filled the air with their scent. Birds chirped distantly. An Insect buzzed.

Catnap got up. He blinked back the light that stung his eyes. Dogday was nowhere to be seen.

“Dogday?” Catnap looked around.

The gardens were dazzling and alight with different colors, but Dogday was not shining with them. The path stretched long with marks of the well traveled, but Dogday was not walking it. The forest danced with the life of bugs and animals but was not dancing with it.

“Dogday?!” Catnap called, feeling a worry creep up his chest.

He heard a rustle behind him. Catnap jerked around to look but the noise did not make itself known. A bush in the corner of his eye shook. Catnap was sure of it. He saw the jagged antler of some creature lurking behind it.

Catnap readied himself for a fight, filling his lungs with sleeping gas. If this thing hurt Dogday he wasn’t going to hold back.

The creature rose from the bushes. Its face was round, brown furred, and clutching a sprig of purple flowers in its teeth. Dogday tilted his head.

“I’m thorry, I didn’th mean to thcare-” He took the sprig from his teeth, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Catnap turned away and crossed his arms. He let the sleeping gas dissipate harmlessly out through his nose in two angry clouds. They swirled around him for a moment before the breeze took them away. 

“Is... is it okay to come over there now?” Dogday asked hesitantly.

“Yeah... It’s gone now.” Catnap half-heartedly wafted his hand through the air, dispelling the last of his clouds while he put his emotions back in check. 

Dogday crept over and put a comforting hand on Catnap’s back. “Hey. Did you think I was a monster or something? You know there’s no monsters in the forest...”

“I know. I just...” Catnap felt a tightness in his chest, “Where did you go?”

“Oh! I smelled this when we sat down.” He held out the sprig of purple flowers, “The smell reminded me of you so I picked one for you.”

Catnap smiled, “It’s lavender. Thank you, Dogday.” 

He took it in his hands, trying not to show Dogday how much he actually liked the gift. “We should get back on the road. How much further is it until Craftycorn’s house? I think I need to apologize for putting some of her flowers to sleep.”

“It’s just around the bend. We’ll be there in no time.”

Craftycorn’s home looked more like several homes stuck together. Each addition to the house looked like it was plucked from a completely different place, and a different time period. Individually they were beautiful, with intricately carved wood or stone, every detail was flawless. Taken as a whole, the house was at war with itself with clashing colors, styles, and designs. The only word that came to mind when looking at it was-

“Wow,” Catnap said.

“Hey there, darlings! What brings you to my abode?” Craftycorn called from the yard.

“Hi Craftycorn!” Called Dogday, “I like what you did to your house! Are those pillar things new?”

“The flying buttresses? Sure are. The one side was starting to sag under the weight of the brutalist attic, really should have made that a brutalist basement... Oh well, you learn as you go.” 

Craftycorn let the pair in through the low picket fence.

“Your home is so impressive,” Catnap said, “Did you plan it like this from the start or do you just feel it out? I know Dogday would have improvised every board and nail.”

Craftycorn thought for a second. “I find it’s best to have a little bit of both. I get bored of working in one style for too long, and trying new things helps me keep the creativity flowing.”

“I wish I was that creative, Craftycorn.” Catnap sighed, “Whenever I make cool things they never turn out the way I like.”

She laughed, “Mine hardly ever turn out perfect either. But my trick for that is just to make it bigger! Because even if it doesn’t look good, at least I put a lot of effort into it and people respect that.”

Catnap smiled, “Well your house is even more impressive than it is big. I can tell a ton of effort went into it.”

“We’re making cookies for all the critters in the forest.” Dogday said. “We came by because we thought you would have the flower we need.”

“Hmmm... I don’t have flour but I know how you can get some. Follow me!” Craftycorn’s eyes twinkled with delight.

They followed Craftycorn past statues and portraits, drawings and doodles, to a big machine she kept in the basement. 

“Bubby Bubbaphant helped me design this a long time ago. We called it the Make Machine!” She introduced the boxy metal thing excitedly. “It can turn things into other things, as long as it’s kinda like that thing already. Oh and the more you give up, the more it makes.”

Catnap raised an eyebrow. “I had no idea a machine like this was even possible. Is it safe?”

“Of course it’s safe. I mostly use it for making crayons... Just don’t try to put anything red in there...” She shuddered.

“Okay... What should we give it?” 

Dogday felt around his body for anything he had on him that might help. He pulled out a beat up old chew toy in the shape of a stuffed bunny.

“This is one of my favorite toys.” He hugged it, whispered a goodbye and then tore a seam in the back. He plucked out a bundle of stuffing and dropped it in the receptacle. “Stuffing is like flour because it’s white and fluffy.”

The machine chunked and lit up. A gauge on the machine started to glow and filled up about a third of the way before it stopped making noise.

“That’s a good start but I don’t think it’s enough.” Craftycorn said. “Do you have anything for the machine, Catnap?”

Catnap’s grip tightened around the sprig of lavender. He dug deep into his pockets hoping for anything else.

“Umm.. Pocket sand. Because it’s very small like flour.”

He sprinkled in a pinch of sand. The gauge barely moved.

“I don’t think cookies made from sand are going to taste very good.” Dogday said apologetically.

“I wish you had let me call ahead, we could have brought something else.” Catnap held the sprig to his chest. “But.. I guess...” He held out the sprig of lavender. “Lavender flowers. Because flour sounds like flower.”

He dropped it in. The machine chunked and grinded. The gauge filled to full and kept going. Steam puffed out from between the seams of dark metal sheets. The Make Machine shuddered and it shook the whole house with it. Dogday looked worried and stepped a little closer to Catnap. 

‘DING!’ the machine chimed and settled. A flap slid open and white steam poured onto the floor. Inside were two massive bags of flour.

Craftycorn clapped her hands. “Yay! It worked!”

Dogday looked in awe. “Look at how much flour we got from it too! This is way more than we need. Isn’t this great, Catnap?”

Catnap rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I guess so...”

“Impressive, right?” Craftycorn jumped with joy, “I told you more effort is always better!”

Dogday hefted one of the big bags in his arms. “Just one of these bags is enough to double the recipe. Why don’t we show all the critters just how impressive they are by making them extra impressive cookies! Big cookies!”

Catnap shifted on his feet. He didn’t know what to do with his hand now that his flower was gone. He tried to smile and match the excitement Dogday showed. “Y-yeah, Dogday. That sounds great. I’ll add it to the plan.”

THE PLAN
One Chocolate Chip Cookie for each Critter in The Forest, 
In the Shape of their Pendant,
Double the size.

-Dogday & Catnap