The Sidekick

I do not know how much of this story has been told.  I do not know how much of the not-so-secret secret has remained.,.well, secret.  I had been given a title, a purpose; I was important.  I was chosen to accompany two knights, two great hunters on their quest.  But now...

You see, a couple months back, Sienna, Destroyer of Sticks and Jinxie, Retriever of Wayward Leaves, decided that it was not enough to go on a walk around the neighborhood.  Oh no, they needed a mission, a purpose; so, they decided, quite out of the blue, while enjoying a view of a giant Maple tree on a beautiful late summer day, that they would remove the Grey Menace, a scourge upon the land.  This would be a quest to serve all village-kind.  And I was the one person chosen to join them, maybe I could hone my writing skills in the process.

During the quest, on one particular day, Sienna, Destroyer of Sticks, and Jinxie, Retriever of Wayward Leaves, decided it was not enough that one person would be immediately aware of the accomplishments; no, all villagers needed to notice their good deeds.  So, fanfare was added to the activity.  That's right, very loud squeaks and high-pitched yelps were used when the Grey Menace appeared.

However, that proved to not be enough; so, I was pulled into the equation, literally.  When the beast was sighted and the fanfare would commence, I would be "pulled" into the trunk of the harboring tree.  Sienna and Jinxie would be the heroes in the midst of their duty; I would be full of bruises, head to toe.  I was now a visual effect.

This was the way of the quest until it was noticed, by the two hunters, that a neighbor was watching from a big picture window in their house.  Ah, confirmation of an audience.  So with fanfare and pulling, the hunt began.  Then, suddenly, there was a leaping into the tree.  That's right, there were earnest attempts to physically be in the tree, snapping for the beast's tail, dogs that actually climbed trees!  And perhaps a bite at the harboring tree to give up the gray beast.  Jinxie loved to perform.

Well, it all played to great effect as the villager did his part and told everyone he knew, which, in this case, was virtually everyone in the little hamlet.  So, when the fanfare of squeaks and high-pitched yelps commenced, the villagers now all came to their windows and saw the amazing sight.  "Good dogs!" They all shouted, and "Thank you!"  As for me?  Well, The sight of two forty-pound mongrels bouncing and yelping, pulling a fifty-year-old, nearly two-hundred-pound man into a tree trunk got me: "Out for a drag?" or "Who's walking who?"

And now, Sienna and Jinxie, roam the whole village, attacking the entire evil conspiracy...and receive applause.  The Grey Menace has become more than just tree climbers; it is tunnel makers and ground hoppers and garden eaters.  Sienna, Destroyer of Sticks, and Jinxie, Retriever of Wayward Leaves, will not rest until they have destroyed them all, the entire evil, including its mastermind.

All I wanted was to be something.  I was supposed to be important.  Now, I am just a punchline, or maybe, I'm simply a giant bruise.  I have become a sidekick.  I don't care what anyone says, I do not look good in tights.