Chapter Text
Summer had arrived on Mossy Bottom Farm and all of its wooly inhabitants were grazing. The sheep weren't able to cause as much trouble as they used to since Bitzer had kept them in line for 2 months now.
Tonight was the annual farmer’s award show and he really didn’t want any trouble before that.
He had made sure that no trouble was caused.
Such as: No parties, no football (soccer for Americans), and NO driving the farmer’s tractor.
He had, however, allowed them to only engage in smaller activities like… playing chess.
"How exciting".
Anything that was quiet and caused no trouble and was easy to hide from the farmer.
The sheep, as you can guess, did not like this.
One sheep in particular didn't like this. Shaun hated it when it was too quiet for too long but he had promised Bitzer he wouldn't cause any mischief this time.
Bitzer had explained to him that it would mean very much to him and the farmer if they won this year. And if they did win the farmer might celebrate his win by taking a trip to who knows where, and then they could throw their own party. Shaun was not sure if that last bit was true or if it was just to get him to make the promise. Either way he didn’t want Bitzer to get in trouble.
Speaking of Bitzer.
The yellow dog had been sitting in his folding chair looking proud at his good work.
For the past 2 months the jury of the annual farmer’s award show would randomly come and check on their farm, unannounced, to take notes in order to later decide the winner.
And so far, there have been no warnings or anything else that the farmer or he has had to worry about. Maybe this time they had a chance.
Bitzer chuckled to himself and looked at his watch. Oh no! It was 7:30! They should be there at 8:00 pm! He panically jumped out of his chair and ran into the house. They had forgotten about the time AGAIN!
Shaun looked up from behind the wall (I mean that stone fence. I don’t know the right term for it) at the living room window as the two frantically got ready.
After a few minutes, the farmer came running out of the house and into the car. He called for his dog to hurry up. To Shaun’s surprise he didn’t come out of the door but from way back where the laundry room is. Why would he take such a detour? They had no time to waste!
He sprinted past the stone fence but stopped abruptly when he made eye contact with Shaun. He made a serious face and reminded Shaun to not cause any mischief while they were gone. Shaun rolled his eyes and nodded while clicking his tongue.
A loud, repeated honk sound was heard, and the farmer yelled at the dog to stop wasting time! Bitzer flinched and ran.
He closed the window behind him and got into the car. Exhaling a breath of relief that they were finally going to get going, he looked at Shaun and waved at him. Shaun waved back and gave a thumbs up in means to wish them good luck.
As soon as the car was out of Shaun’s sight there was a short moment of silence.
The farmer and bitzer, gone. The sheep, alone.
For a moment, Shaun actually considered doing Bitzer the favor and not causing any mischief until they got back. But he kept looking at the empty house, knowing that they had waited 2 months for this moment. He could not wait any longer.
He then looked at Timmy next to him and gave him a look that said “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” And Timmy nodded knowingly. That was all he needed.
The whole flock erupted in cheers, and made their way to the now empty house. Shaun was so ready for some action. Shaun was the first to get to the door and tried to open it. But it didn’t open. He tried again and again. His excitement slowly fading with each failed attempt to open the door. It was no use. The door was locked.
The flock had gathered behind him, feeling upset that the party seemed to be over before it even started.
Shaun paused for a moment bringing one of his hooves close to his face to think. His eyes then caught sight of the dog door. He rolled his eyes and laughed how he didn’t think of this right away.
He tried pushing the dog door. It did not move. There must have been something blocking it from the inside. He tried opening the living room window. Also Locked. The door to the laundry room. Locked as well. He jumped on Shirley like a trampoline onto the roof and checked the chimney. His jaw dropped open. It was enclosed with steel grilles.
He bleated angrily. He couldn’t believe it! Bitzer thought of everything! He had hoped that Bitzer had forgotten about that time they had gotten into the farmer’s house and caused a black out. But he had remembered it to this day and made sure that would not happen again.
He got down from the roof by landing on Shirley. Dejectedly, he had to tell the flock that there was no way into the house. The sheep frowned and had their heads hanging low.
Shaun saw they were upset, and began to think of something else they could do. That’s when he got an idea!
“Meeh!” He pulled out a soccer ball from behind his back and pointed to the empty field.
They thought for a moment and then erupted in cheers once again running towards the field to set everything up. They could still do pretty much anything while they had the farm for themselves and there's nothing better than a game of soccer to lift your spirits.
They had set up goals using pieces of cloth to mark the goal’s posts. Timmy’s mum and one of the twins were the goalkeepers. Shaun got into the middle of the field, putting the ball on the ground.
Shaun lifted his arm in the air, lowering his three hoof fingers one after the other.
3, 2, 1… go!
Time has passed. They had no idea how long they had played but it had gotten dark. Shaun ran to the goal with Hazel right behind him trying to snatch the ball. He looked over his shoulder, seeing she was getting closer to him, he then kicked the ball forward as hard as he could to keep Hazel from getting it.
The ball flew past the goal, bounced off the fence, then the tree, then flew through the open window of the tractor and bounced all over the interior until it hit the ignition key and the starter lever. The ball flew out of the tractor, bounced off Nuts' head and then landed in the goal that Timmy's mum had been guarding.
"Woohoo" Shaun cheered for his victory only to be interrupted by one of the twins’ nervous bleats who was pointing to the tractor that was now starting to drive towards them. Increasing its speed!
“Baaa!” Shaun shouted, telling everyone to run!
Panic erupted among the flock! They all ran in different directions. The tractor was going haywire and drove all around the farm. It drove over the bull's gate setting him free and was now also running all around the farm. Then the bull broke the rope holding the goat in place, which was now also running around freely. The goat then jumped on top of the Chicken coop knocking it over disrupting all the chickens who were now also running around.
Now chaos had fully erupted.
Shaun tried calming down all the farm animals and getting them to listen to him, so that they could try and stop the tractor somehow. But everyone was busy running for their lives, and the tractor was driving too fast.
He looked in many directions trying to get anyone’s attention, when suddenly something else caught his attention instead. Two lights in the distance approached the farm. Shaun gasped and knew he had to come up with something real quick to get their attention!
That’s when he got an idea. He wasted no time and ran to his destination jumping over both the wooden and metal gate that lead to the barn and to the doghouse.
He ran inside Bitzer’s house. Luckily, he didn't have to search for what he was looking for, for too long. His whistle was on his nightstand, ready to be used.
He ran outside, jumped over the two fences once again and landed on the ground seeing the chaos still unfold. He took out the whistle, took a deep breath and then blew the whistle. All the sheep immediately stopped moving and looked in the direction from which the loud noise came.
Shaun made frantic movements with his arms in the direction of the approaching car.
The flock, now even more scared, started panicking again but were stopped by another whistle blow. Shaun ducked and pressed his body against the wall and made a hand gesture that told the sheep to hide next to him too.
The drive back home had been pretty silent for the farmer and his dog. They had not won the award again. While driving the farmer had been deep in his thoughts. That farmer Ben kept taking that award from him. What was missing from his farm? What would have to happen to guarantee him victory?
Bitzer patted his shoulder. It’s okay. There is always a next time.
The farmer said nothing and continued driving.
From his peripheral vision he spotted a movement. He looked to his left and saw a big dark silhouette with two headlights moving on its own.
Ah, it was just his tractor. He smiled and looked back ahead.
"Huh?!" He looked back at the silhouette and braked so hard that Bitzer's nose hit the dashboard. He yelped in pain and rubbed his nose. The farmer ran out of his car. Bitzer angrily looked outside asking himself why the farmer had braked all of the sudden and just left him in pain. He jumped in his seat, visibly horrified when he saw what was going on outside.
The flock already got into the barn
The flock simply watched as the farmer tried to stop his vehicle from going rampage. Shaun wanted to leave the field. He was waiting for the perfect timing for the farmer to look away from their hiding spot in the shadow of the stone fence.
He couldn't imagine what would happen if the farmer saw them, outside in the dark, with a self-propelled tractor. Surely he wouldn't connect the dots and realize they were responsible for all this. They were sheep! But he couldn't help but have a little doubt.
“Ahem!”
Shaun jumped with fear and spun his head to the left. He saw a silhouette with its clenched up fists resting on its hips. The leader of the flock was frozen in place for just a few seconds until he recognized the silhouette as none other than Bitzer. He let out a sigh of relief but then chuckled nervously as the dog began to growl.
Shaun knew they were in trouble.
After Bitzer had let the sheep into the barn, he went on to help the farmer stop the metal monstrosity. The farmer had puzzled endlessly over how on earth the tractor could have started on its own. Bitzer suspected it was a short circuit, but he knew exactly who it was.
He opened the door to the farmer's house and saluted. The farmer went inside, Bitzer closed the door and looked in the direction of the barn.
The flock had gotten ready for bed by now. The gate sprung open, the sheep turning their heads. There stood Bitzer, not looking happy. Shaun, who had been sitting on his hay bed anxiously, got up when Bitzer walked up to him. Bitzer looked at Shaun, then at the flock, then back at Shaun.
What followed was by far the longest and loudest scolding the sheep had ever received from their sheepdog that they had to look at the floor to avoid his furious glare. He flung his arms around himself, barking angrily that they could have been caught and that he had told them to behave themselves and what they were thinking when they pulled a stunt like this, ESPECIALLY while he was gone.
Shaun tried to explain himself but Bitzer held his palm in front of his face. He didn't want to hear any of it.
He turned back to the gate, opened it and stood there a few seconds, glaring at the troublemakers one last time before shutting the gate. Shaun sighed. Timmy let out a sad bleat. Would they now forever be forbidden from doing anything fun? Shaun looked at the little lamb then at the flock who looked worried as well.
“Baaa!” bleated Shaun, raising his arms and pointing with two thumbs up at himself, with confidence. He would go and talk to him. Bitzer hasn’t heard his side of the story yet.
Shaun knocked on Bitzer’s door. When he was left unanswered after a few seconds he looked at the ground, getting impatient, and was about to knock at the door again when it suddenly opened and instead repeatedly hit Bitzer’s nose. Bitzer whined in pain. Shaun gasped, stopping immediately, his hands covering his mouth. Bitzer rubbed his nose, seemingly annoyed that this was the second time today someone had hurt his snout, and of course it had to be the other being on this farm that was most important to him.
Shaun hid his arms behind him, preventing them from causing any more pain to the sheepdog, laughing nervously, apologizing for hitting him. “Ruff?” asked Bitzer, demanding to know what he wanted and got out of his dog house. Shaun went on to explain everything that happened. From them trying to get into the house, to playing football, accidentally causing a chain reaction with the ball bouncing into the tractor.
Bitzer listened carefully. As the sheep spoke, his expression changed from accusing and disappointed to surprised and understanding.
He couldn't blame the sheep, really. If someone forbid him from doing anything he enjoyed he would probably not hesitate if he got the chance, as well.
Shaun's eyes suddeny widened, he had almost forgot something. He took Bitzer's hand and placed his whistle in it. Bitzer was surprised. Shaun had taken it when he saw no other way to save everybody from being caught.
Sure, he was a troublesome sheep but Shaun did the best he could in a situation in which it had only been a matter of time in which the farmer would have gotten home, and honestly, he was actually impressed that he had thought to use his whistle. Or was he flattered? Maybe both?
Shaun frowned sadly and bleated an apology for letting this happen. Bitzer gently held his shoulder and soothed him that it was an accident. A lot of his mischief was caused by accident and everything turned out well at the end of the day, right?
Shaun let out a small laugh.
Bitzer admitted that he might have overreacted just a little bit. They had done way worse than this. They both laughed and smiled at each other. After a short moment, Shaun hesitantly asked him if they’d still be allowed to do more than just play chess, after all of this, again.
Bitzer chuckled, telling him to not worry about it. He couldn’t “ground” them forever. But after tonight, they'd have to be extra cautious, as the farmer was still skeptical about the tractor. Shaun exhaled, feeling very relieved and would soon tell the others about the good news, who were probably anxiously waiting for him. He had figured that he wouldn't be too harsh.
But he was, most importantly, glad they had made up. He walked up to the yellow sheepdog and hugged him lovingly. Bitzer hugged him back, caressing his wooly back. They shared a moment of just them, standing close together under the moonlight. Shaun smiled, leaning against his shoulder. After that moment passed, they let go of one another.
Bitzer yawned, stretching his arms while doing so. He tapped his watch to signal that it was getting late. Shaun was tired as well, so they both decided to call it a day. They said their goodnights and went off to their designated sleep spots.
Bitzer heard joyful cheers from inside the barn. He chuckled and shook his head.
Shaun was cuddled up in his hay bed. He couldn’t wait for the next day to come now that they were free to do any-… well, almost anything they wanted. He had yet no idea what he would be doing tomorrow. They’d find something for sure. He closed his eyes, finally at peace.
He was so lucky that he had Bitzer.
Bitzer was just getting finished setting up his bedwear, containing his pillow, sleep mask, and his pointed hat that he didn't really need for sleeping but his checklist showed all three of these things so he obliged.
He really shouldn’t have worried so much. It was basically another normal Saturday evening on Mossy Bottom Farm. Everything would be alright. The farmer has always been oblivious to everything that has happened around him.
What possible consequences could there be for something that was nobody's fault? Like a self-driving tractor. I mean come on!
He fell into his pillow, looking at the starry sky. He held the whistle high up, examining it above him. Shaun was really able to save everyone from getting caught, thanks to his whistle. I guess being the “bad guy who ruins all the fun" isn’t that bad after all, huh?
He blew the whistle, knowing Shaun might hear it, and closed his eyes.