All Smiles in the Darkness
By RedSwift
Chapter 1
The next day, Dale woke up late as usual, and saw that Chip’s bed was empty. *Nothing unusual* he said to himself. He walked into the kitchen just as Gadget and Monterey were finishing up breakfast. Eating while they washed the dishes, they idly chit-chatted for awhile about nothing unparticular. Finally, the topic of Chip came up.
“So, where’s Chip off to this morning?” Dale asked.
“Well,” Monty replied, “last I knew he was going to the station then lookin up clues about those two blokes he overheard last night.”
“Boy, that sounds like Chip, always the workaholic.”
“Yeah, I don’t right know how he does it meself.”
Being done with the dishes, Monty walks out to watch some TV, and Gadget takes the chance to talk to Dale about the night before.
“Dale, do you really know how to play the bass?”
Looking up from his Cap’n Crunch, he replies “Ya, I can play the upright pretty well.”
“Why don’t you play anymore, I mean I myself find it quite interesting, what with the harmonics and tuning, but I don’t have a musical bone in my body, as if there was such a thing, because if there was one, we’d always be making noise or something.”
“I get the point Gadget, but it brings up something Chip and I don’t prefer to talk about, so just let it drop.”
And with that, he put his bowl in the sink and went off to his room.
*Hmm…. that’s odd, oh well, better go get started on that invention I was planning for today.*
As the day progressed, Dale couldn’t stay interested in his comic books, and couldn’t think of anything to do. *If only Foxglove were here, we could go out and do something, wonder where she’s at anyways?* So he goes and rummages in the closet for something to do. *Hey, what’s this, boy o boy, haven’t gotten this out in years. Curse you Gadget, now you got me wanting to play this thing. Oh well, may as well, since I’m probably pretty rusty.* Dale proceeds to take out a very battered instrument case and opens it up, revealing a beautiful upright bass. Dale tentatively strikes the strings, then goes through some scales. He progressively goes into a bouncy bass riff and plays awhile, bouncing along with his beat.
Gadget and Monty, and Zipper hear the ruckus and come to see what all the noise is, and look in on Dale’s impromptu jam session, and watch from the door. As Dale finishes, applause comes from behind him and he whirls around, blushing.
“I didn’t know I had an audience,” he blurts out.
“Well mate, you are pretty good you know,” Monty said.
“Yeah, you were excellent,” Gadget readily agreed.
Zipper buzzes his approval, and Dale just looks at the ground, “Well shucks guys, it was a hobby and then for a little while something serious, but now I really don’t have the time anymore.”
Monty interjects, “Well, you have the time now, so me thinks we’ll leave you to it.” And he turns and walks back down the hall, Zipper flying after him.
Gadget looks about to ask a question, but thinks better of it and walks off also, closing the door behind her. *Whew,* Dale thought, *Never thought I’d get worked up over something like that.* So he proceeded playing, when all of a sudden a loud SNAP was heard, an he felt a stinging in his paw. He looked down and saw that one of his strings had broken. *Well, may as well go get a new one on my way to the comic shop, boy o boy, the new Kablammo Man is out today too.*
“Wowie zowie,” Dale exclaimed as he entered the music store. He ran all around, looking at all the instruments, and finally ended up looking at the small section devoted to upright basses. There were a few on display, and he picked one up and played a few chords. *Not as good as my one at home, but still pretty good.*
As he played a little bit, he failed to notice the mouse standing watching him. As he finished, she walked up to him and he got his first good view of her.
She looked just out of high school and quite beautiful, with shoulder length black hair with streaks of red at the front of her part. Her fur was a light brown with a white underbelly, the brown came down to seemingly point to her nose. She had on light makeup, and had multiple safety pins through her ears. She wore a baggy white shirt and a pair of gray pants covering her footpaws completely. The pants had an array of chains and straps running over them and multiple pockets and zippers. She had on some necklaces and some black bracelets on her wrists.
She approached him, and put her hand out to him. Holding the bass in one hand, he shakily put out the other and she kindly introduced herself, “I’m Darice, though my friends call me Dark Darice, though I don’t really like the name, it works.”
“Well, I’m simple little ‘ol Dale Oakmont, Dale to my friends.”
“Oh, you mean the Rescue Ranger Dale Oakmont. You’re a very good player you know.”
“Ummm… ya, that’s me, I guess. As for playin, well, I’m kinda rusty now.”
She looks him head to toe, and nods appreciatively, “Well, you are much better looking than your pictures in the papers. You always seem goofy and not serious in them.”
“Well, I’m not usually this serious. I was just reminded of how much I enjoyed playing, and decided to pick it up again.”
“That’s understandable, music is my passion. In fact, I might have a need for you. My band needs a bass player. I currently do it, but I sing also. Given it isn’t an upright bass, but an electric, would you by chance be interested?”
“Ummm… well, I’d hafta see back at home, see if it can be squeezed in.”
“Well, OK,” she sighs dejectedly, writing down her phone number for him to contact her.
Dale scrambled up the tree towards home, carrying his new comic treasure. He barged in the front door, but before he took another step, a pink furry blur took him rolling back out onto the veranda. Sitting on top of him, Foxy beamed down at him.
“Where ya been all day cutie,” she exclaimed excitedly, “I’ve been waiting here forever!”
“Well, I had to stop and get the new Kablammo Man today and decided to stop in the music store for a string to my bass.”
“Yeah, Monty said somethin’ ‘bout that, so you wanna show me, huh huh?”
“OK, OK, I’ll show you, just remember I’m still a bit rusty.”
Giving him a smart salute, “OK, let’s go cute stuff.”
Dale had never anticipated how Foxy would react to music. Usually when he listened to his Iron Goose CD’s or other such heavy metal, she covered her ears and got as far away as possible. Now, after he had replaced his string, she sat in rapt attention to him, totally swooning over him. She closed her eyes and listened intently to each note, each inflection, totally absorbed.
Dale wasn’t sure on how he felt about her, he knew she was enamored with him, and he enjoyed spending time with her. But he wasn’t sure of what the next step would be, and frankly a serious relationship kind of scared him. What if he let her down, which he was always prone to do, screwing up on a mission was one thing, the rest of the team was there to pick up the pieces, but with this it was only him to fix it. He knew if he did mess up, losing her would hurt more than he would let on, even to himself.
As he finished up, he looked down at Foxglove, still with her eyes shut, smiling from ear to ear.
“So, what did you think?” he inquired.
“Huh?”
“Whaddaya think?”
“Oh, it was marvelous, one of the best things I’ve ever heard, especially since it was from you cutie,” and with that she ran over and hugged him tightly.
Dale was gasping for breath, “Uh, Foxy, I can’t breathe too well.”
“Oh, sorry,” and she loosened her grip, but still held on to him. “Hey, while I was waiting for you, there were advertisements for a marathon of your favorite movies today, wanna go watch ‘em?”
“OK, sounds good,” and with that they walked out of the room and down the hallway paw in wing.
Disclaimer: The Rangers, Foxglove, Iron Goose, and Kablammo Man are Copyright Disney. Used without permission but with the utmost respect. Darice is a figment of my imagination trying to get out. You may post this story in any way, so long as you don’t modify my words or gain profit from it. (Boy, isn’t all this legal mumbo jumbo fun?)